Michelin has urged farmers to pay close attention to the condition of their tyres as they head into the harvest season. Gordon Brookes, customer engineering support manager at Michelin, explains: “We would always recommend a thorough inspection of your harvester tyres before you get the machine out into the field, but this year it’s probably more important than ever.
Apollo Vredestein tells Tyres & Accessories that it has focused strongly on the agricultural sector of the market during the Covid-19 lockdown. Although some of the wider company’s employees were “placed on furlough leave,” its agricultural team was kept functional with some home working facilities provided by the company. Just prior to UK entering lock down, Apollo Vredestein’s UK team, anticipating what had already happened in other European countries, doubled UK stock levels of agricultural products, as reported by Tyres & Accessories. This was also supported by transfer of resources in manufacturing and administration to allow continued agricultural tyre production in the factories.
ATG has extended its leading range of Galaxy brand radial tyres for small tractors used in gardening, orchards and vineyards. The Galaxy Garden Pro offers nearly 50 per cent greater tread depth than typical R3 tyres – Galaxy calls it an R3+ tyre – with a solid-to-void tread ratio of 49:51 to promote self-cleaning. It is available in 23 sizes for rim sizes between 12 and 30, including five newly launched sizes. ATG says Galaxy now covers the segment of smaller and medium utility tractors in the segment.
Goodyear Farm Tires has recruited a new distributor. South West Tyre Services, based in Somerset, has added Goodyear brand agricultural products to its portfolio. The brand, manufactured by Titan International, has been building a network of distributors across the UK and Europe since returning to the market last year. Titan told Tyres & Accessories that the deal with South West Tyre Services strengthens its position in the UK agricultural market. The distributor’s range includes tyres for cars, commercial vehicles, agricultural and plant machinery.
Continental has released a new combine harvester tyre, its first with a single filament bead core. In order to make the tyre safer and reduce slippage on the wheel, the manufacturer has designed a new bead construction for the the CombineMaster. In addition to road safety, reducing slippage also helps to reduce soil compaction – one of the most important considerations for agricultural tyre suppliers. By reducing compaction, the new tyre helps to protect the fissures in the soil that promote healthy growth. This increases the yield potential in the field. The tyre is the latest in Conti’s line of “Master” agricultural products. Conti has recently developed its agricultural tyre business with a 10-year guarantee and very high flexion (VF) fitment options.
Continental has launched its new range of very high flexion (VF) agricultural tyres. The manufacturer states that the tyres are more versatile and safer on the road. They also increase agricultural efficiencies, Conti adds. VF tyres help to reduce soil compaction, which helps to promote increased yields. They can also save farmers time, as a result of field and road performance gains. Conti re-entered the high-value agricultural tyre market in 2017 with the radial Tractor70 and Tractor85 ranges. It said that it intended to expand its agricultural tyre portfolio to 100 sizes by 2019. The VF tyres are the latest move to increase market coverage.
Flawborough Farms has switched its next-generation Horsch sprayer’s original equipment fitments for a set of Michelin high-technology agricultural tyres.
Michelin has introduced a further brand to its agricultural segment portfolio in North America. In addition to selling Michelin and Kleber tyres as well as Camso tracks and systems, the company has now introduced farm tyres under the BFGoodrich brand name.
Bridgestone will show off its pulling power at LAMMA alongside its Firestone brand on 7-8 January 2020. The manufacturer hopes that its dual-brand approach to the agricultural show will double its impact on people visiting the stand, which will feature a multi-V8 modified tractor puller called ‘Aftermath’ on Firestone Puller 2000 tyres centre stage.
Grandad fitted Goodyear, your father fitted Goodyear, and now you can too, again: After being largely absent for five years, this year the Goodyear name returned to UK and European agricultural markets.
Bridgestone is embarking on a nationwide tractor tour to bring its VX Tractor agricultural tyre to farmers and contractors. The company is rolling into 10 locations across England and Scotland in September with a £200 donation on board. The manufacturer is seeking to generate increased interest and awareness around the product in an agricultural heartland of England, with Bridgestone experts will be on hand to demonstrate its capabilities through presentations featuring comparison test results.
The head of Michelin’s agricultural technical team in the UK and Ireland is advising farmers to focus more time on selecting the right tyres for the rear of their harvesters, rather than putting all the focus on the front axle – as traditionally happens.
Spalding-based RP Worth & Son, which farms close to 1,000 acres of wheat and potatoes, has unlocked a major improvement in tyre performance after acting on the recommendations of its local Michelin account manager. Ian Whitwell visited the customer to provide tyre advice for the farm’s Fendt 722, which was operating on an old set of narrow duals – and not delivering the performance farmer John Palmer needed.
Britain’s first farmer to specify a tractor on Michelin’s new AxioBib 2 tyres states that he is “noticing the benefits” of the Ultraflex technology fitments after 300 hours of operation. Michelin Exelagri dealer Tanvic Tyre and Service Centre in Newark fit Sherwood Farms’ Fendt 724 with AxioBib 2s to help improve efficiency and increase soil protection.
Ireland’s winter was one of the wettest on record, leading to frustration for farmers, as conditions in their fields proved too treacherous to work in. The right agricultural tyres can help to overcome such issues, as a number of Irish contractors using Bridgestone and Firestone’s latest agricultural products have found.
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Apollo Vredestein
ATG
Goodyear Farm Tires
Continental
Continental