The art of road maintenance regardless of weather

Building roads and the maintenance of them is of key importance if you consider how many cars drive on some of our most trafficked roads. Building roads is a science in itself. Once of the key properties of the road is that it is level, so that you can safely drive on it and the second is that it is stable and the third is that the drainage works, so that water runs off without causing problems. Failure to achieve this can cause a lot of accidents. Aquaplaning is the major cause of accidents when it rains.

When building and maintaining roads, you will use the normal range of heavy equipment like an excavator, a wheel loader and then a road grader. You might also have an occasional backhoe loader. The road grader is important in compacting and making the road level, so when the top level is applied you will have a level road for comfortable and safe driving. The road grader will need special grader tires that have the superb grip so that you can make the surface perfectly level. If you work during the winter you will need grader tires that also have good winter grip.

The excavator tires will need to have good stability and shock absorption so that they can reduce swings and shocks. The backhoe tires will need a combination of stability and superior grip, while handling heavy loads. The wheel loader will need to have excellent grip to reduce any tire slippage while filling the bucket with material. This is not always needed when you do road maintenance, where you might use only a backhoe loader if the project is more limited in terms of size.

Durability of tires is always essential when it comes to heavy tyres for heavy equipment as any unscheduled downtime and repairs are more costly than for normal passenger cars. So proper maintenance of the equipment and their tires is essential and can save a lot of money in the long run. It can also ensure that projects can be finished on time without costly delays. A tire related problem would often have all the other machines waiting for the repair to be handled as all machines work together and are depending on the other machines output. So if one fails all have to wait.

For more information regarding road maintenance tires, visit us: Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd.

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What makes an all-weather tire able to handle winter conditions?

If you are looking to keep one set of tires on your vehicle all year long – even in winter – then you should consider all-weather tires. This is because all-weather tires, like winter tires, comes with the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol signifying their approved use in severe winter conditions. Whether it is winter, fall, summer or spring, this tire will not let you down. It offers excellent traction even when weather gets cold thanks to its specially formulated rubber compound that is crafted to handle temperatures well below freezing. The all-weather tire is actually a hybrid between an all-season tire and a winter tire, making it well-equipped to handle both snow and ice.  You will be able to drive on snow-packed roads comfortably without compromising on safety – and without having to change to and from winter tires every year.

Compared to all-season tires, all-weather tires have much better traction, especially on cold winter roads. It is for this reason that you will not be required to switch to dedicated winter tires when winter approaches. Provided that the all-weather tires are well-maintained, they will continue providing exceptional service throughout the year. Even when temperatures fall below freezing, all-weather tires will still be able to have excellent grip on frigid, snowy or icy surfaces.

The rubber compounds that they are designed with are very similar to the rubber compounds of winter tires. If you take a close look at an all-weather tire, you will find that it is somewhat different from a winter tire. All-weather tires have features that allow them to work well in other seasons, as well, whereas winter tires are only made for use in winter.

The best all-weather tires usually feature strong construction that makes them quite durable. You will also notice that most of them have an open tread pattern and tend to be stiffer.  All-weather tires may be slightly noisier on the road compared to their all-season counterparts, but the added safety and convenience make the tradeoff worthwhile for many drivers.

For more tips regarding all-weather tires, visit: nokiantires.com

Why all-season tires are only good for three seasons and not four

If you are in the market for an all-season tire to use year-round, thereby avoiding the need for another set of tires in the winter, and if you live in an area with severe winters, all-season tires are not ideal for you. Contrary to their name, all-season tires are not designed to drive in all seasons, but just three: spring through fall. This can be confusing for consumers who are looking to have one set of tires throughout the year. Fortunately, there is a tire made exactly for this, even if you live in an area with severe winters: the all-weather tire.

The main difference between all-season tires and all-weather tires is that all-weather tires hold the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol which signifies they have been tested for use in severe winter conditions. This might not be necessary if you live in an area with only three seasons. If there is no need for a tire that can handle severe winters, all-season tires are still a good choice. They perform well in warm or wet weather since they are made up of a harder rubber compound that creates better performance on dry roads with temperatures above 7 degrees Celsius. All-season tires also handle summer heat better, since they’re engineered to handle a larger temperature range without compromising performance.

