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To monitor or not monitor?

Michael Vanaman (pictured right, with his son, Jesse) says Van’s Tire & Service is now serving the grandchildren of original customers that his dad took care of when he opened his rst store. “As the only location owned and operated by our family, we plan to continue to do things as our founder — my dad — did,” adds Michael.

Photo: MTD

“I knew that he would help me with the adjustments required as an owner. He didn’t let me down and was right by my side the entire time.” e elder Vanaman had arranged for Michael and his wife to buy the business “over a period of years.” at was more than three decades ago and Michael says he still runs the store in a similar manner as his father did.

“I feel that if it’s not broken, then don’t x it. My dad never pressured people to buy and rather than look for a quick buck, he always kept looking at the bigger picture.”

Michael says that Van’s Tire & Service has always been particular about what it carries in inventory.

Yearly, Van’s Tire & Service’s Manchester location — which has seven bays and employs 10 people — sells about 5,000 tires and has a ratio of 60% tire sales to 40% auto service. e busy dealership performs all undercar services at its locations.

“I’ve had opportunities to sell the company over the years and selling out sounded pretty good” at various times, says Michael.

“So I sat down with my son and my son-in-law and said, ‘Unless you guys want it, I will probably sell.’ Both of them said, ‘We want to keep it as grandpa’s legacy.’

“Some of these companies might have made attractive deals, but family is the most important thing to me.”

Michael’s son, Jesse, was “trained from the ground up” within the business.

When he first started, he changed tires and oil and ran customers home if their cars were needed overnight.

“Jesse wouldn’t just drive them home. He would get to know them and build a relationship with them.”

REEVALUATING WORK AND LIFE

In May 2016, a re broke out at Van’s Tire & Service’s Manchester store during the workday. Although there were no injuries, the re caused Michael to “reconsider his life.” e dealership used to be open six days a week, Monday through Saturday. A er the re, Michael made the decision to permanently close his store on Saturdays.

Before this, Van’s Tire & Service was already in the process of reducing its Saturday hours. It started by closing at 3 p.m., then closing at 2 p.m. and then closing at 1 p.m. until the dealership closed on Saturdays altogether.

“When we worked six days a week, we would have high and low spurts throughout the day,” says Michael.

“Now that we are open ve days a week, we seem to be steadily busy throughout the day. is is a decision that we have never regretted.

“It allows myself and all of our employees to spend quality time with their families each and every weekend.”

Van’s Tire & Service draws the majority of its customers from the local community, according to Michael. But the company has a handful of customers who make the trek back to Van’s Tire & Service, even though they live far away from the dealership.

“I have a customer who lives far into Pennsylvania,” says Michael. “When he needs tires, he won’t go anywhere else but here.”

Another perk of keeping the business within the family is that the Vanamans get to see the next generations of their longtime customers.

Michael says Van’s Tire & Service is now serving the children and grandchildren of original customers that his dad took care of when he opened his rst store.

“As the only location owned and operated by our family, we plan to continue to do things as our founder did.”

AG TIRE MARKET BUILDS ON MOMENTUM HEADING INTO 2023

By Mike Manges

Demand for ag tires in North America remains strong. But will this robust demand last? Representatives from various ag tire manufacturers weigh in on the topic in this MTD exclusive. ey also provide a snapshot of the ag tire segment in 2022, discuss trends in tires and equipment and look ahead to dynamics that will impact the ag tire segment in the coming year.

MTD: What was ag tire demand like in 2022 and why?

ARVIND PODDAR, chairman and managing director, Balkrishna

Industries Ltd. (BKT): Worldwide and in the United States, demand for ag tires in replacement was very strong in 2022.

As a rollover from 2021 and post-COVID-19, demand surged for all kinds of tires, especially ag radials. e reasons are many. e major one is pent-up demand, post-COVID-19, which contributed to the overall growth of agriculture. e other reason is supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic and hence, uncertain/higher needs. e energy crisis in Europe and war in Ukraine, if not resolved, may become another factor to cause a new disruption.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, we expect a better balance, with supply meeting the higher demand for BKT tires. In the original equipment ag market, there appears to be a slight short supply for tires, from the demand we are seeing.

RYAN LOETHEN, president, CEAT Specialty Tires, North

America: Ag tire demand was once again o the charts in 2022. Everything brought in by CEAT was sold immediately. Demand in the less-than-100 horsepower (tractor) market was up, as well as demand in the high-horsepower market. ere was a shortage of tires at all levels of OEM consumption. However, in September a glut of tires hit the market, driving up inventory and lowering prices. is glut, coupled with the state of the U.S. economy, caused a temporary pause in new orders.

