Michelin’s Multibib Debuts in North America

Farmers in North America are now able to benefit from a tyre that has seen action across the pond since late 2006. Michelin’s replacement for the popular low profile XM108, the Multibib, debuts across this market in February 2008.

Marketed in North America as a replacement tyre for four-wheel-drive and mechanical-front-wheel-assist tractors and as a dual option for combines, the Multibib offers a tread width 10 per cent greater than that of the XM108. Michelin North America Agricultural Tires segment manager Stan Chandgie comments that a key benefit derived from the Multibib is the ability to deliver a larger footprint without the additional expense of larger wheel rims. With a bigger footprint equalling enhanced flotation and traction and reduced wheel slip, the Multibib enables operators to capitalise on lower inflation pressures – leading to reduced soil compaction.

“We put a lot of research into the development of the Multibib radial,” Chandgie says. “These tyres are engineered to provide benefits that farmers can see in an improved bottom line.” The segment manager adds that the Multibib’s footprint is 25 per cent larger than standard tractor radials, and when run as a dual tyre on a combine it provides a 30 per cent larger footprint. “On combines, the greater flotation this innovative tyre delivers lets you harvest in wet field conditions with less field damage. And when you run Multibib tyres on your tractors this spring, you’ll experience better traction and reduced wheel slip that leads to better overall productivity.”

One of the first in the US to discover the Multibib’s advantages was Mike Moore. No, not the crusading filmmaker of indifferent deportment – our Mike is an Indiana grain farmer running Michelin Multibib tyres on both a John Deere 9510 combine harvester and a John Deere 4440 tractor he uses in mowing and hay baling operations. “With hay, you’re running over the field four or five times with each cutting, so you’re definitely worried about soil compaction and rutting. But once we started using the Multibib tyres, you couldn’t tell in the ground where you’d been,” Moore says. “It’s the same with our combine. We used to have 18.4 R38 tyres on it, and you could always see where the combine had been driven. But when we switched to these Multibib tyres, you couldn’t tell at all.”

Moore farms across an area that stretches 20 miles south of his main farm and 10 miles north. Thus the tyre’s road friendliness has been a key factor for him. “We cover a lot of road,” Moore says. “The Michelin tyres make a big difference. The ride in the field is definitely a lot better, but going down the road is where you really notice it. And if the tractor sits for a week, other tyres seem to get flat spots, but Michelin isn’t like that. You just turn on the engine and go, and you have a smooth ride.”

A total of 17 sizes of the Multibib have been released in North America, and Michelin reports that at present it is the only 65 series tire in North America available with a “D” speed rating.