Customers Discuss the Benefits of TyrFil’s Improved Tire Performance and Longer Life Expectancy
Bryan Furnace, host of the Equipment World podcast, caught up with TyrFil customers and OTR equipment operators this past Spring to get their perceptions on the value of “foam fill” tire flatproofing technology. Customers shared their insights and demonstrated how TyrFil™ flatproofing is changing the equation for rental equipment companies and OTR vehicle operating—and helping them to save time, money, and headaches on the job.
TyrFil has been the leading “foam fill” technology brand for the past 50 years. Founded in 1971, the company laid the groundwork for an innovative new technology that eliminates unwanted tire flats in off-the-road tires—making heavy equipment vehicle operation more reliable, fiscally efficient, and significantly less hazardous for operators and drivers. Using TyrFil “foam” fill, essential equipment, such as bulldozers, excavators, skid steers, telehandlers, and other heavy commercial vehicles, essentially becomes impervious to tire flats in the field when drivers operate over typical worksite discard and debris such as glass, nails, rocks and even rebar that can plague air-filled pneumatic tire users.
Plus, “foam-filled” tires offer a more comfortable, smoother, and airlike ride—offering myriad ergonomic advantages for drivers, who often spend 8 hours or more behind the wheel. This helps to defray risk of the real medical condition called Whole Body Vibration, or “WBV,” that is more common when operating vehicles outfitted with solid aperture tires. It can also help to decrease liability for construction and transportation companies by simply keeping workers safer on-the-job and reducing cross-axle, G-force vibration in the cab.
Additionally, TyrFil offers a host of sustainable benefits because it allows operators to repurpose, retread and reuse tire carcasses for extended longevity. The use of “foam fill”, in turn, helps to prevent additional refuse from flooding our nation’s already overcrowded landfills from excess solid tire discard—lowering carbon emissions and the risk of environmentally toxic “tire fires.”
These bottom-line and operational advantages were just a few of the topics that Furnace discussed with attendees at this year’s CONEXPO in Las Vegas, when he asked real TyrFil customers what they valued most about the technology. Here are some of their responses when he asked them about the many benefits of TyrFil flatproofing:
Customer Brian Finz (of Heavy Duty Tire located in Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania)
When asked by Equipment World host Bryan Furnace about the advantages of using TyrFil over pneumatic or solid tires:
TyrFil maximizes the life of the tire. It provides a good ride, a firm foundation for the machine to operate and keeps the machine up and running for maximum uptime. And, not only that, but the ride quality is, in a lot of cases, better than on an air tire, because the air tire will bounce when it goes over something, causing the machine to be a little less stable…whereas TyrFil keeps everything the way it should be. With a lot of equipment providers, they choose foam filled tires because they provide a more stable base, especially on a boom lift or telehandler where they want that weight and stability.
When asked about the benefits of TyrFil for the rental industry:
The equipment rental industry is all about equipment utilization. Operators want their equipment running, where their customers are able to use it. Nothing’s worse than having equipment on rent and it goes down because of a flat tire. It also stops operators just damaging tires and getting themselves injured and hurt on a job site.
When asked about customer feedback in his operation:
We find that compared to a solid tire, TyrFil is just much more versatile. You can use it on a soft surface, hard surface and you’re not going to sink or dig into the ground. We find, especially in Florida where there’s a lot of sugar sand, a solid tire will just dig itself into a hole and the machine’s not usable at that point. You have to pull it out with a loader…so we convert a lot of solid units over to foam field units when they come into Florida and are utilized on soft grounds. And personally, we run all our forklifts in our shop with foam filled tires, so we don’t destroy my own yard and asphalt.
Dennis Schellenberg also of Heavy Duty Tire.
When asked by Furnace about the recyclability of foam filled TyrFil tires:
We offer the product to our customers and bring the old assemblies back once they have been used so that we can recycle the foam fill material inside. Plus, we reuse the wheels. So, we’re able to have a Wheel Exchange Program for our customers and we are saving the environment.
Jose Manuel of Motorman (Chile, South America).
When asked by Furnace about blow-out concerns:
With TyrFil, the foam-filled option, one of the advantages is that you don’t lose the properties of air. It has some deflection and suspension, so it’s a more attractive solution. Another problem we have when using tires with air is that we need to take care of the spare parts. With a rough flat tire, when the tire is repaired, it is not beside the job site. So, you need to take the tire, take it out and that’s a long time your unit is not making profit. Also, you need to take care of the spare tires that in many job sites, when you have many units, disappear—so you have one more problem. If you have your tire with a foam filled, it’s a problem you don’t have anymore. So, it is THE solution.
When asked about feedback on foam fill tires from his customers:
Since we started also selling to customers, we are seeing how happy they are with the solution. One of the customers, for example, told us a story which reflects the ride performance of the tire fill solution. He has a fleet of telehandlers, a few with solid tires and the other ones with foam. One morning when the operators arrived, some arrived earlier to make sure to catch one of the units with TyrFil, because the operator was more comfortable riding on that technology. So, it really makes the difference. And for the operator, which at the end has some power in the final decision about a purchase, the operator is going to have a problem if his vehicle has a flat tire.
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According to Furnace, customer feedback on TyrFil technology speaks for itself: “It’s a testament to the product that you have an operator who’s giving up extra minutes of sleep so that he can get to the job site a little early to make sure he gets the foam fill product as opposed to the solid tire product.”
These are just a few examples of the many ways that tire fill customers love our Carlisle TyrFil technology. If your operation is looking to manage a more productive revenue stream and bottom-line—and keep your equipment safer and operating more efficiently—make sure to learn more about our sustainable, premium TyrFil flatproofing technology.
Listen to the whole video here.
The Carlisle TyrFil Team
