A Nottinghamshire farming business has more than doubled the productivity of its main cultivation tractor after upgrading to a Fendt 1050 featuring VarioGrip technology. The flagship Fendt was specified from the factory on a set of AxioBib IF 710/60R38 and IF 900/65R46 fitments – Michelin’s largest agricultural tyres.
Jamie Robson, who operates the tractor for Thoresby Farming, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, has accumulated two years of data to demonstrate the performance advantage from the Fendt and Michelin combination, versus the competitor model it replaced.
The Fendt 1050 entered service in 2017 and, along with a 5m Vaderstad Topdown, covers more than double the hectares per hour of the old tractor, with reduced slippage and at lower tyre pressures, reducing soil damage.
“We’ve found the Fendt and Michelin combination manages 4.4ha/hr compared to the 2.1 we were getting,” Robson said. “The Fendt has eight per cent average wheel slip, compared to 13 per cent from the tractor it replaced and, when you take into consideration the amount of ground it’s covering in a day, the fuel efficiency is also far superior.”
Designed to allow high-horsepower tractors to fully transmit their engine torque to the ground, Michelin’s AxioBib range can operate at low pressure with a larger footprint than conventional agricultural tyres. Their superior traction means farmers save time and use less fuel – two benefits that play a key role in making a business more efficient.
The AxioBib tyres were recommended to Thoresby Farming by Michelin agricultural account manager Ian Whitwell, who, following the delivery of the new Fendt, visited the farm to weigh the tractor and ensure the tyres were set up for optimal performance.
The manager at Thoresby Farming, Will Baker, said the Fendt 1050 is effectively doing the job of two tractors and its Michelin tyres are proving the perfect solution.
“One minute it’s a 21t 500hp heavy draft workhorse, and the next it’s a 15t low-ground pressure tractor for drilling, with a larger footprint than the crawler we used to operate,” he added.
Thoresby Farming previously ran a pair of 340hp tractors – one crawler and one wheeled model – each pulling a Sumo Trio cultivator and a Vaderstad Rapid drill.
“We’ve since replaced the crawler with a wheeled John Deere 8370R, to pick up any secondary cultivating, drilling, mole ploughing and strategic subsoiling,” Baker said. “With the two new tractors, the aim was to try to get the land in better health and obtain higher-quality seed beds for improved herbicide efficiency and better establishment.
“Our current set up also means we benefit from having two tractors that can pull 6m Vaderstad Rapid drills. That allows us to drill later in the year, and really helps us with our battle against ryegrass and black-grass.”
The Thoresby Farming business encompasses 3,400ha. As well as managing 130 Longhorn cattle plus followers, 250 Hebridean sheep and 850 commercial breeding ewes, its arable farming enterprise covers 2,700ha producing wheat, vegetables, sugar beet, oilseed rape and maize.
For more information visit https://agricultural.michelin.co.uk/uk.