However, I expect this to be temporary and the market will consume the large in ux of tires. It will take a few months to straighten out.

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“Demand for ag tires in replacement was very strong in 2022,” says Arvind Poddar, chairman and managing director of BKT.

Photo: BKT

DANA BERGER, ag business development manager, Conti-

nental Commercial Specialty Tires: Demand was up in 2022, with many tire dealers seeing an 8% to 10% increase in unit sales over prior year.

Some tire manufacturers are still ful lling orders from 2021 and it’s likely that a portion of the increased sales is really due to a back ll of old orders. at assumption aside, there is no shortage of equipment in the eld and equipment manufacturers are also reporting increased sales, which has a direct, positive impact on the tire business.

TONY ORLANDO,president, Firestone Agriculture Tire, U.S.

and Canada: We have seen strong demand for ag tires dating back to the fourth quarter of 2020.

In 2022, we’ve experienced a stretch where ag equipment in the eld has aged and it’s time to purchase new equipment. at has resulted in new equipment being sold with new farm tires.

In the a ermarket, supply shortages or other factors are o en preventing farmers from replacing their old equipment. Instead, they are extending the life of their existing equipment as much as they can. Collectively, that has resulted in strong demand for ag tires, as well as year-over-year growth.

MIKE CONNOR, director of sales, North America, Global

Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd. (GRI): Ag tire demand should increase in the a ermarket (due to) pent-up demand. A ermarket demand will increase as farmers will need tires for their equipment through the planting and harvest season.

“Agriculture is necessary,” says Blaine Cox, national product manager, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America Inc.

Photo: Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America

GREG GILLAND, vice president of global manufacturing,

Maxam Tire North America: Global ag tire demand has remained high due to climate change impacting crop output, the growing planetary population and the impact of war.

Over the last three years, we have seen unprecedented prices for all primary global crops — corn, soybeans, rice and wheat — delivering farmers and growers with high nancial returns on their yields. is trend continued throughout 2022, despite escalating operational costs, such as fuel, fertilizer and tires. e nal yields for 2022 have not been fully calculated, but the global forecast of crop yields is preliminarily indicating potentially lower yield results, which will inevitably sustain commodity prices well into 2023.

DAVID GARDEN, agriculture global account manager,

Michelin North America Inc.: Michelin sees demand in North America remaining very strong in 2022 for agricultural tires, just as it was in 2021. e global replacement markets, which were buoyant in the rst half, started to slow down in the third quarter, while OE demand was boosted over the quarter by the improved availability of components and parts. e main reasons are due to a rise in farm income in 2021 — meaning that farmers are able to perform more maintenance and replace old or worn tires more readily.

Also there is still a larger spill-over demand in 2022 from 2021 due to the continued logistical issues the entire industry has experienced.

BILL DASHIELL, senior vice president of product marketing for commercial tires, TBC Brands LLC: Despite challenges carrying over from 2021, pent-up demand rapidly became satis ed as the supply chain improved. Today, we are seeing relatively at demand as dealers work through inventory and prepare for the spring selling season. was excellent during the first half of 2022. It was approaching some of the strongest levels we have seen in recent history.

Honestly, some of it felt like panic buying, with wholesalers and dealers loading up on inventory while they felt they could get it.

OE demand has stayed on a strong trajectory. e second half appeared to slow down slightly for many of our dealers and distributors as they reviewed their inventory position following deliveries from the rst half.

But tires are going out the door. ere’s still strong demand for farm tires.

Agricultural input costs increased, but so did commodity prices, so farmers were making money and still buying tires. And assuming commodity prices stay strong through harvest, I think farmers will have cash to spend before the tax year ends. Some of that will be going into tires.

MTD: What are some of the big trends impacting the North American ag tire market?

PODDAR (BKT): According to reports and also our estimates, the agricultural tire market will continue to grow — more in line with the entire market and also retaining the central role in volume, as well as value. e contribution of new technologies is a major trend impacting the market — namely the integration of smart tires, matching on-tire sensors, data analytics for maintenance management and other operations, as well as the use of arti cial intelligence in manufacturing and related elds.

Also safe use of autonomous machines — as well as drones in farming — are among the top trends and technologies in uencing the ag tire market.

Increased use of high- exion (HF) and very high- exion (VF) tires on tractors and other agricultural machinery (and) increased acceptance of electric vehicles — including the need for specialty tires with higher weight loading and durability — are other macro-economic trends that are driving change in the agri segment.

