The Alliance Agristar 374, a new R-2 radial tire for muddy rice and sugar cane fields from the Alliance Tire Group, combines deep-lug traction with a smooth ride on the road. With its unique tread bar design—more than 3 inches deep—the new tire features a pair of “step” reinforcements to reduce lug movement and heat buildup while delivering the tractor’s torque to soft ground, according to a news release.
This stable footprint exerts great traction in mud and even long-lasting performance on the road. The Agristar 374 lug also features a flat tread profile, as well as a wide nose that creates a dense center line to keep the tire steady and smooth on the road while minimizing irregular tread wear from pavement.
The carefully engineered sidewalls flex to maintain a flat tread profile for the fully loaded tire, increasing the tire’s ability to convey engine horsepower to the ground and reducing wear. That’s a significant contrast to the high-crowned conventional R-2 design, which digs a deep rut in soil and wears quickly in the center on pavement.
When Alliance wanted to re-invent the deep-tread R-2 rice and cane tire, they went to Brinkley, Arkansas, to sit down with tire dealer Bruce Proctor and sketch out the perfect tire.
Proctor was there in the late 1960s when the first R-2s were field-tested in the heavy Arkansas soil, and 50 years later, he had definite ideas about what his customers needed.
He worked closely with Alliance’s global team — including product managers, engineers and designers crafting the mold-making plans — to help the company create the new tire.
Alliance has launched the Agristar 374 R-2 in a range of sizes popular in the rice and sugar cane markets, including 480/80R46, 480/70R34, 420/90R30, 520/85R42, 520/85R46 and 480/80R50.