Agricultural
Goodyear Farm Tires is extending its warranty for product workmanship and material from eight to 10 years on its entire radial range. The extended warranty will apply across the UK and Europe. Lindsay Hart, European tyre sales director for Goodyear Farm Tires, said: “We are committed to providing the best possible product and service to our customers and this is the next phase of that.
26 journalists with expertise in agricultural mechanisation are currently judging contenders for the European Tractor of the Year (TotY) award. Sponsor of the award, off-highway and agricultural tyre specialist BKT, says the details on innovations presented by entrants forms “the identikit of the perfect tractor.” The futuristic developments now available from many equipment manufacturers represent in their totality a vision for what will be possible in a single machine, BKT says. These innovations include data connectivity and digitalisation, high-tech safety features, increased sustainability, and autonomous driving, as well as tyres that assist in delivering such improvements in the field. The TotY sponsor calls its role “certainly the richest experience of 2020.”
Today Yokohama announced that it is consolidating its OTR tyre businesses into Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, which could be read as a prelude to the announcement Yokohama’s bid for the Prometeon tyre business. Roughly a year after the story broke, Yokohama’s bid for Prometeon isn’t the best kept secret in the tyre industry. Tyres & Accessories first heard talk of Yokohama’s bid for the ex-Pirelli industrial and commercial vehicle tyre business back in July 2019. The news was reported world-wide after we broke the story in September 2019, followed days later by third-party confirmation from the Chinese side of the deal. At that time, the deal was set to go public by the end of 2019. A few months later at the start of 2020, the timeframe switched to an end-of-first-quarter 2020 deadline. Then the coronavirus pandemic happened. And in the months that have followed things have gone quiet. So, where is Yokohama’s bid for Prometeon up to? The latest news is that deal is still on-track, but that there have been a few changes along the way. Here, Tyres & Accessories brings an update on the status of the acquisition and offers a different view on the deal by looking at it from a South American perspective.
Global Rubber Industries (Pvt.) Ltd. (GRI) has spent the last 18 years since its foundation cultivating its niche in the industrial, agricultural and construction tyre sectors. With ambitious capacity and expansion plans underway, Tyres & Accessories interviewed managing director Prabhash Subasinghe and learnt more about the company’s plans to build on its growth foundations.
This interview appears in full in the November edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
A new tyre from BKT offers a solution to anyone needing to minimise soil compaction in confined areas. The BKT Agrimax Turf RT 333 is suitable for fitment on small tractors such as those used in gardening applications as well as in orchards and vineyards. The first available sizes in the range are the 280/70 R 16 and 280/70 R 18 front axle dimensions.
Vredestein has expanded its Traxion 65 tractor tyre series. First introduced at Agritechnica 2019, Vredestein has added 15 sizes, covering a complete range from 16 to 42 inches. All 19 tyres are available for the aftermarket and various tractor brands are offering them factory fitted. The Traxion 65 series is Vredestein’s follow-up to the popular Traxion+. It was redesigned to incorporate the latest technologies developed for the Vredestein Traxion Optimall VF. Proven features, including the curved lugs and the large contact area in the middle of the tread, have been retained, with comfort and traction characteristics improved.
Specialty tyre manufacturer GRI is adding a new mixing facility in the Mirigama Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Sri Lanka. The new mixing facility will have capacity to produce 200 tonnes day, up from the current capacity of 50 – 60 metric tonnes a day, and is being interpreted as a pre-cursor to increased tyre output.
A virtual ploughing event designed to fill the void of this year’s cancelled matches – and raise vital money for charity – has received the backing of a leading agricultural supplier. Goodyear Farm Tires has become a major sponsor of VPlough ‘20, believed to be the UK’s first virtual ploughing match, machinery show and steam rally. All entry fees and proceeds from the events will be donated to the UK & Irish Air Ambulance Trusts.
Goodyear Farm Tires has launched a photography competition for the agricultural community. The manufacturer wants farmers to submit eye-catching photography in three different categories, Farming Landscapes, Farming Family Life and My Tractor and Machinery Running on Goodyear Farm Tires, at its website before the closing date on 12 October. Wining entries will be featured in the company’s 2021 marketing material, viewed by tens of thousands of people across the UK. The winners will also receive a share of a prize fund of more than £2,000 worth of merchandise and product.
Visitors to the LAMMA show way back in January were amongst the first anywhere to see Alliance’s new standard tractor radial, the Agri Star II. The new tyre came to market a few months after this, but corona lockdowns got in the way of a more thorough launch – until now.
The Alliance brand has gained a strong position in certain segments of Europe’s agricultural tyre market. Alliance Tire Europe claims a leadership market share of up to 30 per cent for row crop applications and a 20 to 30 per cent share for implement applications. But Alliance’s primary ambition is to break into the tractor segment in a bigger way. In recent months it introduced a couple of products to support this drive.
Nokian Tyres has launched the Intuitu agricultural tyre monitoring system (introduced at Agritechnica 2019) in Finland. Nokian Tyres Intuitu uses sensor-equipped smart tyres and a smartphone app to get tyre pressure and temperature data on your phone. Nokian Tyres has launched the Intuitu agricultural tyre monitoring system (introduced at Agritechnica 2019) in Finland. Nokian Tyres Intuitu uses sensor-equipped smart tyres and a smartphone app to get tyre pressure and temperature data on your phone.
BKT says it is “ready to take up the challenge” of developing tyres for the coming generation of self-driving and electric off-highway vehicles. The tyre maker is already addressing changes within the agricultural and construction sectors with a range of solutions, drawing upon its almost 30-year experience and in dialogue with end-users.
Firestone has launched the new Performer Extra farm tyre for the European market. Based on the Firestone Performer 85 and 70, the new tyre adds an enhanced wear resistance compound that extends the tyre’s life by 20 per cent over its predecessors. The tyre achieved this result in the controlled lab accelerated ageing testing conducted at Bridgestone’s R&D Centre. Its extended life helps to reduce the tyre’s environmental footprint, as well as cutting down on long-term operational costs and improving business efficiency.
Bridgestone Southern Africa (BSAF) has announced that it will close its bias tyre manufacturing plant in Port Elizabeth, a decision affecting 252 employees. The move is in line with the company’s plans to focus on premium profitable growth segments. The Port Elizabeth plant is geared towards the production of older bias tyres, which are globally in decline and being phased out in South Africa, due to their unprofitability. BSAF is also feeling the effects of a shrinking economy and an influx of cheap imports, leading to its operational restructuring plan. It added that the conversion of the plant to produce radial tyres would require a multi-billion-rand investment, which it deemed unfeasible in the current economy.
Goodyear Farm Tires
GRI
Apollo Vredestein
Goodyear Farm Tires
Goodyear Farm Tires
Nokian
BKT
Firestone