Agricultural
Taking stock of recent business at Titan International, Inc. (Titan or TWI), chairman of the board Morry Taylor opined that the company’s future is “the best it’s ever been.” He credits this happy situation to a number of global trends.
Kirkby Tyres’ stand in Lamma 2022’s Hall 9 focused on the comprehensive technical tyre support the large tyre specialist can offer to farmers and the Alliance Agri Star II. Kirkby Tyres is the exclusive partner of Yokohama Off-Highway Tires’ (YOHT) Alliance brand in the UK and Ireland, and it describes the tractor tyre as a great success. The company also displayed new sizes of the versatile Alliance 590 tyre for a broad range of transport applications, and the Alliance 372 VF and Alliance 389 VF tractor trailer tyres. On the latter tyres, Kirkby showed evidence presented by Danish SEGES Innovation which evidences the effective soil protection, and therefore yield increases, the tyre combination can achieve during the application of liquid manure.
Agricultural tyre brand Ascenso has appointed Gregg Foster, of Abbey Tyre Co and BA Bush, as the new Ascenso field and sales manager in the UK following a lengthy interview process. BAB Distribution, BA Bush’s wholesale arm which is the official distribution partner of the brand in the UK, and Ascenso jointly state that Foster performed excellently in the interview stage and his passion for the brand is what ultimately led to his appointment.
Lincolnshire-based Tathwell Farms has taken delivery of a New Holland T7.270 tractor and a Horsch Avatar 6.16 drill, both fitted with Michelin’s latest generation agricultural tyres, as part of an ongoing strategy to protect its soil and boost the sustainability of its operation. Supplied by local dealer Lincolnshire Motors, the T7.270 will be the farm’s new frontline tractor and has been specified with Michelin AxioBib 2 VF 600/60 R30 & VF 710/60 R42 tyres. The Horsch drill has been converted onto Michelin TrailXBib VF 710/50 R26.5 fitments, following a recommendation from Michelin agricultural account manager, Ian Whitwell.
The Maxam Agrixtra range of agricultural tyres has been approved for original fitment on select New Holland T5, T6, and T7 SWB and LWB tractors around the world. “The homologation, approval, and commercialisation of our radial agricultural tyres is a significant step in the evolution of the Maxam brand as a long-term supplier to CNH Industrial and New Holland Agriculture,” says Kevin Buckley Maxam OE sales director Europe. The Sailun Group brand added that the approval represents a “major milestone” for the brand and its agricultural tyre series, which was introduced in 2014.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems, in partnership with Agricolus, has launched a new integrated platform to provide digital solutions for smart and sustainable farming. The unified platform provides farmers with additional key information to help them increase yields and optimise farm management through a website and mobile app.
Although impacted by the rising cost of raw materials and logistics, off-highway tyre specialist BKT delivered a healthy profit in the financial year ending 31 March 2022. Profit after tax rose 22 per cent year-on-year to Rs 14.11 billion (£148.58 million) on the back of income that rose 47 per cent to Rs 84.19 billion (£886.52 million) and sales volumes that increased 27 per cent to 288,795 tonnes. EBITDA was, at Rs 21.82 billion (£229.76 million), up 21 per cent, with the margin contracting 5.6 percentage points to 25.9 per cent.
Appointed exclusive UK market distributor of Ascenso tyres in spring 2021, BA Bush & Son officially launched the agricultural tyre brand at the LAMMA farming show earlier this month. It is supplying Ascenso products to UK customers through both BAB Distribution (Trade) as well as 25 retail locations.
The farming research collaboration between the NDI Group and Danish Agricultural Research company Seges continues its cooperation with a new scientific experiment that compares the efficiency of two different wheel solutions when sowing.
A new generation of Michelin tyres for self-propelled sprayers enables load capacities to increase by up to 13.5 per cent at speeds as high as 30 km/h or 18.5 mph. The Michelin SprayBib CFO introduces the Cyclical Field Operation standard to the VF range, and UK customers will be able to obtain this successor to the SprayBib in 12 sizes by December 2022.
Although Russian tyre maker Voltyre-Prom recently spoke of potential opportunities arising from the war in Ukraine and related international implications, majority shareholder Titan International confirms it will not be investing in this business any time soon. Details of Titan’s relationship with the Russian operation were set out in the US-based firm’s 10-Q financial report for Q1 2022 and further commented on during a teleconference held on 3 May.
Off-highway tyre specialist BKT is reaching out to a younger demographic by opening its own TikTok channel. It launched tiktok.com/@bkt.tires in March and with it aims to gain the attention of Gen Z and Gen Alpha – the age groups representing “the future of agriculture and of our planet.”
While other tyre makers are distancing themselves from Russia and moving production capacities elsewhere at present, Titan International Inc.’s subsidiary in Volzhsky, Volgograd Oblast has announced plans to increase its production volumes. Voltyre-Prom, which is majority owned and managed by the Illinois, USA-based off-highway tyre specialist, states that the current situation “opens up new opportunities” for it to increase production volumes and sales.
Bridgestone’s VX-Tractor tyres have been approved for selected New Holland T6 and T7 Series tractors within the UK and Ireland. 28 sizes are currently available in diameters of 28 to 42 inches as factory fit. The tyre comes with a full 10-year warranty.
Radial or cross-ply? The choice is easy for car drivers but more complicated when choosing the right tyre for agricultural equipment. BKT has published guidance to help end users decide upon the right fitment for their machinery.
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