There are many all-season tires on the market, like the Nokian eNTYRE 2.0 all-season tire. This product has a unique tread pattern that provides a smooth and quiet ride with excellent wet grip while remaining an environmentally friendly tire. It also has Silent Sidewall technology that reduces noise and leads to a smoother ride. The tire’s polished lateral and inside grooves allow water to evacuate, thereby protecting from hydroplaning.

All-season tires can be used year-round in warmer parts of North America; just keep in mind that an all-season tire is not rated for driving in severe winter conditions. Even though they cannot provide the best performance in all seasons like all-weather tires, all-season tires remain an excellent choice in areas with three seasons.

For more tips regarding all-season tires, visit: nokiantires.com

Road maintenance is a never ending work

Roads like tires will wear over time. This means that roads needs to be repaired and improved. Tires that are built to last and so are roads, but still the roads will wear down and need to be repaired or then they need to be widened due to increased traffic flow or even brand new roads will need to be built. This is why there is and why there will be a steady demand for both equipment and tires for road maintenance work.

The main equipment used in road maintenance are excavators, loaders and a dump truck. The special vehicle that is only used in this circumstances is the road grader. For the earthmoving work, you will need special earthmoving tires that are desgined for thos conditions when it comes to grip and traction. Road grader will need special tires with super grip to push the soil infront to make sure that the surface will be flat.  This is a key step in building and finalizing the roads.

For the excavator tires you have specific tires depending if the surface is soft or hard and for the excavator stability is important. Their ability to also handle highways is important as it makes them more agile as they can move between worksites quickly and efficently. The wheel loader tires are similar, but you also need to make sure that the tires can handle the heavy loads. The combination of load bearing and grip combined with excellent durabilty makes a very good tire. The dump truck is finally the tire that needs to be able to carry the heaviest loads.

When you ahev so many different equipment and different tires, it is always good to have the technical tire manual close at hand so that you can check which are the best tires for the various application and what tire pressure and dimensions that you will need. Combining this with proper tire maintenance,which includes proper visual inspeciotn includin checking the tread depth, tire pressure and looking for cuts and cracks. Problems should be attended to as soon as possible to ensure that you don’t have tire failure, that can become very expensive. You need to avoid unscheduled downtime as that seriously impacts both costs and productivity. Good tires is a first step to avoid uneccessary costs down the road.

For more information regarding roadmaintenance tires, visit us: Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd.

Tires for construction equipment

All equipment working within construction sites will need to have proper commercial tires. A normal passenger tire would most probably puncture very fast upon entering the conditions that you have on one of these sites. The most common equipment on construction sites is earthmoving equipment, mainly needed to dig up the ground so that they can build the foundation for the building. This requires digging up the ground at the site and removing it.

You will at least see an excavator, often a wheeled one, as the mobility is better. You will have a dump truck, often an articulated one, for better mobility. Often you will also have a loader that can help collect what has been dug up and dump it into the truck so that it can be removed from the site. Excavator tires need to be very stable so that you can have good stability while you dig. You also need good grip so that you don’t slip. Durability and protection against cuts and cracks and long service life becomes a key factor.

Maintaining your equipment and tires in good operating condition, will impact your overall economy of the projects that you undertake. You will need to invest into tires that are durable enough to do the job and eliminate the majority of your tire problems that can be very costly and turn a good project into a money-draining project. This is why tire maintenance becomes increasingly important and taking the correct measurements to prevent any tire failures, this includes changing the tires at the right point so that you can avoid problems.

It is always cheaper to fix issues during a scheduled maintenance than to do anything on-site when the problems have already occurred and is causing problems and delays. This is where extensive service and maintenance procedures will come into place, which might seem very bureaucratic, but are put into place to eliminate or at least reduce unnecessary costs spend on emergency repairs that could have been avoided by proper preventing maintenance.

