One of the most common questions we get at Midwest Sidewalls is: “Why should I buy sidewalls when I can get whole tires for free from the local tire shop?”
It is a valid question. Farming is a low-margin business, and “free” is a powerful word. However, in the world of silage management, free tires often come with a hidden, jagged cost: Steel Wire.
To understand why, you have to understand the difference between Bias Ply sidewalls and Radial tires.
The Anatomy of a Radial Tire
Most modern car and truck tires are Radial. They are engineered for highway speeds and smooth rides. To achieve this, manufacturers embed belts of steel wire into the rubber, including the sidewall area.
As these tires sit on your bunker, exposed to UV sun in the summer and freezing ice in the winter, the rubber degrades. Eventually, the steel wires begin to poke out. We call them “whiskers.”
- The Danger: When you handle these tires, the wires tear up your gloves and hands. But worse, as the tire crumbles, small pieces of high-tensile steel wire fall into your silage.
The Potential for Hardware Disease in your Cattle
When that steel wire ends up in the TMR mixer, it gets chopped and hidden inside a mouthful of ration. If a cow swallows it, the metal settles in the reticulum (the second stomach).
Because of the stomach’s contractions, the wire can puncture the stomach wall and even pierce the heart sac. This is Hardware Disease (Traumatic Reticuloperitonitis). It causes pain, infection, dropped milk production, and often death. A single lost cow costs significantly more than a pallet of proper sidewalls.
The Solution: Nylon Bias Ply Sidewalls
At Midwest Sidewalls, we specialize in sourcing and cutting Bias Ply truck tires.
- Nylon Construction: Bias ply tires are an older, heavy-duty design used for off-road and heavy equipment. They typically use layers of nylon fabric for strength, not steel wire mesh in the sidewall.
- Clean Cut: When we cut a bias ply tire, the edge is rubber and nylon. No steel whiskers. No rust. No risk.
Engineered for Handling
Beyond safety, bias ply sidewalls are simply built tougher. They are stiffer than radials, meaning they hold their shape better when handled by our tire shooters or a grapple bucket. They don’t flop around like a radial car tire, making them easier to stack and store in the off-season.
The Verdict
The “free” radial tire isn’t free if it costs you a vet bill or a high-producing cow. It isn’t free if your employees refuse to throw tires because they keep getting cut by rusty wires.
We take the guesswork out of the equation. Our sidewalls are inspected, processed, and ready for work on modern dairy farms. Read more about the risks of hardware disease from sources like Kansas State University to understand why this small detail matters so much.
Protect your herd. Choose bias ply sidewalls from the experts in Curtiss, WI. Call us at (715) 613-5051 to order a safe set of weights for this season.