Month: April 2019

Flotation Tires Versus Normal Traction Tires

What are flotation tires you might wonder and what are they used for. Here we will point out some of the differences, between these tires and their main use cases.

Normal traction tires are used to move vehicles forward or backwards and used to translate the torque from the engine through the axel via wheels to the surface. The tires will create traction to move the vehicle forward. Often various tread designs are used depending on the surface.

Flotation tires are wide tires that are intended to float on the surface and have a wide contact area and round shoulder area to disperse the load and to prevent the vehicle from sinking through sand or lose soil.

Flotation tires are good at moving forward and having good lateral grip as they drive on soft surfaces with minimum impact on the surface.

Main use cases for flotation tires are when you have heavy equipment that needs to navigate through soft surfaces without sinking and getting stuck and not damaging the surfaces.

Flotation tires educe soil compaction, which can be very important within farming as that can have a negative impact on the yield.

Main industry for flotation tires are within agriculture, to both prevents sinking through soft soil and sand and then to reduce the compaction of the soil.

You will need flotation tires both for your tractor as well as for your trailers. So make sure you purchase agriculture trailer tires that are flotation.

Flotation tires are designed to also be used off field and will give you good driving comfort and are able to carry heavy loads. The wide surface area is good at distributing the weight over a large area for minimal surface impact.

For more information regarding flotation tires within agriculture, visit: https://www.nokianheavytyres.com/flotation

The Best Ways To Maintain Your Tires

Here are a few things you should do to ensure that your tires will last a long time, at least as long until they are worn out by its normal use. Here are a few things that are good to follow regardless if you have a car or an SUV and if you have summer tires or winter tires.

For more info regarding tire maintenance, visit: https://www.nokiantires.com/

Safety And Maintenance Should Always Be Prioritized

In any business this should be observed and if you deal with a lot of personnel and they are using heavy equipment there is an even bigger need to comply with this. Proper safety training and instructions should be in place; the safety procedures and the use of the best safety features should be a natural part of the business. Accidents and injured personnel can impact the business drastically. If personnel are injured, it is very tragic and has an emotional and demoralizing impact on the other personnel.

There are also a lot of hidden costs associated with not having proper safety procedure or safety track record. They are increasing insurance costs, higher personnel turnover and personnel costs due to sick days and absences. Underutilization of vehicles tends to also happen. These are costs that should be avoided.

When it comes to equipment and safety equipment, then make sure that you evaluate their safety when making the selection. The same comes to the tire selection, which can be very important selection from a safety point of view, regardless if it comes to selecting tires for semi-trailer truck or for a wheel backhoe loader. When it comes to the heavy truck tires here you want to make sure that the truck can haul load long distances safely. Here road safety such as grip, wear, stability and durability are key factors. If you will drive in winter conditions, the road safety and ensuring that you have tires that are approved for winter weather is crucial for safety. Look for tires that are winter approved.

When you select a backhoe tires, then you have other concerns, like stability, durability and puncture and crack resistance. Blowouts with these big tires and the high pressure can be a safety risk in itself. The fact that the whole backhoe loader can tilt and cause damages and safety concerns. Inflating the tires can be very dangerous and the tires should be in a safety cage during the inflation. It is important that you know what the tire pressure should be and what load you are able to carry with the tire that you are using. Check the technical tire manual to ensure that you are within the limits when it comes to inflation pressure and load weight and follow all the other safety procedures when it comes to tires, the equipment and within the working processes to keep the business running safely.

For more information regarding safe tires, check out: Nokian Heavy Tyres

Flotation Tires Role In Farming

One might wonder what a flotation tire is, well a flotation tire is a tire that more or less floats on the surface due to large surface area that is in contact with the surface. This is thus perfect for soft surfaces and when you want to avoid too much soil compaction, which can reduce the yield. These tires prevent you from sinking into soft surfaces and risking getting stuck. As most surfaces you will encounter within agriculture fit into these conditions, this makes flotation a good choice at least when you don’t have winter conditions.

