Tyres are gripping subject
Tyres are gripping subject
ACCORDING to the traditional view, tractor and farm machinery tyres are boring and can be taken for granted unless they happen to need replacing or have a puncture.
But France-based Michelin believes this idea is outdated, and they claim some of the credit for encouraging farmers to take more interest in their tyres.
The breakthrough in convincing farmers that tractor tyres are not all the same was the introduction of radials. Some of the benefits were established when radial car tyres arrived in the 1940s and quickly earned a reputation for longer life with improved grip and ride comfort, and similar advantages were offered when Kleber – now part of the Michelin Group – announced the worlds first radial tyres for tractors in 1961.
But tractor radials offer other important benefits as well, including the ability to use lower inflation pressures to help minimise soil compaction, improve traction and enhance both comfort and wear resistance. The benefits have helped radials to capture 65% of the market for replacement tractor drive-wheel tyres in western Europe, and both Michelin and Kleber have stopped making cross-plies, although they are still available under other Michelin Group brands including Taurus from Hungary and the Polish made Stomil-Olsztyn range.
"The introduction of radial tyres did a great deal to encourage awareness of the performance of tyres and the benefits available from using the more technically advanced tyres," says Jacques Aujoulat, Michelins vice-president for sales and marketing with responsibility for agricultural tyres. "Most farmers in Britain are well aware of the differences between radials and cross-plys, and they are also aware of the relationship between wider tyres and reduced soil compaction."
Although radial tractor tyres outsell cross-plys in the UK – their biggest success is in the arable areas – cross-plys have the biggest market share on the mainly grassland farms in the west. There are also big differences in the popularity of radial tyres in other countries. Cross-plys dominate the eastern European tractor tyre market, where the Michelin Group claims a 60% market share helped by the success of its Polish and Hungarian brands. Radials account for only about 3% of the Mexican tractor tyre market, but this increases to about 25% in the US and Canada.
Traction efficiency and reduced soil compaction for field work have been big factors influencing tyre development so far, but Mr Aujoulat says performance on the road is also emerging as one of the top priorities, particularly in the UK and other European countries. This is partly because of the needs of contractors, who use tractors and machinery to travel between farms, but bigger farming businesses which often have fields spread over several miles are also forcing tractors to spend more time on the road.
Increased road work puts new demands on tractor and machinery tyres, including more emphasis on speed. Both the Kleber and Michelin ranges already include tractor tyres designed for speeds up to 31mph, he says, and in some instances a 40mph speed rating. Driver comfort will also be increasingly important as tractors do more road work.
Another design factor for tyres used for high road mileages is width. The recent trend has been increasing the tyre width to spread the load and reduce soil compaction, Mr Aujoulat says. There is also a need for tyres with a high horsepower capacity to suit tillage applications, but with the width kept to a minimum, he says.
"Instead of making tyres wider, we may have to make them taller." Increasing the diameter of the tyre will allow us to provide sufficient air volume to carry the required load, and it will also help to reduce the ground pressure by providing a soil contact area which is longer instead of wider.
"We are already seeing this trend on the Kleber Topker tyres, which were introduced in 1999 and are the tallest tractor tyres available."
Another development Mr Aujoulat and his Michelin Group colleagues are watching carefully is the increasing popularity of crawler tractors with rubber tracks. At this stage they are still assessing the potential benefits and no decision has been reached, but rubber tracks could become a Michelin product for the future, he says. *
Radials have helped capture 65% of the market for replacement tractor tyres in western Europe, according to Michelin.
MICHELIN TIMELINE
1832 Small company formed to make farm machinery and pumps. Products later included rubber valves, gaskets and tubing.
1889 Company bought by Edouard Michelin; name changed to Michelin & Co.
1891 Michelin patented an improved bicycle tyre, followed in the 1890s by car tyres.
1898 Bibendum or the Michelin Man became the company emblem.
1900 First edition of the Michelin Guide for travellers published.
1907 Michelin opened first factory in the United States.
1914 Michelin factory built the first of more than 1800 military aircraft.
1927 First Michelin factory in the UK opened at Stoke-on-Trent.
1930 Michelin patented a tyre with a built-in tube, predecessor of the tubeless tyre.
1933 First Michelin agricultural tyre tested.
1934 Michelin took over Citroen car company (shares sold to Peugeot in 1974).
1946 Michelin patented a radial tyre for cars.
1961 Kleber announced first radial tyre for tractors.
1976 Michelins first radial tractor tyre, the BIB XM 18, launched.
1981 Michelin becomes principle shareholder in Kleber.
1990 Michelin took over the American Uniroyal Goodrich Tire company.
1996 Taurus company in Hungary became part of the Michelin group.
1998 Michelin announced MEGAXBIB, said to be worlds widest tractor tyre.
MICHELIN TYRES
• Specialist maker of tyres and wheels, and leading producer of maps and travel guides.
• One of the worlds biggest tyre companies with more than 80 manufacturing locations in 19 countries.
• Competing with Goodyear as the worlds biggest maker of agricultural tyres.
• Makes 4 out of every 10 tractor drive-wheel tyres sold in Europe each year.
• Supplies tyres to every major tractor maker in Europe and N America.
• Agricultural tyres made under the Michelin, Kleber, BF Goodrich, Taurus, Stomil-Olsztyn, and Siamtyre brand names.