Michelin has introduced a new low-pressure tyre range designed specifically for self-propelled sprayers – the MICHELIN SprayBib CFO (Cyclical Field Operation).
Replacing its predecessor, the MICHELIN SprayBib, the new range offers improvements and benefits for farmers and contractors in three key areas:
Productivity
Increased load capacities of up to 14 per cent at cyclic field operations with speeds up to 30 km/h. A reinforced casing design allows added axle loads of up to 1.3 tonnes (depending on tyre size).
Developed to work in the field at even lower pressures, the optimised footprint improves traction by up to 20 per cent.
Increased speed capability with the introduction of the E speed index in some sizes (up to 70km/h).
Like its predecessor, the MICHELIN SprayBib CFO offers superb longevity thanks to wide, robust tread lugs – and is also equipped with far more lugs than a standard sprayer tyre.
Soil Protection
Due to its advanced casing design which combines VF**** (very high flexion) and CFO* standards, the operating pressures can be reduced to 0.7 bar for cyclic use to reduce soil compaction. For smaller sprayers, MICHELIN SprayBib CFO can operate at pressures as low as 0.8 bar, whereas the first generation MICHELIN SprayBib starts at a minimum of 1.8 bar (depending on size).
Driver Comfort
Due to the low-pressure operating capabilities – up to 0.7 bar lower than its predecessor – and the VF casing design, vibration levels transmitted to the driver are minimised.
VF 420/90 R34 174D/170E – A completely new size in the MICHELIN SprayBib range
The current VF 420/85 R34 is normally fitted on small self-propelled sprayers and very quickly reaches its limits in load capacity. With this new VF 420/90 R34 tyre size, now available in the MICHELIN SprayBib CFO range, operators will be able to either benefit from an increased load capacity or decrease the inflation pressure to protect the soil, depending on their specific needs.
Commenting, Gordon Brookes, Michelin’s Customer Engineering Support Manager, says: “Self-propelled sprayer manufacturers are developing models with increasingly large tank volumes of up to 10,000 litres, and boom widths that can exceed 50m. As a result, the loads carried by the tyres are getting ever bigger.
“In addition, the demands on the tyre are very high due to increased road work. The new MICHELIN SprayBib CFO range will allow us to accentuate the benefits of the existing tyres in this category that we have on the market, and to meet rapidly evolving user expectations.”
The new range will be available in 12 sizes – introduced gradually from now to December 2022, depending on size.
