Agricultural
We’re more accustomed to seeing them on the battlefield than down on the farm, but tracked vehicles are said to be gaining popularity on agricultural vehicles. Farmers Weekly reports they are increasingly finding a place in conditions such as damp fields where tyres would struggle.
Tyres & Accessories kick-start to 2012, our January magazine, is now available to subscribers as a virtual paper. Featuring special reports on the motorcycle and agricultural tyre segments, the latest issue of T&A can be read at the touch of a button. Click more to see the first publication of the year.
Farm buying group AtlasFram has signed an exclusive supply agreement with Goodyear. All of AtlasFram’s 1250 farmer/landowner Members have now been enrolled in the exclusive Goodyear AGRI Club, which offers a number of financial and technical benefits to members.
Members receive a quarterly newsletter which contains the latest news about Goodyear tyres plus the current issue includes a voucher giving up to £150 discount when purchasing a set of Goodyear tractor tyres or up to £100 off a set of telescopic handler tyres. These vouchers can be redeemed at one of the company’s 76 approved agricultural tyre outlets.
Leading UK farm machinery show, LAMMA opened today at the Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground, Winthorpe, with Michelin using the show as an opportunity to exhibit its latest addition to the range of sizes for its CerexBib combine harvester tyre. The IF (Improved Flexion) 800/70 R38 CFO (Cycling Field Operation) is a direct reaction to some of the largest machines expected to be delivered to customers this year. The CerexBib is designed to protect fields and deliver higher load capacity for a narrower width, helping large grain farmers, contractors and farm machinery cooperatives, according to Michelin.
During recent agricultural trade shows – Agritechnica in Germany and SIMA in France – Trelleborg Wheel Systems asked more than 300 agricultural sector opinion leaders what issues they viewed as key to agriculture and important in future tyre development. The Swedish firm reports that 72 per cent of those surveyed stated they considered sustainability a key issue. When it came to tyre design, 84 per cent thought lowering environmental impact should be taken into consideration in future agriculture tyre designs while 73 per cent said they believe a tyre that reduced environmental impact could actually improve farm productivity and efficiency.
Independent East Midlands tyre distributor Tanvic Group Ltd operates from eight locations in Newark (its head office), Lincoln, Grantham, Corby, Melton Mowbray, Loughborough, Worksop and Market Harborough. Though Tanvic says it recognises the market has contracted over the last few years, it has met this challenge by increasing the specialist knowledge of its staff, attempting to add value to the service it offers farm customers.
Major agricultural tyre supplier to the UK market, Kings Road Tyres boasts a £5 million inventory of agricultural tyres, making it the country’s foremost trade supplier for this specialist sector, according to KRT. The wholesaler is the official wholesale distributor for major manufacturers Michelin, Firestone, Trelleborg and Goodyear as well as being the exclusive UK wholesaler of both the Taurus and Jetire brands, and its private brand range of Kingstone brand tubes. In addition the line-up has recently been further extended by the addition of Kleber in 2011.
AGCO has awarded its highest supplier rating to Mitas for deliveries of farm tyres from January to December 2011. The Mitas-produced brand Continental is a standard fitment in four out of six AGCO’s model series – for example Fendt 924-930 Vario. According to the company, AGCO evaluates its suppliers’ quality, logistics, customer service and protection of the environment, in all of which Mitas received the highest grade. Mitas has received the overall A award annually since acquiring production of Continental farm tyres in 2004.
Headquartered in the north Italian town of Seregno, BKT Europe says it is committed to increasing product knowledge; the latest action on this front has been a round of European testing of the Mumbai, India company’s agricultural tyre range, Agrimax Fortis. BKT charged the Agricultural Research Council (CRA-ING) in Treviglio, Bergamo with carrying out an independent, standardized and comparative assessment for the purpose of evaluating the performance of the Agrimax Fortis. BKT says the tests show fuel consumption and soil compaction – features that impact productivity, the environment and the farmer’s pocket – comparable to performance features offered by two unnamed “competitors, acknowledged leaders at an international level”. BKT believes the results show the benefits of its investment in research, particularly in “eco-friendliness”.
Off-road tyre specialist, Mitas Tyres Limited – the UK distributor of Mitas tyres manufactured in Eastern Europe – has announced that it will give away copies of its new Tyre Pressure Management Guide as well as exhibiting examples from its three new tyre ranges at LAMMA 2012. The Mitas Tyre Pressure Guide highlights three steps to achieve optimal tyre pressures in the field and on the road. Mitas says the publication will help farmers to achieve significant financial savings by reducing fuel costs and wear-and-tear, whilst also improving performance.
Kirkby Tyres has announced that it will have a “major presence” at LAMMA 2012 and will be featuring “many new tyre products and sizes for the tractor, row crop and trailer markets” Kirkby Tyres is the sole UK and Ireland agents for the extensive Alliance range of agricultural and earthmover tyres. The company is also the UK agent for BKT tyres and as such the string of launches and the products on display will be largely drawn from these two manufacturers.
Alliance is set to introduce the Farm PRO 85 and 70 series R-1w tractor radial tyres. With 20 per cent more tread than conventional R-1 tyres and a large foot-print the Farm PRO Traction tyre has an advanced multi–angle lug design with a steep central angle for a smooth ride, long wear and mud clearing properties and a shallow angle at the shoulder for exceptional traction and hillside stability.
As well as promoting its latest fleet gains, Mitas has been using Agrictechnica as a launchpad for its latest floatation tyre, the Agriterra 03. According to the company, this tyre is intended for use on the heaviest agricultural implements, such as slurry tanks.
In a move demonstrating Mitas recent efforts to elevate its brand to the level of a premium OE tyre, the company supplied AGCO with Mitas AC tyres, 270/80R32 (front) displayed for fitment on the company's Fendt 210 Vario tractor for row-crop application on its Agritechnica stand.
At this week’s Agritechnica show in Germany, Mitas launched its latest cyclic harvest operation (CHO) tyres, which were developed together in “intensive cooperation” with farm machinery manufacturer Claas. The Continental CHO SVT is currently available in size 800/70 R32 CHO 175A8 and was, in the words of Hans-Ulrich Klose, head of Mitas’ Automotive Engineering unit, developed to “solve the conflict between compliance in road application and the increasing need for soil protection.” This is, Klose adds, a measure made necessary by the latest generation of high performance combine harvesters that are equipped with larger headers and bigger grain tanks.
Mitas is aiming to raise the profile of the company and better communicate the strength of its products and recent sales performance in the market following the official rebranding of the UK company as Mitas Tyres Limited. With an impressive number of OE contracts under its belt, Mitas is aiming to grow market share in both the OE and replacement markets and solidify its position as “the UK’s leading off-road tyre specialist”, according to the company. And despite the fact that company is well-known for producing Continental branded agricultural tyres under licence, as you might imagine, a key part of this strategy is to highlight the Mitas name in the UK and beyond.
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