The flotation tire is designed to be very wide, but there is more focus on spreading the surface area to as big area as possible. They are designed for minimum impact on the surface on which they drive.  This is what makes them great for most farming applications, where there is a need for both on and off-road driving.

If your farming work will need some great flotation tires, then you have the Nokian Country King tire, which is a great tire that gives you all the benefits from a flotation tire, such as large contact area and low rolling resistance. These tires work perfectly both on and off-road and can carry very high loads. To be able to carry the heavy loads, they have been steel belt reinforced, so that there is no problem to drive on rocky terrain, soft terrain as well as on roads. The driving comfort is great regardless of where you drive and with the low impact on the soil, it will improve your yield compared to using normal tires. They are also easy to clean for good tire maintenance, which ensures long lifetime of these very durable tires.

Also your trailers will need to have flotation tires if that is the best tire for your conditions. So both trailers and slurry tankers should be equipped with flotation tires to ensure that they don’t get stuck or compact the soil too much. Check the tire pressure for the different tires in the technical tire manual to avoid excessive wear or increased pressure on the sidewalls. Tire maintenance such as cleaning and visual inspection should be done daily at the end of the workday. Tread depth can easily be monitored through the Driving Safety Indicator DSI).

For more info regarding flotation tires for various agriculture applications, visit: www.nokianheavytyres.com

Tires For Your Mining Operations

For underground mining it is important to have state of the art equipment and match those with the best in class tires for each of the different equipment. The basic workhorse equipment that basically any mining operation will have is the articulated dump truck for easy maneuverability and an underground loader. The underground loader is of load-haul-dump type often with a low profile to fit even in small spaces in the mine. The equipment is very durable and rugged and built to last. Good maneuverability is key for the equipment in the small tunnels in the mines.

These machines need to be equipped with good mining tires, you need articulated dump truck tires and you need tires for the underground loader. You then will need some drilling and excavating equipment. Excavator and some drill rig or other type of equipment to mine with is then the most used equipment down in the mine. With these machines you get pretty far. All the equipment is very expensive, so utilization is important to provide efficient mining.

For the tires you need tires that have very high cut and crack resistant rubber. Driving precision and stability is key when you drive the special equipment that is built to have high maneuverability in the narrow spaces. Load capacity to keep up with the heaviest machines in the market is also essential. Consult the tires technical manual to make sure that you select the correct tire with the right load capacity for each machine, also make sure that you have the correct tire pressure for the specific tire.

Downtime can be very costly as the utilization rate diminishes, so it is important to keep maintenance at the highest level. Wash off the tires at the end of each shift and check the tires for any cuts or cracks. Tread depth and tire pressure should also be checked on a regular basis to ensure that the tires are operating under proper conditions. Repairing tires down in the mine is not the most convenient place and it will disturb the working pattern and cause downtime that can affect also the other equipment that are working down in the mine. Hopefully the regular maintenance and the continuous checks will reduce any unforeseen downtime so that operations can continue smoothly and at least the downtime due to tires can be diminished.

For more information regarding mining tires, visit: www.nokianheavytyres.com

Maintenance For Bus And Truck Tires

When it comes to bus and truck tires they both have in common that they use a lot of tires and the rear tires tend to be dual wheels, with double tires. This makes the checking of the tires more challenging to say the least. You have both the challenge to check the condition of the tire and it is slightly more difficult to check the tire pressure. As the tires are mainly haul tires, meant for long distances it is important to check the tire pressure regularly. Modern Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems are not working well for heavy trucks, so you need to check the pressure manually.

Running the tires with low pressure will cause increased wear and increased fuel consumption. If you drive with much too low pressure you will damage the carcass of the tire and the tire can rupture.  With dual tires the wear is increased if only one is low pressure and the other is normal pressure, which can cause premature failure of the tire. If the tire has had too low pressure for a long time, the tire should be changed immediately, if it is below half of the intended pressure and the tire should be discarded. Most of the cases when a truck or a bus needs to be attended to will be because of tire problems and they are almost all attributed to low tire pressure causing blowouts.  

