Caqital Equipment News October 2018

SKID STEERS

TALKING POINTS

“Pneumatic tyres are ideal for harsh and uneven surfaces, as the air-filled tyres can absorb some of the impact, resulting in a smoother ride which equates to longer life for your equipment components.”

Hugo van der Walt, BCP Product Specialist, Barloworld Equipment Southern Africa

“Solid tyres can initially cost up to 80% more than their pneumatic counterparts. However, their longer life, less downtime and low maintenance requirements make the investment worthwhile.”

Craig Christie, BCP product application specialist, Barloworld Equipment southern Africa

underfoot are bumpy, rough, uneven or sandy, it is advisable to opt for the pneumatic tyre or even a track,” reasons Christie. “Solid tyres can initially cost up to 80% more than their pneumatic coun- terparts. However, their longer life, less downtime and low maintenance require- ments make the investment worthwhile.” Van der Walt says working areas such as warehousing and storage, scrap metal yards and recycling centres favour solid tyres because they last longer in these applications, while offering reduced downtime and less maintenance. Harding says the obvious downside to solid skid steer tyres and the most common reason why machine owners don’t favour them is the high upfront cost. “However, the investment in solid tyres almost always pays for itself in the long run,” he says. “You don’t have to worry about unpredictable machine downtime from flat tyres, nor do you have to keep incurring labour costs for installation of replacement pneumatics.” Speaking on the drawbacks of solid tyres, Van der Walt says solid tyre solu- tions equate to a very hard and uncom- fortable ride for an operator in bumpy underfoot conditions. However, he adds that Caterpillar has designed Flexport tyres, to give operators a more comfort- able and smoother ride than in the case of non-ported solid tyres. “Solid tyres can also be tough on the components of your

“The lifetime of either type of tyre is very difficult to predict and depends a lot on the severity of the job/application, as well as on the operator. However, as a guide, one should get approximately 1 000 hours on a pnematic tyre and about 2 500 hours on a solid option.”

Brian Rachman, GM of Bobcat KwaZulu-Natal

“You can get up to 3-4 times the life out of a good set of solid tyres than you could with a set of pneumatics. This is especially true in heavy-duty service applications. Solids also save on labour and installation costs because they come mounted on their own wheel rim.”

Wakefield Harding, Divisional Sales Manager at ELB Equipment

reasons that solid tyres are predominantly used when machines are operating on concrete, asphalt and highly abrasive surfaces or scrap yards. The same view is shared by Christie, who says solid tyres are ideal for smooth

and paved areas, as well as sections where the terrain dictates – such as applications within the recycling industry where there are many sharp parts that can damage tyres. “In instances where the conditions

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