Agricultural
A Jedburgh-based farmer is fitting Michelin’s BibSteel Hard Surface tyres to his Mustang skid steer. Scott Barbour, partner in RG Barbour & Sons says the robust tyres excel when working in some of the toughest farm conditions.
Trelleborg has launched its European Road Show 2015 at SIMA 2015, with one-day events planned in Italy, Sweden, Germany, Poland, France, Spain and the UK. The manufacturer says the roadshow will provide multiple field demonstrations of how farming professionals can enhance their operations and protect the future of their businesses. Trelleborg’s ‘Blue Box’ interactive mobile stand will also provide visitors with information about its range of digital tools.
Mitas has launched a “slick” agricultural tyre designed for use in the niche sport of tractor-pulling. The Powerpull 30.5L-32 is manufactured without a tread pattern, allowing the competitor to create the winning tread design. Its bias-ply construction and manufacture is based on a process similar to that of the Mitas’ high-horsepower tractor tyres, which the Czech company says will guarantee endurance and durability.
Under an agreement signed at the SIMA International Agri Business Show in Paris yesterday, Michelin will donate €300,000 to the La Salle Beauvais Polytechnic Institute to support its creation of a farming machinery and new agricultural technology programme. The funds will be donated over a three-year period through the Michelin Corporate Foundation. Jean-Dominque Senard, who in addition to his functions as Michelin chief executive officer and managing general partner is president of the Michelin Corporate Foundation, signed the Memorandum of Understanding together with Claude Gewerc, president of the Picardy Regional Council, Philippe Choquet, general director of the LaSalle Polytechnic Institute, and Richard Markwell, president of AGCO Massey Ferguson.
JCB will fit Michelin’s new BibLoad Hard Surface tyres as original equipment across its extensive range of loadalls, telehandlers and backhoe loaders. The machinery manufacturer consulted with a number of its customers, testing the tyres in real-world situations prior to the deal. JCB said that the trials demonstrated high levels of damage resistance and impressive handling on rugged surfaces, leading to the new OE deal.
One of the products Michelin is showing at SIMA 2015 is its concept LifeBib. The tyre maker has brought a prototype VF 710/70 R42 LifeBib tyre to the Paris agribusiness fair and is promoting it as a tyre that can be used throughout the crop cycle, from sowing to harvest.
Heuver Tyrewholesale has commented on its “above-average results for 2014”. The Hardenberg, Netherlands-based wholesaler said its investments in people and resources, while also focusing on procurement and delivery conditions, had helped it outstrip market conditions. “Customer contact was our primary focus in 2014”, says Bertus Heuver, director of Heuver Tyrewholesale. “You can only retain customers if you pay particular attention to them and meet their specific needs. And our country-based approach to the market played a very important role. This required us to invest in new and experienced people – 17 new colleagues in total – as well as new resources.
The agricultural and industrial tyre and wheel unit, Trelleborg Wheel Systems (TWS) recorded five per cent lower organic sales in 2014, after original equipment manufacturers reduced equipment production. The decline in organic sales was not reflective of material handling vehicle industrial/specialist tyre and wheel sales, which Trelleborg said were slightly positive for the full year. Despite the reduced agricultural sales, operating profit for the unit rose to 504 million SEK (£38.84m), with margins also up from 11.7 to 12.1 per cent.
ATG (Alliance Tire Group) has appointed former Hilti Deutschland management board member Peter Baur as president of its European operations. Baur started on 9 February 2015.
The Mitas flotation radial portfolio is set to quadruple in size with the addition of nine new products. These further Agriterra 02 and Agriterra 03 flotation tyre fitment will be available as of March 2015.
Steve Hewitt, who boasts 25 years’ experience in the industry at brands including CNH Global and JCB, has joined Bridgestone’s agricultural tyre team at the same time the firm is launching its VT Tractor tyre to dealers. According to the company, the 43 year-old said that the opportunity to work with a blue chip company like Bridgestone – at a time when an innovative new product was being introduced to the market – was extremely compelling:
The latest additions to the Mitas Very High Flexion (VF) agricultural tyre range are set to debut at the SIMA trade fair in Paris later this month. The tyre maker will present two new sizes in its HC 2000 line for high horsepower tractors, namely VF 600/70R30 and VF 710/70R42 fitments. A further introduction in March – size VF 380/105R54 – will add a fifth member to the HC 2000 family.
Michelin’s innovative Ultraflex Technology tyres can save farmers hundreds of pounds in fuel every time they drill a field, a new trial has demonstrated.
Trelleborg’s ProgressiveTraction concept has been a consistent technological eye-opener since its introduction, with European organisations queuing up to bestow awards on the innovation. Now with its arrival as a feature of Trelleborg’s new 70 series radial tyre following stringent testing, the time for the technology to peacock is over, as its application in the field begins. Trelleborg says the TM700 ProgressiveTraction is designed to meet the renewed focus of tractor manufacturers on the performance of middle range tractors and lower overall farming costs.
Now would be a good time to bin any romantic stereotypes of bucolic rural idyll. Agriculture has always been a serious business for those engaged in the sector, and the deployment of technology and new practices to maximise land productivity is nothing new. And while British farmers haven’t more recently experienced the pressure to ‘get big or get out’ as much as their peers in some markets, the drive for greater efficiency has however meant a trend towards larger-sized agricultural equipment. But larger also means heavier, and the extent to which yield is affected by vehicles traversing fields has thus gained a new significance. And this is where our protagonist enters the story.
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