Titan UFT design reduces complexity of farm tire

DES MOINES, Iowa—Titan International Inc. has developed a farm tire design that it claims combines the elements of conventional, Increased Flexion (IF) and Very High Flexion (VF) tires for certain applications where IF or VF tires typically are spec'd.

Titan's development of this new technology, which it's calling Ultimate Flex Technology (UFT), is designed to rein in and potentially reverse SKU proliferation of the past decade or so as the industry has adopted more and more specialized IF and VF tires, according to Scott Sloan, agricultural product manager for Titan International.

The first tires built with UFT—the Goodyear Ultra Sprayer R-1 tire for crop-row sprayers—debuted at the Farm Progress Show in late August in Des Moines. The tire will be available commercially in the first quarter of 2023 in sizes 380/90R46 and 380/105R50, which represent the majority of fitments for this application.

Plans to expand into different sizes and applications are in final development and will be announced at a later date, Titan said. The new products will be priced above conventional tires for this application but below IF/VF versions of the same size tires.

"We wanted to create a simple solution for farmers, dealers and OEMs," Sloan said. "Our thought was why don't we make a tire that's capable of all three applications—conventional, IF and VF. This makes it easier to quickly replace any sprayer tire, without sacrificing performance."

Titan drew on its knowledge and experience with its mainstay Low Side Wall (LSW) technology to come up with the UFT concept, Sloan said, which allows users wide latitude in selecting the tire's operating pressure.

Tires built to UFT specifications are designed to run at inflation pressures as much as 40-percent lower than a standard tire, Titan said, an operating condition that can help reduce soil compaction.

If a UFT tire is being used as a single replacement for a damaged or worn tire, Titan said, the UFT tires must meet the inflation pressures of the other tires already installed on the machine. This tire provides all the benefits of VF tires, which can carry the same weight as standard tires, but up to 40-percent lower inflation pressures.

To illustrate the concept, Sloan cited the case of a customer operating a sprayer with a 1,200-gallon tank. In this case the customer can set the inflation pressure to 78 PSI like a conventional tire, or drop it to 64 psi to decrease ground-bearing pressure, similar to an IF tire, or even to 50 PSI for a VF tire.

A major consideration for exploring the UFT concept, Sloan told Tire Business, was to reduce complexity in this sector. As it stands, customers are faced with three options per size/SKU.

This change could play dividends on a number of levels, Sloan said. For Titan, it will mean reduced complexity in the manufacturing process, streamlining production and saving costs. For the farm equipment producer or dealer, or tire dealer, it means having to stock far fewer tires.

For the farmer, it could mean having to spec or buy fewer tires.

Adoption of the UFT concept might go hand in hand with the growing use of built-in central inflation systems on farm equipment, Sloan said, suggesting that farmers who have such equipment are more likely to take the time to adjust tire pressures to match the conditions, whether they call for low ground pressure or higher tire pressures during transits from field to field.