Monitoring of front axle tyre wear is behind the decision of agricultural tyre maker Yokohama TWS to offer a 5,000-hour performance guarantee for selected Trelleborg tyres when factory-installed on the front axle of newly purchased Fendt tractors equipped with the VarioDrive stepless transmission.

Unlike the existing all-makes wear rate guarantee on selected rear tyre sizes, the new assurance for front tyres is exclusive to Fendt and to tractors with VarioDrive.

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First seen with the introduction of Fendt’s first-generation 1000-series tractors, the system differs from the original Vario transmission design in having separate drive to the rear and front axles, and electronic control that adjusts where torque is distributed.

In extreme situations, the two axles can be locked, but most of the time they are driven individually.

Fendt has always maintained that this minimises front axle tyre wear as well as optimising traction and power efficiency across varied situations, and now Trelleborg engineers appear to substantiate the reduced wear claim.

Replacement rubber

The guarantee offers a rebate against a new set of replacement Trelleborgs should the tyres in use have less than 20% of the original tread once the tractor has clocked up 5,000 hours.

Apart from the TM1060, it applies exclusively to tyres with the ProgressiveTraction tread design, which features a thicker lower section to the lug to more effectively resist deformation in heavy traction situations.

It creates a ledge on the front face that effectively increases the surface area of the lug to deliver more tractive effort.

Qualifying front axle tyres in addition to the TM1060 are the new TM800 ProgressiveTraction, and the TM900 and TM1000 with the special tread structure.

Tractors equipped with VarioDrive include the latest-generation 500 Vario Gen4 and 800 Vario Gen5, the newly upgraded 700 Gen7.1 and 1000 Gen4 models now reaching UK farms and contractors, and the 600 and 900 Gen7 machines.

The factory-fitted tyres must be registered online within 30 days of delivery at the Trelleborg Premium Care portal.