Tire Maintenance Important Aspect Of Pre-Harvest Checks

With harvest fast approaching, farmers are busy preparing machinery.

Ken Hildebrand, owner of Sunvalley Tire in Winkler, reminds producers to check their tires before heading out to the field.

He has a few tips on what to look for.

"Number one would be air pressure. Get your air pressure correctly done with the weight capacity of the tire and the weight of the combine and the swather," explained Hildebrand. "Inspect them for bulges, cracks, bruises...stuff that should be replaced. Preventative maintenance basically."

He adds radial tires give you a lower air pressure, which will give you less pounds per square inch. Radial tires also give you a wider footprint which provides a little more traction and a little less compaction.

Hildebrand notes canola, corn and flax do the most damage to tires, adding a hard tire with hard air pressure will cause a lot more damage.

Sunvalley Tire has locations in Winkler and Altona. The company has two on-farm service trucks to help farmers in a time of need during the busy harvest season.