With a shrewd marketing plan, Peter Alderslade, the current British Ploughing champion was drafted in alongside the Continental marketing team at the recent LAMMA 2019 event to promote the benefits of the new TractorMaster tyre range. Peter operates an A95 Valtra tractor as the prime mover for turning his winning furrows with Continental fitting their advanced tractor tyre; TractorMaster to support Valtra’s 5th edition of their annual promotional roadshow.
Manufacturing premium tyres requires a serious capital investment, and Continental has demonstrated their commitment to the supply of quality products with a 50 million euros investment in their state of the art production facility in Lousado, Portugal. This venture is complemented by an additional 2.5 million euro research and development facility site sited next door to the manufacturing plant.
Power transmission to the ground
Getting back to the basics of tyre technology, Continental recognises the importance of the Bead structure to give greater uniformity and strength to improve tyre life. The TractorMaster, Tractor 70 and 85 are designed with a single filament bead wire which enables easier fitting and improves grip on the wheel. This critical design feature exploits all available contact area to maximise power transmission. In addition, the specification provides high deflection performance of the sidewall, all contributing to very low soil compaction. As part of the product development, Continental has developed D-fine specification to provide an increase in lug size of 5% compared with standard tyres. This contributes to extending the tyre life, particularly when undertaking transport tasks on the road.
The new TractorMaster tyre incorporates patented technology, N-flex which increases the flexibility of the tyre carcase with the N-flex nylon textile. This allows for shock absorption but also retains the overall profile of the tyre, avoiding flat spots after the tractor has been parked up overnight. Peter Alderslade commented that after taking his Valtra into the tyre fitters to have his tractor reshod with the new Tractor85 tyres, the ride home was much more comfortable.
