Michelin has introduced a new low-pressure tyre range designed specifically for self-propelled sprayers – the Michelin SprayBib CFO. The CFO (cyclic field operation) standard allows VF tyres to increase cyclic loads by 13.5 per cent at 30km/hr compared to a non-CFO tyre.
Replacing its predecessor, the Michelin SprayBib, the new range offers improvements and benefits for farmers and contractors including: a reinforced casing design allows that added axle loads of up to 1,300kg depending on tyre size; the ability to work at even lower pressures, with the the optimised footprint improving traction by up to 20 per cent; and the introduction of the E speed index in some sizes allows speeds up to 70km/hr.
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.
Due to its advanced casing design that 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).The VF standard allows the tyre to carry 40 per cent more load than a standard tyre at the same pressure.
Thanks to the low-pressure operating capabilities – up to 0.7 bar less than its predecessor – and the VF casing design, vibration levels transmitted to the driver are minimised.
The current VF420/85R34 is normally fitted on small self-propelled sprayers and very quickly reaches its limits in load capacity. With this new VF420/90R34 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.
Michelin’s customer engineering support manager, Gordon Brookes, said self-propelled sprayer manufacturers were 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,” he added. “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.”
