Equipment Report

The distributor of TY Cushion tires has been working with equipment dealers to ensure that demolition and recycling industry buyers of wheel loaders are aware that they can get their new loaders delivered with the solid, soft-ride TY Cushion tires in place.

"It can be a positive for the dealer to provide upgraded tires initially," says Jerry Bruner of Advance. "It’s certainly better for the customer to have reliable TY tires as original equipment instead of ruining a set of radial tires, and it reflects well on the dealer as well," he comments.

Bruner has been working with dealers such as Penn-Jersey Machinery, Somerville, N.J., which sells Volvo wheel loaders to customers in a number of markets, including construction, demolition and scrap recycling.

"Advance Tire has demonstrated a real ability to serve our needs and the needs of our customers," says Sean Collins, scrap and recycling specialist with Penn-Jersey Machinery. In the industries he serves, Collins says "solid tires are the only option, and Advance Tire has become our predominant supplier—almost our exclusive supplier—for solid tires."

Bruner and the dealership have been able to work together to offer buyers in those markets an overall package designed for tough duty that includes TY Cushion tires. "If buyers are going to opt for guard packages to protect the hoses and undercarriage and a special bucket, don’t forget the tires designed for tough applications," says Bruner. In many cases, the cost of the TY Cushion tires can also be rolled into the overall purchase cost during financing.

Advance will also work with new equipment buyers directly by offering them trade-in value for their radial tires, with that value subtracted from the cost of their first set of TY Cushion tires. "Either way, the idea is to allow the customer to have it equipped from the start with the tires that will allow him to run that machine without downtime," says Bruner. He adds that there is no cost for specialized rims for the solid tires, as TY solid tires mount directly onto the manufacturers’ OEM rims.

He notes that one recent customer purchased two new loaders, and the first one he received was equipped with the TY Cushion tires. "The operations manager didn’t notice it at first, but the second one that arrived did not have TY tires. They kept the standard tires on, and six months later they had to buy a new set."

Another example Bruner notes is that of a C&D recycler in Massachusetts who purchased a Caterpillar 966G loader with TY cushion tires in 2002, and now has 10,000 operating hours on the original set of TY tires. "That initial investment in those tires was rolled into the financing for that machine, so subsequently, he hasn’t spent a dime more on tires in six years," Bruner remarks.

At the same time these customers are buying a sturdier set of tires for OEM equipment, they can also benefit long term from purchasing Advance Tire’s re-capping service to further extend the life of the tires, or by taking part in a trade-in program for re-capped tires. "In most cases, re-capping TY tires for wheel loaders can be done a number of times, really helping the customer to get extended life from the same set of tires," says Bruner.

He comments that a solid tire with the proper recapping program can outlast several sets of pneumatic or foam-filled tires. "In a time when everyone is thinking green, that adds up to a lot fewer tires that end up in the scrap pile," says Bruner.

More information on Advance Tires can be found on the Web at www.advancetires.com.