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Sowing on narrow VF-culture tires or wide 1050 tires?

VF-culture tires under the tractor. But what works best: sowing and planting on wide 1050 tires or narrow VF-culture tires? - Photo: Roel Dijkstra.
VF-culture tires under the tractor. But what works best: sowing and planting on wide 1050 tires or narrow VF-culture tires? - Photo: Roel Dijkstra.

VF technology has also made its way into culture tires. These VF (Very Flexible)-culture tires, with their higher load capacity at the same tire pressure, can serve as an alternative to wide tires for certain applications. But which is better: sowing and planting on wide 1050 tires or narrow VF-culture tires?

Sowing or planting in untraveled soil is the ideal starting point for a good crop. This favors using a tractor on VF-culture tires during sowing and planting to fully protect the seedbed. However, over the years, tractors have become larger, and machines heavier. The limited load capacity of narrow culture tires makes it difficult or even impossible to sow or plant on narrow tires.

On wide 1050 tires without leaving tracks

The introduction of wide tires with flexible carcasses, which also have sufficient load capacity to operate at low pressure (well below 1 bar), provided a solution. These 1050 tires made it possible to drive straight over the seed or planting bed on wide tires without excessive soil compaction and without leaving a track. If such a tire also has sufficient load capacity at low pressure to transport the combination at high speed on the road, then all problems are basically solved.

However, although many users are satisfied with the use of wide tires, there are still some comments. One spring is not the same as another, and one soil type is not the same as another. Despite their low ground pressure, wide 1050 tires sometimes still leave visible tracks. In onions, this can lead to some irregularity in emergence. In a dry spring with emergence issues, onions sometimes emerge slightly earlier in the tracks of the wide tires due to slightly higher capillary action. This irregularity makes chemical weed control more difficult.

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Sowing onions on 3 meters with wide 1050 tires. Farmer Mark Geling uses wide 1050 tires to sow onions on 3-meter-wide beds. The front axle of his tractor is equipped with culture tires set at a 3-meter track width to create defined beds. – Photo: Ton Kastermans
Sowing onions on 3 meters with wide 1050 tires. Farmer Mark Geling uses wide 1050 tires to sow onions on 3-meter-wide beds. The front axle of his tractor is equipped with culture tires set at a 3-meter track width to create defined beds. – Photo: Ton Kastermans

More load capacity with VF-culture tires

Sowing on narrow VF-culture tires or wide 1050 tires? There is something to be said for both. The major limitation of a narrow tire is its lower load capacity. The air volume largely determines the load a tire can carry at a certain pressure. The result is that a culture tire for a heavy load must be inflated to a significantly higher pressure than a wide tire. Deflating for less ground pressure is then often no longer an option. VF-culture tires offer a solution. Compared to a conventional tire, VF-culture tires can carry 40% more weight at the same pressure. Conversely, VF tires can handle higher speeds without increasing tire pressure if the weight remains constant.

However, there are other limitations besides how much weight a tire can handle at low pressure. For spring work, the tire pressure often goes well below 1 bar. For VF-culture tires, 0.6 or 0.7 bar is not uncommon, and in many cases, the tires can handle it. When turning on the headland, the tires can be pushed off the rim, making inflating necessary.

Future Farming spoke to two users who recently made significant investments in tires for spring sowing. Contractor Jaco Poldervaart consciously moved away from wide tires and switched to VF-culture tires. Farmer Mark Geling, on the other hand, chose to swap culture tires for wide tires. Each made their choice based on their specific circumstances, as each situation is different and requires a tailored solution.

Smits
Martin Smits Machinery writer





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