Nokian has drawn on its experience developing the Ground King dual-purpose tyre for tractors in creating a new version for compact wheeled loaders working on both hard and soft surfaces.

Like its tractor counterpart, the Ground King Loader tyre has a block tread that places a lot of rubber around the centre while mimicking a traditional traction tyre’s angled lugs.

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The objective of the Hybrilug design is to combine the best features of block and lug tread patterns, says product manager Kimmo Kekki.

“The Hybrilug blocks provide stability, even wear and smooth driving characteristics, while the angled lugs give a higher level of traction in mud and on loose surfaces than a block-only tread.”

Hybrilug pattern combines blocks and lugs © Nokian

Just one size is available so far, the 20.5 R25, which is a common dimension on compact loaders. This means it can replace worn “industrial” or traction-style rubber, as well as being fitted to new machines.

Load capacity at 2bar (29psi) is 3.98t for prolonged travel at up to 30kph and approaching 5.4t at 3bar (43psi). The maximum load for that speed is 7.3t at 4.6 bar (66psi).

With the 48mm deep tread wrapped around a steel-reinforced carcass belt, the tyre is designed to achieve a balance between load-carrying capacity and durability, and hard-wearing characteristics and traction, across different surfaces.