Designed to work at up to 0.7 bar lower field pressures than the previous SprayBib range, claimed benefits of Michelin’s new SprayBib CFO self-propelled sprayer tyres include increased operator comfort, reduced soil compaction and up to a 20% increase in traction.
Combining VF (very high flexion) and CFO (cyclical field operation) standards, the reinforced casing design allows pressures to be reduced to 0.7 bar for cyclic use. This can be dropped to as low as 0.8 bar for smaller sprayers, whereas the first generation SprayBib started at a minimum of 1.8 bar.
Other claimed plus points of the new range include the up to 14% increase in load capacity at cyclic field operations with speeds up to 30km/hr. The reinforced casing design allows for axle loads of up to 1.3t and increased speed capability of up to 70km/hr in some sizes.
VF420/90 R34 is a new size. The company says that the current VF420/85 R34 normally fitted on small self-propelled sprayers very quickly reaches its load capacity limits. The new VF420/90 R34 will allow users to increase the load capacity or decrease the inflation pressure to protect the soil.
“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,” comments Gordon Brookes, Michelin’s customer engineering support manager. “As a result, the loads carried by the tyres are getting ever bigger and the demands on the tyre are very high due to increased road work.”
The new range will be available in 12 sizes – introduced gradually to the UK market from now to December 2022, depending on size.
