Claas tractor ‘walks’ on water

Not something to try at home but Mitas tyres recently helped a Claas Axos 320 tractor to ‘walk’ on water. The unusual stunt was carried out in the Netherlands with the tractor running on Mitas 1250/50 R 32 SFTs (Super Flexion Tyre) at the rear and 750/55 R 30 SFTs up front. Without the massive flotation tyres the tractor would have sunk, but thanks to careful calculation and Archimedes’ principle the tractor successfully navigated the port and then returned to dry land without the captain getting his feet wet. “Flotation tyres can not only turn a farm tractor into a yacht but can also increase crop yields by reducing compaction in the field,” said Mitas agricultural tyre product manager Pavel Kott. “It is all about flotation. The combined volume of air in the tyres (2,157 litres in each 1250/50 R 32 SFT and 685 litres in a 750/55 R 30 SFT at a nominal pressure of 2.4 bar) allowed a 4-tonne tractor to walk on water. Imagine the gentle distribution of the weight on land.” The overall weight of the Axos tractor with a full tank of fuel, front fronts and driver, was just over 4 tonnes. Designed for fitting to chaser bins, combine harvesters and other powerful farm machines, the 2.02m-diametre 1250/50 R 32 SFT can carry loads of up to 14 tonnes, and at 571kg is the heaviest tyre currently available from the company.