Agricultural
This is always a hard-fought category and four of last year's nominees are in the running for the 2010 award. The question is whether the four will be shaken or stirred by new kid on the block (at least as far as the TAFF Awards are concerned) Bond International?
A new tread design has been added to Trelleborg’s TM900 range. Available in size 710/70R42, the TM900 High Power has a new lug profile with a 15 per cent larger lug volume. The tyre is specifically developed to be fitted onto high-power agricultural vehicles and tractors, and Trelleborg says the TM900 High Power guarantees performance at high speeds, assures superior traction capacity and copes with the demand for increasingly large loads – all with minimal soil compaction for maximum agronomic yield.
Although its year-on-year sales share of the group total slipped from 11.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 to 10.7 per cent in quarter two of this year, sales at Trelleborg Wheel Systems grew two per cent year-on-year during the three month period. Sales for the division came to SEK 795 million (£70.7 million), a figure that represents eight per cent organic growth counterbalanced by negative six per cent exchange rate effects. EBITA margin in the three months between April and June 2010 was 10.3 per cent, down from 13.8 per cent a year earlier. The Swedish company states that markets outside North America and Europe recorded positive performance for volume and earnings.
Czech tyremaker CGS Tyres has announced that it is currently in discussions with regard to opening tyre production plant in Charles City, located in Iowa, USA. The talks are sufficiently advanced for the firm to announce that, on 31 August, CGS Tyres is expected to sign investment and incentive agreements at the Farm Progress Show in Boone. According to the company, CGS Tyres plans to expand the Charles City plant in three stages with production to start in January 2012.
“Iowa is central to our North American strategy,” said Jaroslav Čechura, the CEO of Mitas, a CGS Tyres group member: “We are expanding our production capacity, and we will provide the U.S. farmers with U.S.-made Mitas and Continental tyres.”
A number of Continental branded agricultural tyres produced by CGS Tyres have been approved for fitment on several high horsepower John Deere tractors. The Continental tyres will be fitted as original equipment on the 6030/6030 Premium, 7030/7030 Premium, 8R and 9030 series John Deere tractors. CGS comments that its Continental brand agricultural tyres are now available on all John Deere tractors – from 5E series up to the 9030 series.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems has announced plans to increase prices by an average of 5 per cent in Europe and North America. The price hike – the firm’s second in the agricultural and forestry segments this year – is said to be the result of rising raw material costs. The latest round of prices increased will take affect on 1 Septemeber 2010, according to a company statement detailing the matter.
CGS Tyres, which produces Mitas, Cultor and Continental branded OTR and agricultural tyres at factories in the Czech Republic and Serbia, used this year's Bauma trade fair to launch a new specialist crane tyre and promote is relatively new handful OTR line.
At the centre of the company’s efforts was the launch of new Mitas branded CR-01 tyre for mobile cranes. This non-directional tread pattern comes in 445/95 R25 and is designed to reduce tyre noise when used on the road. The CR-01 is homologated according to ECE R54. According to the company, the tyre ensures reduction of fuel consumption (thanks to lower rolling resistance characteristics) and has “higher benefits than most of the tyre competitors in this segment.”
As of August 1, Michelin North America will increase prices on a number of tyre ranges, a measure it says is being implemented as a result of rising raw material prices. Michelin brand replacement market agricultural tyres will on average coast 3.5 per cent more in the US and Canada, while prices for Michelin brand replacement market earthmover tyres sold in the US and Mexico will increase by three per cent.
Goodyear has been publicising its OTR successes, including an excellent performance in the World Ploughing Championship, the growth of its AGRI Club and the introduction of a new crane tyre. Andrew Mitchell Jnr, hailing from Forfar, Scotland, came second in the World Ploughing Championships in New Zealand earlier in the year, using Goodyear Optitrac DT806 tyres on his machine. Mitchell declared himself thrilled to have come in second and Goodyear says it was proud to have assisted this with their DT806 tyres fitted to his Ford tractor. Overall, there were ploughmen and women from over 30 countries competing at the 57th world championships.
Kleber has launched the new 65-series Gripker tyre for 80 to 180 hp tractors. The new tyre is the latest addition to Kleber’s range of tractor tyres and the Gripker name was selected after 3,000 farmers voted for it at the SIMA 2009 trade show. Particularly suited to mixed crop farming and livestock operations, the new Kleber Gripker is designed to thanks to its exclusive design. Its lugs are designed to reduce damage to emerging crops and grasslands, and more rounded, to ensure that mud is effectively expelled from the tread, for self-cleaning.
While the new Kleber Gripker has a particularly modern appearance, it also features the three small interlugs between the tread bars that have been a trademark of Kleber’s tyres throughout the company’s history. In addition, the new range is said to be suited to road use and carries the D speed rating, allowing speeds of up to 65 km/h. The Gripker has updated Kleber’s range of the increasingly popular 65-series tyres and this is highlighted by the fact that sales in this category grew by 70 per cent between 2000 and 2008, according to Michelin data.
Titan Tire Corporation has announced price increases for Titan branded farm and construction tyres and Titan manufactured Goodyear branded agricultural tyres. Increases of up to six per cent will be implemented on June 1. Titan says the rises will “offset rising raw material, energy and transportation costs”, and adds that the prices of certain tyres may rise in excess of six per cent “due to realignment and positioning of the product.”
Fiat Group agricultural machinery company, New Holland, has opted to fit Trelleborg agricultural tyres to the Hydrogen powered tractor prototype it has developed in anticipation of future farming trends. According to the tyre maker, the hydrogen-powered NH2 is a key element of New Holland’s Energy Independent Farm approach. The concept reportedly allows famers to generate energy to run their farms and equipment autonomously. The NH2 features an integrated fuel cell system that turns hydrogen into electricity and therefore doesn’t produce any emissions.
"Our company is particularly recognised as a specialist in the production of OTR tyres," said Landmax International managing director Joe Lee when talking with Tyres & Accessories at Tyrexpo Africa. "We have invested seriously large sums of money in research and development, which has led to a wide ranging selection of radial and bias OTR tyres for various vehicle applications in mining, construction and container handling.
Alliance Tire has released a pair of new products into its agricultural range. The company is already well-known for its flotation tyres, including the 380 series. Alliance also produces the 380 Heavy Duty, a tyre it says incorporates the existing tyre’s known characteristics, including a fabric casing reinforced by steel belts, yet modified to make it suitable for the heaviest of applications, such as slurry tankers and dump trailers for soil and sand transport. Inflation pressure has been raised to 5 bar and load capacities increased. The casing has been strengthened by additional ply and tyre stiffness increased both radially and laterally. Furthermore, the 380 Heavy Duty’s bead bundle has been designed in accordance to new higher load and inflation pressure.
Expansion work has begun at Bridgestone Americas’ farm tyre plant in Des Moines, Iowa, reports Tire Review. New tyre building and curing equipment will be installed as part of the $77 million project, according to the Des Moines Register. The expansion will also add about 50 jobs to the 1,400-employee plant. To accommodate the equipment, designed to build larger agricultural tyres, portions of the 65-year-old plant’s roof are being raised some 10 feet.
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