Trelleborg hosts Field Day, soil protection forum in Heilongjiang, China

Trelleborg has presented its agricultural products in a Field Day demonstration and hosted a forum focused on soil protection and sustainable development on Hongxing Farm, Heilongjiang, China. The 21 May event hosted more than 400 visitors, comprising professional farmers, tractor dealers, trade media and associations, and professors and researchers from China Agricultural University, Northeast Agricultural University and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences Heilongjiang.

Andrea Manenti, country manager for China at Trelleborg Wheel Systems agricultural and forestry tyres, commented: “It’s vital for us to support sustainable farms, protect soil and to reduce fuel consumption. Trelleborg offers high performance radial tyre solutions in order to meet the stringent demands of the modern farm.

“It’s an honour for us to showcase to the wider industry how innovative tyres can protect the soil, reduce fuel consumption and increase yield crops. We hold a long-standing commitment to the development of the Chinese market and continue to support our customers with our local team and production facility in Xingtai.”

As part of its Field Day, Trelleborg hosted multiple field demonstrations highlighting the impact of speed and fuel consumption, footprint comparison, traction and soil compaction.

Its speed and fuel consumption test, comprised two John Deere 7830 tractors each with 3.5-metre width chisel, as well as the same transmission shift and RPM. However, one tractor was fitted with Trelleborg radial tyres TM600 420/90R30 and 480/80R46, while the other with X-ply tyres 16.9-30 and 18.4-46. Over a track of 200 metres, which contained soft and dry soil prepared for planting, the tractor with Trelleborg radial tyres saved eight seconds and 0.12 litres of fuel, equating to a 10.5 per cent fuel saving.

Therefore, if a tractor was to work for 2,000 Hectares per year, this would result in a saving of 63.5 hours and 16,354 RMB saving on fuel. According to Trelleborg estimates, this means that a farm with 100 tractors could save 6,350 hours and 1,635,400 RMB (£172,000) per annum.

Trelleborg also carried out a footprint demonstration, using the same tractors. A load of 3,200kg was placed on a single tyre on the tractor’s rear axle. Trelleborg’s TM600 480/80R46 tyre pressure was 1.4 Bar and its footprint was 5,356 cm2, while the X-ply tyre 18.4-46 pressure was 2.1 Bar and its footprint was 3,071 cm2. The result was that the footprint of the Radial tyre increased by as much as 74 per cent, resulting in less soil compaction, higher yield, more traction and increased efficiency. Professor Liu Liyi from Northeast Agricultural University collected soil compaction data which revealed that soil compaction is considerably higher with X-ply tyres.

As for the pulling demonstration, a John Deere 9520 tractor was pulled by two John Deere 7830 tractors connected with a steel rope on a pulley with the same transmission shift and RPM. One tractor was fitted with TM600 420/90R30 (tyre pressure is 1.2 bar) and 480/80R46 (tyre pressure is 1.4 bar). The other was fitted withTM800 540/65R30 (tyre pressure 0.8 bar) and 650/65R42 (tyre pressure 0.8 bar). The second tractor completed a 200 metres track up to seven metres ahead of the other. This was because wider tyres have a larger contact area which more efficiently transfers the power of the tractor to the ground, providing superior traction.

Following the field demonstrations, Trelleborg then held its ‘Soil Protection & Sustainable Development Forum’, during which Manenti discussed sustainable development in Europe and the need for the agricultural industry to produce more, with less.

Dr Qiuju Wang from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Heilongjiang also took to the stage to discuss soil conditions and protection. This highlighted the importance of educating farming professionals to better understand the condition of their soil and the need to protect it.

Shuqi Shang, dean of Qingdao Agricultural University, chairman of International Association on Mechanisation of Field Experiments (IAMFE), also discussed the impact of agricultural machinery on soil and improvement. This revealed that soil compaction can cause a 3.8-13.4 per cent reduction of soya bean, a 9.5 -16.2 per cent reduction of corn / maize and 4.0-20.0 per cent reduction of wheat.