So checking the tire pressure is something that there should be a lot of emphasis on, especially before each new long haul commences. Preventive maintenance is always cheaper than repairing and fixing things as you go when you run into problems. Both bus tire and heavy truck tires needs to be attended to regularly to both check the visual condition of the tires, the tread depth and the tire pressure in order to drive safely. Some drivers are not keen to check the pressure as it involves a bit of hassle doing it, but there is more hassle if the vehicle breaks down.

Replacing worn tires as soon as they start getting close to the limit is advisable and not trying to get the most out of the tires, as breakdowns are so expensive. It is in most cases a cost saving to replace early versus risking a blow out while en route, where there will be delays if you need to replace the tire.

For more tips regarding bus and truck tires, visit: nokianheavytyres.com

Do You Need Studded Winter Tires For An SUV?

To increase safety, it’s very important to invest in good snow tires but what if you have SUV? I originally thought that if you have an SUV, winter tires were not necessary. This is however not so; it is actually even more important than with a passenger car as the SUV is a much heavier vehicle. So even though the 4-wheel drive allows you to have more traction you can only profit from this if you have good quality tires installed. This is because it’s the tires that grip the road giving you traction. Now that its established that you need good quality winter tires there is also the decision to make whether to get studded or non-studded tires. When should you consider studded tires versus non-studded tires?  It comes down to what kind of driving you will be doing and what kind of winter conditions you will be encountering.

Do you need studded tires on a SUV or do traditional non studded tires suffice? It basically depends on what kind of driving you will be doing, where you live and what kind of weather conditions you will be encountering. Nothing can beat the grip and traction, especially lateral traction, that a studded winter tire can give. Basically, the studded tires like the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 SUV uses high quality studs that give exceptional grip and traction especially lateral traction which helps you remain in control of your car even on black ice.

There is one big drawback with the studded tires and that is noise and the increase in rolling resistance. This is something that is becoming less of a problem as new technologies like the Nokian “eco stud system” emerge. The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 SUV tires also have an especially formulated compound underneath the studs to help reduce the noise. So, to summarize, deciding to buy studded or non-studded tires you need to consider where you live, what you drive, and your comfort level driving on snow and ice.

Winter tires are usually made of rubber compounds that remain flexible and soft even in very cold winter temperatures. So, whether you decide upon studded or non-studded winter tires for your SUV it remains the best choice in cold weather conditions. The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 SUV will provide the best traction to tackle both snow and ice this winter to assure your family’s safety.

For more info regarding studded tires, visit: www.nokiantires.com

What To Consider When Buying Winter Tires

Our family just purchased a beautiful ranch property in Montana I realize I needed to invest in some good quality winter tires to insure my family’s safety while driving on snow and ice. It is especially important to have good grip on the road as Montana can experience quite high winds, which make the driving conditions in the winter even more challenging. I decided to invest in the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 for our family car. Having shopped around I found that these non-studded tires were just what we needed to safely handle driving on the icy and snowy roads of Montana in the winter.

The reason I considered buying dedicated winter tires was because I did not want to make any compromises with my families safety and lets face it dedicated winter tires are important when you live in a place like Montana with quite harsh winters. The winter tires are especially made with a rubber compound that grabs the surface to improve your grip on ice. The Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 is able to handle snow, slush and cold temperatures without any problems while having the lowest tire noise and fuel consumption as compared with similar tires. The reason for this astonishing grip is due to the “Cryo Crystals” technology of the tires. Without getting to technical the rubber compound of the tires includes these crystal-like particles that are as rough as diamonds thereby gripping the road as studs, not bad for a non-studded tire and one of the main reasons I decided not to purchase some studded-tires. This translates to better grip and the possibility to stop quicker on the road even with slippery ice. This effective grip will be maintained even as the tire wears down as these particles have been spread evenly throughout the compound to add to the grip reserve.

