Michelin high-tech agricultural tyres help negotiate ‘difficult’ harvest

The performance of Michelin’s CerexBib 2 has “proven its worth” in helping York crop farmer Wharram and Kay through a difficult, rain-soaked harvest. The framer fit the VF 900/60 R38 CFO+ 193A8/B and VF 620/70 R30 CFO+ 175A8 to its New Holland CR8.90 combine following advice and support from local Michelin account manager Ian Whitwell. The wet weather has had a major impact on productivity throughout large parts of the United Kingdom.

Co-owner Roger Kay says: “This was the first year we had these new tyres in operation. It was Ian who recommended them to us and visited the farm to ensure we had them set up correctly.

“We were grateful we had this latest technology in place, because it has been a very difficult harvest. The fields were saturated, but the CerexBib 2 tyres enabled us to operate, perhaps when otherwise we may not have been able to.”

Benefiting from Michelin’s Ultraflex technology, the CerexBib 2 range is designed specifically for large harvesting machinery. The tyres can operate at very low pressures – 45 per cent lower than a non-CFO standard radial tyre – creating a 15 per cent larger footprint than its predecessor, ensuring soil damage is kept to an absolute minimum.

“Despite the wet weather the impact on our fields was limited,” says Kay. “The tyres run at low pressure, so they don’t cut into the soil as much, enabling establishment of our next crop to take place using shallow, minimal tillage techniques.

“If we drove a big heavy machine and it left a groove five, six, seven inches deep it would damage that ground, which would restrict the soil being able to support the life of new seeds.”

Kay has also been impressed with the performance of the tyres on the road, when moving his harvester from one location to the next. “Although we have them set at far lower pressures than the tyres we ran in the past, the CerexBib 2 fitments were actually much more stable and gave a more comfortable drive when I was transporting the combine down the road,” he says. “These new tyres have really proven their worth.”