LANGHAM, Sask. — Growers know that engineering advances in machinery are only as good as the tires that put traction to the terrain. With that in mind, Michelin debuted two new tires at the Ag In Motion farm show held near Langham earlier this summer.
Michelin showed its AxioBib2, a new engineering concept that lets the operator run inflation up to 10 p.s.i. for roading and drop down to seven p.s.i. for work in the field, said Michelin rep Mike Pantaleo.
“The AxioBib2 is CTIS ready. It’s designed for your central inflation system,” said Pantaleo.
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It is the next natural step for tires designed for central inflation, following the original AxioBib Michelin introduced in 2006, he added.
“The AxioBib2 has a much higher allowable side deflection,” he said.
“Many of the sizes are the same as we had with the original IF (increased flexion), but they’re now able to handle much higher horsepower and higher load carrying capacity. It has the casing endurance to give optimal performance at the various tire pressures required.”
Comparing the EvoBib to the AxilBib2, Pantaleo said they are two totally different engineering concepts but with similar characteristics. For one thing, comparing tires of the same size, they will both have the same horsepower and load capacity.
“EvoBib technology is further ahead of the AxioBib2, but they are capable of the same workload,” he said.
“The difference is that EvoBib can significantly grow in width. EvoBib is designed for CTIS but you can run without it. If you’re in a situation with fields spread far apart and you do high roading, then you’d probably want the EvoBib.”
The other tire Michelin introduced at AIM was the aggressive looking CrossGrip for small to medium size tractors.
“CrossGrip is a four season multi-purpose radial for the road, grass but especially for snow and ice,” Pantaleo said.
“We developed it as a high-performance snow removal tire because in the winter, a lot of farmers use their small to medium size tractors for snow removal on their own operation and doing custom work, especially guys close to the oil fields. Plus a lot of landscapers use their small to medium tractors for snow removal in the winter.”
Pantaleo said the CrossGrip is a tire specific to those groups and those small industrial tractors. It’s not for the big four-wheel-drives.
The company is introducing the smaller sizes in August, starting with the front 250/80 16” and the rear 400/80 R24. He said these sizes typically go on about a 60 horsepower tractor. Michelin will introduce some of the more popular ag sizes by 2020.
The CrossGrip is made of a special rubber and it has long edges on the tread blocks for better bite. Michelin gave the tire an asymmetric non-directional pattern to provide good traction going forward and backward, which will be a boost in snow and corral clearing and for telehandlers.