I decided to invest in dedicated winter tires as I felt with the Montana winters it was the best choice however I realize that it’s not necessary for everyone to purchase dedicated winter tires. There are many good quality all-weather tires and in many parts of the country that might even have been the better option. However having installed dedicated winter tires for the cold season it will maximize the tread life of the summer, all-season or all-weather tires as they will not then be used all year around.

For more information regarding winter tires, visit: https://www.nokiantires.com/

How To Choose A Good All-Weather Tire

When shopping around for tires that can be used all year around you need to be aware of the difference between the two tires that are currently on the market as all year around tires. The two options are all season tires and all-weather tires. You might think these are the same thing however only one of these tires can be used year around if you live in a part of the country experiencing winters with snow and ice. The all season tires are not really meant for temperatures below 7 degrees Fahrenheit so mostly good in three seasons unless you live somewhere not experiencing snow and ice.

Personally I live in Tahoe and decided to buy the Nokian WR G4 tires. Since Tahoe experiences the more classic seasons and gets its fair share of snow in the winter. All-season tires can prove dangerous when roads fill with snow and ice. The Nokian WR G4 tires are able to grip the wintery roads while offering excellent handling on wet or dry summer roads. The advantage of an all weather tire is of course the possibility to keep one set of tires year around without the need to change and storing an extra set of tires. 

Since there are so many different tires on the market choosing the right all-weather tires was not easy. I looked online and read a bunch of reviews and also learned about the differences between all season and all weather tires. I already decided I didn’t want to change tires for the different seasons and since I felt comfortable that the all weather tires which comes marked with universal three-peak mountain snowflake symbol would be able to handle the winters here in Tahoe. 

Apart from choosing an all-weather tire you need to also find a good quality tire and here it is worth taking your time to read upon the different technologies that the different manufacturers employ in their tires. You need to make sure that the tires you are buying will keep you safe on the road when you are driving. To find the ratings of the tires you can visit websites like safecar.gov. You can find the rating of any tire on sites like this. The Internet is a great place to start when researching tires. I know my research paid off and I feel comfortable in my decision of having bought all weather tires.

For more information regarding all-weather tires, check out: https://www.nokiantires.com/

When To Choose SUV All-Season Tires Compared To SUV All-Weather Tires?

When looking into whether to invest into all-season tires or all weather tires its important to understand the difference. All-season tires perform well as long as the temperature does not drop below 7 degrees Fahrenheit. So in an area with 4 seasons these tires are only good for three seasons and not “all” seasons like the name implies. All-weather tires on the other hand are designed with a more flexible rubber and are even marked with the universal three-peak mountain snowflake symbol, the same as on winter tires. This means that it is safe to use even in winter when cold conditions demand increased traction and control. Having said that it still not going to perform as well as a dedicated winter tires so recommended only for areas with mild winters.

The question I had was if I should invest in SUV all-season tiresor SUV all-weather tires. In general I think it depends on where you live and since I live in San Francisco I didn’t feel the need to worry about the snow in the winter so decided upon the all season tire more specifically the Nokian eNtyre C/S. These tires have great performance with predictable handling on wet, dry and snowy surfaces so even if they are maybe not ideal if you live in an area with severe winters they will definitely suffice if I want to head up to Tahoe for a day of skiing.

In San Francisco there are not really any real change between the seasons but we do have some slick roads due to the heavy fog so the technology employed in these tires to prevent hydroplaning will come in handy. It also employs some noise reducing technologies such as the “Silent Groove Design” which uses hemispherical indentations resembling the surface of a golf ball and thereby cut our sound so now more howling tires. Furthermore this tire uses the “Silent Sidewall Technology” to further reduce noise.

After starting to read about the difference between all-weather and all-season tires it became clear to me that the all season tires would work best for me. This is because all season tires are excellent tires for year around use if you live in an area without snow and ice. SUV all season tires like the Nokian eNtyre C/S was specifically developed with 3 main technologies offering performance, durability and comfort.

For more tips regarding all-season tires, visit: nokiantires.com