LOETHEN (CEAT): Trends I see are an increase in demand for ag tires for the less-than-100 horsepower tractors. e growth in that market is driven by people leaving the cities and suburbs and farming on a smaller scale.

In the large sizes, I see VF becoming not the exception only used in top-end tractors, but the norm in all eld crop sizes.

BERGER (Continental): Smaller farms are being bought out or rented to large corporate entities. This isn’t terrible for the tire industry, because larger farms require more equipment — equaling a demand for more tires — or require additional roading of current equipment, which also equals more tires.

There is also a transition from IF to VF. The manufacturers involved in the race to tire pressure awareness took a half-step with IF tires, but are now taking the full leap to VF.

North American farmers still have a lot to catch up on when it comes to monitoring in ation on the road and in the eld, but this may change as the ‘big business’ farms are able to invest more in technologies behind in ation pressure.

ORLANDO (Firestone Ag): Like a lot of manufacturers, Firestone Ag has not been immune to interruptions in the supply chain — and that includes equipment and tire manufacturers. We are seeing OE customers — and even to some extent farmers — tending to purchase from local suppliers.

In the ag space, radial tires are slowly beginning to replace bias tires. In fact, radial tires now represent about 60% of the ag tire market, compared to 40% for bias. Demand for rubber tracks correlates with recent demand for ag tires, as well. Depending on your conditions and speci c operation, tracks can be more e cient for your equipment. at’s a space we plan to keep an eye on in the market.

CONNOR(GRI): IF and VF tires are still the biggest trend in the ag tire market. An up-and-coming trend will be more earth-friendly tires that are built in ecofriendly plants.

GILLAND (Maxam): e biggest machinery trend impacting the North American ag market is the evolution to larger and heavier equipment designed to operate larger implements, with the objective of increasing crop output and achieving improved productivity. e ag OEMs are steadily moving to wider, larger, taller and VF-technology tires capable of carrying more load faster (to) deliver improved traction while not compromising or increasing soil compaction, despite heavier gross vehicle weights.

Radial tire demand is increased by a rate of 15% year-over-year between OEM and a ermarket needs, as radial tires’ e ciency overcomes older bias technology.

Finally, improved farming income — thanks to higher crop prices — is driving farmers and growers to fundamentally adopt simple but improved technological solutions, such as larger radial tires.

GRADEN (Michelin): ere is a growing need for tires with advanced technologies for a reduction in soil compaction, overall e ciency improvement and reduction in fuel costs to help keep farms both pro table and productive going forward.

2022 Ag Tire Market Share by Segment and Brand

RADIAL REAR OE

Estimated shipments for 2022: 232,560

Firestone 37.5% Goodyear 29.5% Michelin 15.5%

BKT 7.0%

Titan 4.5%

Alliance 4.0% Trelleborg 1.0% Others 1.0%

Total 100.0%

SMALL OE

Estimated shipments for 2022: 355,980

Goodyear 25.5% Titan 19.0%

Firestone 16.0%

BKT 15.0%

Alliance 11.5%

Carlisle 9.0% American Farmer 2.0% Trelleborg 1.0% Others 1.0%

Total 100.0%

RADIAL REAR REPLACEMENT

Estimated shipments for 2022: 331,855

BKT 27.5% Firestone 25.0% Michelin 15.5% Goodyear 12.5% Alliance 9.0%

Titan 5.0%

CEAT 2.0% Harvest King 1.0% Trelleborg 1.0% Mitas 1.0%

Others 0.5%

BIAS REAR OE

Estimated shipments for 2022: 391,680

Titan 33.0% Firestone 28.5% Goodyear 22.0% Alliance 8.0% BKT 5.5% Trelleborg 1.5% Others 1.5% Total 100.0%

SMALL REPLACEMENT

Estimated shipments for 2022: 1.38 million Firestone 22.0% BKT 20.0% Goodyear 15.0% Titan 14.5% Harvest King 10.0% Carlisle 9.0% Alliance 6.0% Trelleborg 1.0% American Farmer 1.0% Deestone 1.0% Others 0.5% Total 100.0%

BIAS REAR REPLACEMENT

Estimated shipments for 2022: 443,290

BKT 39.5% Firestone 22.5% Alliance 13.5% Goodyear 7.0% Harvest King 7.0% Titan 5.0% Carlisle 1.5% CEAT 1.5% American Farmer 1.0% Trelleborg 1.0% Others 0.5% Total 100.0%