Bridgestone present at Agritechnica 2013 - Introducing its future strategy and showcasing tyres for more efficient and sustainable farming

Bridgestone, the world’s number one tyre and rubber manufacturer – owner of the leading agricultural tyres brand Firestone – will participate in this year’s AGRITECHNICA show, taking place in Hannover, Germany, from 10^th to 16^th November.

Advertisement

Bridgestone will not only showcase its new Firestone products, but will also give visitors the opportunity to explore Firestone’s long history, and understand how this powerful heritage makes Firestone a global leading agricultural tyre brand.

A new direction – A new brand!

Bridgestone has also selected this year’s Agritechnica, the world’s most influential agricultural trade show, as the platform to announce a new line of agricultural radial tyres under the Bridgestone brand.

With a rapidly growing population, pressure on arable land increases, demanding for increased efficiency and productivity. Farming equipment is becoming bigger, more powerful and more specialised, whereas their impact on the soil needs to be minimized.

The new range of Bridgestone Agricultural tyres will therefore strike the perfect balance between farming efficiency and environmental care helping farmers get the most out of their land.

New Firestone agricultural tyres - designed for growing results!

In the Firestone section of the stand, we will be presenting some recently launched European-made Firestone products, such as:

• ·               The 270/95R48 PERFORMER ROW CROP for sprayer applications, a narrow tyre that allows precise steering between the crops, causing no damage to crops and roots. Thanks to its steel belt construction, the PERFORMER ROW CROP has a higher load capacity than many of its competitors, allowing for larger sprayer tanks. In addition, the Dual Angle Lug⁽¹⁾ design, with its outstanding traction and low soil disturbance characteristics, allow farmers to work faster and further improve their efficiency.
• ·               The 800/65R32 MAXI TRACTION COMBINE, a robust tyre for combine harvesters that has a combination of reliability, safety, efficiency and low soil compaction built-in.  The reinforced casing with hi-flex sidewall give this MAXI TRACTION COMBINE a large footprint and perfect stability, important elements when fitted to heavy and high gravity point vehicles. At the same time, the Dual Angle Lug design will generate great traction, further contributing to farming efficiency.

“With these new products, we provide agricultural vehicle operators with high efficient long-life tyres that not only reduce their operating costs, but at the same time cause minimal impact on the environment thanks to their low soil disturbance and compaction as well as their low fuel consumption” says Harald Van Ooteghem, Senior Marketing Manager Commercial Business Unit, Bridgestone Europe.

Focusing on proven results

Also on display will be the established and very successful Firestone products:

• ·                The 500/70R24 DURAFORCE UTILITY for industrial applications such as backhoe loaders & compact wheeled loaders. With its wide and flat tread contour and extra thick sidewall, this tyre offers excellent stability and safety during its long life.
• ·                The IF800/70R38 MAXI TRACTION with Improved Flexion for high horsepower tractors, equipped with a casing that enables greater flexing leading to lower soil compaction or more efficiency on the road. The performance of this product has been proven by means of a DLG FOKUS TEST⁽²⁾ in which the IF710/70R42 MAXI TRACTION was compared with similar products from  3 premium European manufacturers, and in which the Firestone MAXI TRACTION IF scored “+” on each of the 3 following criteria: traction, specific fuel consumption and surface capacity.

“These outstanding DLG Fokus Test⁽²⁾ results are the proof of our commitment to deliver products with superb levels of performance, and a result of our huge investments to renew about 75% of the Firestone agricultural tyre product range over the last 2 years” says Harald Van Ooteghem, Senior Marketing Manager Commercial Business Unit, Bridgestone Europe.