New agricultural tyre offers speed, grip and comfort

Nokian has launched a multi-purpose radial tractor tyre incorporating a number of the best features of the company's range of dedicated agricultural, forestry and industrial tyres.

Known as the TRI 2, the new tyre has a block tread pattern which gives excellent durability, driving comfort and load-bearing capacity, making it ideal for trailer haulage, machinery movement and other road-based operations up to a maximum speed of 65km/h.

The directional pattern of the TRI 2's tread provides the tyre also with good self-cleaning properties, giving it the capacity to carry out effectively field top-work such as final seedbed cultivations, fertilising and spraying where traction is not a primary requirement.

Distributed in the UK and Ireland by Nordic Tyres (UK) Ltd, Unit 24A, Brampton Road, Longtown, Cumbria, the Nokian TRI 2 is available in a range of sizes suitable for most agricultural and highway tractors, material handlers and construction machinery.

All speed-rated to 65 km/h, the tyre's block tread pattern is said to provide comparable driving comfort to a passenger car together with low rolling resistance, minimal vibration and a long working life. Being directional in design, the tread pattern also promotes good self-cleaning and grip, important factors when moving from field to road, and vice versa.

The TRI 2 is unique in being the first heavy vehicle tyre from Nokian to be manufactured using harmless low aromatic (LA) oils in place of the toxic high aromatic (HA) oils which have been employed by tyre manufacturers since the 1950s as a softener within tyre treads.

A by-product of oil refining, HA oils have been used to assist the mixing and processing of the raw materials during production, influencing a tyre's wear rate, grip and rolling resistance. The downside of HA oils is that they are classified as harmful due to the presence of polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds. These are formed as the result of incomplete combustion of organic material, generating carcinogenic substances. Through the use of advanced extraction processes and chemical wizardry, HA oils can be converted into harmless low aromatic oils able to provide virtually all of the properties of the toxic oils they replace.

Nokian first used LA oils in the production of tyres for passenger cars and vans in 2001 and is now introducing the oils progressively across its entire product range.