The Trelleborg brand is present in the agricultural tire market with a product range divided into seven main segments, designed to support tractors, harvesting machines, sprayers and spreaders, transport equipment, agro-industrial machinery, forestry machines, gardening equipment, and light vehicles. It offers a comprehensive and varied selection of radial and conventional tires capable of meeting every specific application, always ensuring premium performance and durability. These qualities are made possible by constant investments in research and innovation, which have often led to the launch of exclusive technologies and products. Among these, for example, are the “Progressive Traction” lugs, which extend tire life beyond industry standards, and products like the “PneuTrac” tires and the recent “Tm1 Eco Power,” which feature low rolling resistance and are made with 65% biological or recycled materials.
“To develop ‘PneuTrac’,” explains Sebastian Barczyk, Product Marketing Manager of the Trelleborg Agriculture division, “several production challenges had to be overcome due to the particular and innovative shape of the tire sidewall. It was necessary to ensure that the tire could support the load of the agricultural vehicle more than a traditional tire, which relies on air for this task.
Reinforced Sidewall
Hence the need for super-reinforced sidewalls that are still able to deform to ensure full and total adhesion of the tread to the ground. Essentially, the sidewall acts as a spring to support the load while providing flexibility to offer comfort to the operator and a larger footprint on the ground. The result is low soil compaction and significantly increased traction. It’s no surprise that more and more tractor manufacturers are integrating ‘PneuTrac’ into their original equipment offerings, and demand in the replacement market is also growing, showing how customers have understood and appreciated the advantages of this technology both in Italy and abroad, particularly in France and Spain—European countries known for specialized agriculture, especially in the horticultural and viticulture sectors—but also in Northern countries, where fruit production is on the rise.”
Innovative Production Technology
Are the same development expectations valid for the “Tm1 Eco Power”? “It’s too early to say,” continues Sebastian Barczyk, “as it’s a tire based on very innovative production technology and aimed at the future. Compared to traditional tires, built with natural rubber and synthetic polymer-based compounds, fillers made of carbon black and silicates, processing oils, and antioxidants to prevent surface aging, ‘Tm1’ is made using only natural rubber, recycled carbon black, and biologically-based silicates derived from rice husk powder. Process oils have also been replaced with bio-oils, and antioxidants with biological materials like cashew nut shell oil. This means that the tire is made of around 65% biological or recycled materials, which could also be used in other product families in the future.”
Performance
“At the moment, all experimental tests and early applications show that the new production technology has not caused any significant negative impact on traction, self-cleaning, or wear resistance—performance essentially equivalent to a traditional tire of the same category.
Less Energy Consumption and More Comfort
The same goes for road comfort, an area where ‘Tm1 Eco Power’ actually has an advantage, as it was designed with compounds formulated primarily to reduce rolling resistance—energy consumption directly linked to fuel use and, consequently, carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, the tire reduces fuel consumption by up to about three percent when the tractor is on the road, where there’s also a reduction in vibrations of about twelve percent. Therefore, everything suggests that the current four sizes of the ‘Tm1’ available on the market will soon expand, especially if electric tractors become more widespread in the specialist and green maintenance sectors, where low energy consumption is strategic for operational autonomy.”
Trelleborg Tires: “PneuTrac” and “Tm1 Eco Power” Series: Black on the Outside, Green on the Inside
Translation with ChatGPT