You always have to take into consideration how you will transport the equipment between sites, if you plan to drive them on normal roads, the earthmoving tires will need to have good road properties and a wear profile that agrees with this. Tires will indicated well they perform on normal roads.

For more information regarding earthmoving tires for construction sites, visit us: Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd

Choosing SUV all-season tires for summer driving

With summer approaching, you want to make sure your SUV is equipped with the best tires possible to allow optimal performance in the summer months. The good news is that if you have invested in high-quality SUV all-season tires you are already set for some enjoyable summer road trips. This is because, thanks to new innovations in all-season tires, they allow for excellent handling and stability throughout the year including summer. There are many high-quality SUV all-season tires on the market, such as the sporty Nokian zLine A/S SUV, which is specially crafted to endure the heat of summer while being equipped for the occasional rain shower.

Nokian zLine A/S SUV tires are designed to offer safety and performance for a comfortable and luxurious driving experience throughout the year. These tires are made to support heavier SUVs while maintaining excellent handling and stability, controlled driving comfort and safety in all seasons. With its Aramid Sidewall technology, it is equipped to handle rugged roads, as its reinforced sidewall technology gives increased protection for impact and cuts, thanks to sidewalls made with strong aramid fibers, the same materials used in the aerospace industries, that render the tires virtually puncture-proof.

Nokian Tyres offers an impressive lineup of SUV all season tires, like the Nokian Rotiiva HT SUV all-season tire, with its advanced highway tread design and its industry-leading technology that offers optimal safety and performance on asphalt and gravel and can even handle off-road conditions. It also provides hydroplaning protection so occasional rains are not a problem. With its staggered lateral grooves it can handle any weather, as it removes water with ease and maintains a good grip on the road to ensuring good handling. The choice of SUV all-season tires comes down to what kind of driving you do with your SUV.

The Nokian zLine A/S allows luxurious, high-performance driving throughout the year, while the Nokian Rotiiva HT, with its many new innovations like stone ejectors, Aramid Sidewall technology and polished grooves, can give ultimate traction even during off-road driving. All-season tires are a great option for year-round driving, including summer. Which SUV all-season tires to choose depends on what kind of SUV you are driving and what kind of driving you intend to do.

For more information on which SUV all-season tires to choose, visit us: nokiantires.com

Tires for a backhoe

A backhoe is one of the most used heavy equipment and often it is combined with a loader to form a backhoe loader.  Basically you could either purchase a wheel loader or a backhoe loader. Potentially if you have bigger jobs you could also have purchased an excavator. Backhoes are smaller equipment, as it is basically a tractor with an arm consisting of the boom and the dipper. The loader is also a tractor but it has the boom bucket mounted in the front connected to two booms. This is then mainly used to dump the material that the backhoe has dug up. Loaders can range in size from smaller tractor sized ones to quite big ones. You can then combine these two into a backhoe loader, so you have two machines in one. These machines are not big machines, but due to being so versatile they have become very popular, especially for smaller contracting jobs.

The drawback with combining it into one machine, is that the job takes longer time, as you first have to dig and then dump, while bigger projects will then have this split into a backhoe that digs and a loader that dumps. When it comes to tires for the backhoe, you would use earthmoving tires that are durable for the environment and conditions that you have at this work sites. As you can imagine the backhoe tires need much more stability than a loader, also as grip is important for both, the backhoe work is more static, while the loader and the backhoe loaders will need to have grip as it fills the boom in forward motion and then good load bearing properties, grip and traction as you drive with the material to a dump truck or to the site where the material should be dumped.

For much bigger jobs you would then have an excavator doing the digging work and a larger wheel loader to transport away the material. Use the technical tire manual to assist you in the tire selection and the dimensions, so that you choose the correct tire for the circumstances and jobs that you will need to complete. If the jobs are small and the timeline is not so strict, the backhoe loader is a perfect piece of equipment, which great versatility to get the job done.

For more information regarding backhoe tires, visit us: Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd