A Brief Background on Alliance Tires

The Alliance brand traces its roots to Israel in the 1950s. During its early years, the brand cranked out tires for nearly every category of vehicle, from cars to tractors. Alliance produced its first radial tire in 1980 and brought the ag industry’s first radial flotation tire to market in 1990. Alliance was also the first company to manufacture an agricultural tire rated for 40 miles per hour. Today, the brand designs, develops and sells tires in 120 countries worldwide.

Alliance Tires’ Whole Farm Concept

If you ever find yourself reading Alliance’s marketing materials, you’ll encounter what the brand calls its Whole Farm Concept. According to James Crouch, Alliance’s national segment manager for agriculture and forestry:

The whole farm concept goes back to about 2018. We really wanted to channel our energy a little bit and understand where we wanted the product line to go. We realized that the best thing we can do as a tire company is to help a farmer reduce soil compaction; that's our best lever for farmers to help them increase their profits, be more sustainable at the end of the day, and try to feed everybody. We're at just over 200 SKUs right now: 200 different options for VF tires in our portfolio, which is the best in the industry.

It’s true: Alliance has the deepest catalog of low-pressure tires of any tire brand in the world. There might not be an Alliance VF tire that fits a feed mixer or hay rake, but those aren’t the machines we’re concerned about when it comes to soil compaction. We’re talking sprayers, tractors, planters, harvesters, and large wagons and spreaders. 

The company’s thinking goes something like this: If you’re running low-pressure tires on one machine, why would you want to run high-pressure tires on other machines and cancel out any benefits from your one set of VF-rated tires? It’s a fair question, and one that gets the wheels turning. 

At NTS, we’re also big believers in tackling soil compaction, because severe soil compaction can reduce your yields. And any time you’re causing severe soil compaction, you’re probably also dealing with rutting, slow working speeds, and a host of other problems. 

Read More: Soil Compaction Costs You Yield, Fuel, and Time

The Alliance Tire Lineup 

It’s fairly easy to get a handle on Alliance’s tire lineup. While we’re not going to cover each and every tire the brand rolls out, we are going to hit the high points for you—the big sellers you’re likely to encounter when you’re shopping for tractor tires or other agricultural tires. 

Agriflex 

Agriflex is the brand name for Alliance’s premium IF- and VF-rated tires. The line is divided into Agriflex (IF rated) and Agriflex+ (VF rated) models. Agriflex tires feature steel belts across the line. The steel belts: 

• Help create a flat and uniform footprint when the tire is under load. 
• Keep the tires cooler than nylon, especially on the road. 
• Make the tires’ casings more durable to resist stubble punctures. 

All Agriflex tires carry a D speed rating, which is good for 40 miles per hour. They also feature what Alliance calls its Stubble Guard technology—rubber compounds engineered to resist the slow erosion and chunking of rubber caused by the organic rebar in your fields. All Agriflex tires boast an R-1W tread depth. 

Our verdict: Agriflex

This is one of our favorite tire lines. Agriflex tires compare very well to other premium VF tire options on the market. And Alliance does this at prices that are a lot easier for farmers to swallow than the price tags of some other premium tires. 

Agri Star II

Alliance began working on the Agri Star II lineup in 2016. According to James Crouch, the company’s goal was to design a standard radial tire that was a good value for the money but didn’t cut corners. 

The technology behind the Agri Star II is what Alliance refers to as Stratified Layer Technology. The tires’ lugs have two layers: 

• A top layer, which represents about 60% of the tread bar. 
• A bottom layer, which represents about 40% of the tread bar. 
• The bottom layer essentially reinforces the lug to prevent squirming and heat build-up, which can be a problem on deep R-1W treaded tires. 

The Agri Star II’s lugs are very vertical, as opposed to being broader and shorter, and are designed to maintain the traction of the tire even when it’s worn down by 60%. The tires’ overlapping lug centers also provide smoother roading—perfect for machines that need to spend significant time on the blacktop between fields. 

Alliance uses polyester to manufacture the Agri Star II’s casing, cords, and belts. According to James Crouch, many competitors in the Agri Star II’s price range use nylon. Polyester is more expensive, but is also stronger than nylon, so the company can use less raw materials while also providing a better ride and a flatter, more stable, and uniform footprint. Agri Star IIs are also D-rated for 40 miles per hour across the line. 

Our Verdict: Agri Star II

Alliance states that the Agri Star II provides the lowest cost per 32nd of tread in its category, and that it puts down a 14% larger footprint than comparable radial tires. In our experience, the company line is right on the mark. As long as you’re comparing tires with the same weight rating, the Agri Star II offers outstanding overall performance and matches or surpasses any other standard radial tire on the market. 

That’s not to say that there aren’t other excellent options available. Looking for a roading champion? You’ll want to take a serious look at Michelin. And in dry soil conditions, it’s hard to beat Firestone’s 23-degree tread for straight up lugging in the field. Overall, the Agri Star II is a top value tire for the money.

Farm Pro

The Alliance Farm Pro is a basic, budget tractor tire. It sports a similar multi-angle lug design as what you’d find on a premium radial tire. Alliance also reinforced the Farm Pro’s bead for durability and a snug fit on the rim. All Farm Pros are B rated for speeds up to 30 miles per hour. These are basic radials that are best mounted on secondary or smaller chore tractors.

Our Verdict: Farm Pro

The Farm Pro is competitive in a crowded marketplace. Along with the Farm Pro, Maxam is proving to be a great basic tractor tire, but at a slightly higher price point. BKT also has excellent tires in this segment; their quality and performance tends to run somewhere between the Farm Pro and Agri Star II, but also at slightly steeper prices. The best tire in this segment for your needs will often boil down to price and availability. 

Alliance Flotation Tires

Alliance offers a huge range of flotation tires for mounting on spreader trucks, tankers, and other large wagons. You can choose from almost every tread pattern you can think of in this category, from aggressive directional treads to patterns designed to create as little soil disturbance as possible. 

Many of the brand’s flotation tires feature steel belts, which is important in this class of tire because they tend to live in the mud. Punctures are actually more likely when tires are rolling around in the mud, and steel belts help protect against those catastrophic punctures from large rocks and other hazards. 

In our experience, the brand offers the best overall quality in the market in this product category. Models such as the Agriflex+ 389, the 398 MPT high-speed float, which offers a speed rating up to 60 miles per hour, and the 380 are a few of the popular tires. 

5 Favorite Alliance Tires

It’s hard to stay afloat when you wade into Alliance’s deep product line. In this article, we’ve outlined the most common models you’ll encounter when shopping for radial farm tires. Below are a few of our absolute favorite Alliance tires. 

The VF-rated Agriflex+ 372 ranks among our favorite tires for high-horsepower tractors involved in heavy pulling. It’s available in widths from 420 mm to 900 mm and includes CFO options, which are ideally suited for combines, harvesters, and wagons that undergo large swings in weight during normal operation. The 372’s beefy tread is designed to perform in wet conditions, which definitely comes in handy for spring and fall fieldwork in the Midwest. 

Like the 372, the Agriflex+ 354 puts down a long, flat footprint thanks to its steel belts and VF rating. This is a row crop tractor tire that can also double as a decent sprayer tire; its lugs are more closely spaced than the 372’s, which makes it a great tire for smooth and quiet roading. 

A fairly new member of the Agriflex Family, the Agriflex+ 377 expands Alliance’s VF technology into a large, purpose-built tire for harvesters, spreaders, and grain carts. Its shallower R-1 tread depth and rounded shoulders make it ideal for heavy machines that need to travel across sensitive soil and don’t need maximum traction. The shallower tread also helps the 377 stay cooler on the road and extend its tread life.

The Agriflex+ 381 is Alliance’s premium VF implement radial and is one of our favorite tires for large, heavy center-fill planters. Alliance designed this tire specifically for sensitive applications, where soil protection is a top priority. The tread is also designed to ward off stubble damage, and lugs on the tire’s shoulder help hold implements in place and eliminate excessive side-to-side off tracking. 

We’re breaking our own rules here—Agri Star II isn't a specific tire, it's an entire line. But we feel the whole line is worth a mention here because it competes very well with just about every other standard radial on the market and does so at prices that are very competitive. 

Alliance Tires Warranty Support

What if something goes wrong with an Alliance tire? Alliance covers all Agriflex and Agri Star II tires with 10-year prorated workmanship and materials warranty. Both tire lines also carry a 5-year stubble damage warranty. The Agri Star II also carries a 1-Year Assurance Pledge. This means that you can return any Agri Star II tire for up to one year and receive your money back if you are unhappy with its performance. Other Alliance products are covered by a 7-year workmanship and materials warranty and three-year stubble damage warranty. 

In the past, we generally found Alliance to be an outstanding brand for honoring warranty claims. In the last several years, it seems like nearly every brand has been trying to clamp down on claims to some degree. Actually, let’s just go ahead and say that it’s been rough. As far as Alliance is concerned, we’d put them in the middle of the pack along with most other tire brands. If we had to give a trophy for warranty awesomeness, the award would go to Goodyear. With everyone else, you’ll be glad that NTS has in-house warranty support, because we just may save you a headache. 

Our Final Word: Is Alliance a ‘Good’ Farm Tire Brand?

Among other tire brands in the agricultural industry, Alliance is definitely a leader. Not only for its dedication to manufacturing a VF tire for every piece of machinery that touches the soil, but also for consistency across its product lines. The Agriflex line ranks among the industry’s best choices when you’re looking for a high-performance VF tire for your high-horse tractor. The Agri Star II line can hold its own against any other standard radial. And so on. 

Alliance’s prices are generally mid pack—not nearly as expensive as a Michelin, for example, but not bargain basement either. In other words, Alliance tires are more than a fair performance value for what you pay. And our customers seem to agree. Over the past several years, Alliance has become our top-selling brand at NTS Tire Supply.

If you’re in the market for rubber for any of your farm machines, it pays to give NTS a call. If performance problems are dogging you in the field or on the road, call and speak with one of our tire experts. We sell all major brands of farm tires and specialize in helping farmers increase yields and solve equipment performance problems. We’ll connect you with the Right Tire System to Drive Your Farm Forward.