Page 137 - IT'S A RUM LIFE BOOK TWO "BOSTON 1960 TO 1970"

CHAPTER 17
“WE ACTUALLY GAVE TYRES AWAY”
During the time I worked for the Firestone Company from
their Lincoln Office in the late 1960’s, the company had some
considerable difficulty with a very new and totally different
type of rear tractor tyre.
As readers will be aware, rear tractor tyres are built to grip
into the earth so that the tractor itself can obtain the maximum
traction for the particular job it is doing.
Tractors also have to travel on the roads from time to time,
either going to and from fields or delivering produce from field
to farm. The rear tractor tyre at this time in its development
with its swept angle tread bars running across the face of the
tyre was not designed for long use on the highway.
In fact the tread bars themselves were normally made with
a higher quantity of actual rubber in their mix because natural
rubber has better elastic properties and allows the tread bar to
bend in use and give better traction.
Rubber as a natural product has no long wear
characteristics at all and it is only when mixed with various
other products, particularly synthetic rubber made from oil
that it can be made to last longer on modern abrasive road
surfaces.

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