Description

Hi-Flex Wedge Profile Tyre –

Width 80mm OD 18

Hi – Flex Wedge Profile Tyre – 80mm Wide – 18 inches diameter

Tyre – 80mm wide mid range wedge Hi-Flex tyre. This tyre is a medium pressure tyre suited to wet and sticky conditions. Tyre will give good average results across a range of soil and climatic conditions. Tyre is good for moisture seeking and seed pressing in most conditions. Tyre has a tendency to leave paddocks rough, which is a necessity of the moisture channelling. This tyre is well suited to most seeding methods, points and boots. Not recommended in very rough or very abrasive soils (see semi solid or solid variants of this tyre)  For combo wet/dry conditions see the Semi-Pneumatic version of this tyre.

This particular tyre is very popular and widely used in many applications on many different machine and assembly types. This tyre shape will generally give you the best average result across a range of soil types, moisture levels and crop types.  This tyre also has good durability when used for wet seeding and will clean very well. This tyre is optimised for 100% wet seeding.  Tyre should never be used in rocky conditions or for dry seeding.  This type of tyre is mostly used on parallelogram machines where cleanability in heavy soils is an issue.  Most customers using this tyre also have a second set for harder conditions or deep drilling.

The tyre creates a nice moisture channel and the flat tip pushes the row of seed down into the soil where the moisture will funnel into.  The tyre also compresses any loose dry soil which also assists in keeping the area around the soil moist.  If you are seeding into existing moisture then the tyre will press the seed down into that moisture.  All of the features are important to getting early germination, getting the crops established early and taking full availability of existing and future soil moisture.

As per above we make 4 versions of this tyre;

• Semi-pneumatic for mixed wet/dry seeding
• Hi-Flex a very soft flexible for very sticky soils, popular on Parallelogram Planting machines.  Not to be used for dry seeding.
• Semi-Solid, a high durability soft rubber tyre, designed for higher levels of dry seeding and abrasive soils.  The soft rubber still gives the tyre some flex.
• Solid, a very high durability tyre for hard soils and rocks (limestone).  Has very little flex so won’t work well in sticky soils.

Why 18″ vs 15″ ? The main reason is more historical.  the 18″ tyres are more popular in NSW and Queensland.  Yes they do handle heavy sticky soils better and they are better when you are deep drilling down at 5″.  But I think farmers like to buy what they are used to seeing other farmers use, ie safety in numbers.  Most of the early press wheels used in NSW and Queensland were 17″ to 18″ and so that trend has continued and each time a farmer buys a new set of press wheels based on what they see other farmers using they are adding to the tradition.  There are also some well known brands that also like to use the 18″ wheels.  Knuckeys, Multi-Farm, Gessner, Simplicity and all Manutec standard gang press wheels and gang conversion press wheels use the 18″ wheels.  The 18″ wheels can also be used on all of Manutec’s different types of press wheel assemblies.  One note here is that on our gangs and gang conversions we only recommend the high durability  semi-solid and solid tyres as gangs are much harder on tyres than other assembly types.  We would never fit a H-Flex to a gang and rarely fit semi-pneumatics.

There are also other size versions of these tyres, including 15″, 16″ and also a high sidewall option (reduces rooster tailing).  Plus we do a variety of other wedge shapes in different widths and sizes as well.  The narrow widths are used for deep drilling in NSW and Queensland mostly and the wider widths are popular in sandy soils to help with furrow sidewall collapse and also for paired and split row seeding.

What many users do not understand is where the humble press wheel tyre sits on the order of importance when it comes to improving crops.  For many years the entire concept of press wheels was not accepted by farmers at all.  Then when it was accepted many systems that were fitted got a bad name and reputation for not working.  Why ?  Mostly because the tyre that was fitted was not suitable for the environment that it was being used in.  If the tyre had been correct, the systems would have worked.  So the message here is that all of the expensive steel work that carries the press wheel is just that.  It is the humble press wheel tyre that is the critical component.  Manutec has taken many unworkable systems from our competitors and turned them into systems that work out in the paddock as they should.  If you have a system that is not working for you, ie you bought a seeder from WA and you are trying to make it work in NSW or a machine built for North American farming conditions, talk to Manutec and we can give you some options for you to use or to trial to get things working properly.

In the more information section below is a Tyre Information and selection pdf.

When measuring tyres we use the outside diameter of the tyre, so when we refer to this as a 18 inch tyre it means that the outside diameter of the tyre is approximately 18-19 inches.

Note semi-pneumatic tyres do not need to have air pumped into them and have no valves.  The semi-pneumatic effect is created by a hollow air cavity inside the tyre.  When the two rim halves are clamped together on to the tyre it seals the air cavity and creates a pneumatic like feel/bounce .

Class Name	Value
Diameter	490MM (18″)
Environment 1	CLAY/STICKY SOIL
Purpose	HIGH PRESSURE MOISTURE SEEKING
Type	HI-FLEX
Weight	3.50KG
Environment 3	NON ABRASIVE SOILS/WET SOWING
Environment 2	WET SAND/LOAM
Shape	MED WEDGE
Material	SOFT RUBBER WITH HOLLOW
Width	80MM

PDF Downloads

https://ag.manutec.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Press-wheels-info-sheet.pdf