I picked up our set of Tweel's today for our Cat 262C2 Skid Steer. We have had too many headaches with pneumatic tires due to punctures. Whether its a simple or large one, it happens too often. The turning point on this machine was when one of the workers stabbed the bale spears through the front two tires which still had over 75% tread. We knew solid/solid flex type tires were not the answer either due to their rough ride and poor impact resistance. We have too many instances where they ram into a stub wall or curb. I stumbled across the Tweel and thought it would maybe be the perfect fit. i had many doubts, but it seems to be proving me wrong. I just got them on today so short of just playing with them I don't have much feedback. The one thing I really was curious on was their supposed resistance to "hopping/dancing" when turning with the skid steer. They really do eliminate this, all the way up from 0-12mph turning on a complete dime it didn't hop or skid nor did it do it on fast cornering either. The ride is interesting to describe. You can tell you are not riding on pnuematics as it is a slightly firmer ride, but nowhere near a solid tire ride. The large open spaced tread blocks may contribute to some of the ride qualities. The more you load the Tweel's up, the better they seem to ride though. So far traction seems excellent even on ice. Hopefully these do end up working out. They are a big upfront investement but are retreadable. Heres a picture of ours followed by a video from Michelin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRKWlhTGO6M
I hope they do work out for you ! ……. and I'm sure you'll be keeping us informed to as how they (and you) do ! …….. If it happens that they don't live up to your expectations …. well … at least u'll have the COOLEST set of wheels around "BLING FOR SKIDS" ….. LOL
I will keep you updated on them. If they turn out nice, two more sets may end up here as the other two skids are also going to be needing tires before the end of the year. They do look neat, and have already turned a lot of heads at the farm. Mostly confused looks. They are heavy SOB's though. 220lbs.
That'll be very interesting how it goes ! …….. no doubt you've seen some dumb looks …..LOL ………… having the extra weight will be like free ballast ….you will really like that !
The C series already limits wheelies pretty well but it still did them, I noticed with these already that it is less subjective to it. Which is a good thing.
What was the cost for a set? Those look good, and if they perform as you expect, will be worth every penny.
They do not have a price set in stone yet. It sounds like once they get everything up and running the price will be just over 1k. Then after buying the first set you only pay the cost of retreading locally.
$1000 for a set sounds cheap ! …… reg chevron tires cost as much if not more than $250 a piece (not including a rim either) …… that sounds pretty dog-gone cheap …wow! Great score !
Pretty sure that's a grand a piece.
That's what I was thinking too …… but that's not how it reads ??
No way a grand total, if that was the case I would buy 2 sets right now....
Well there's no way they're $250 a piece...
Correct that is the price each. Regular decent bias tires are $250-350 each. Michelins radials are just under $500. Solid/solidflex type seem to be $600-800. Its important to remember they are retreadable, which is very cheap.
Aren't they going to fill up with dirt/mud ? Or maybe you are in a dry area ?
I have already asked this questions before, I seems that the way they are designed with them compressing up and down and left and right it keeps the tweels clean all by itself.
No we work in a wet environment, mostly cow manure. They continually clean themselves out due to the fact they are always flexing. Material cannot build up in them because of this.
It sure does look cool. So a full set if I understand right is $1000 per tire?
Nope …. post #7 he said as above : ………… not a 1000ea. …. I still say WOW !
A full set would be over 4k. a single Tweel would be over 1k.
Thanks, It does seem like a lot but compared to how much the semi-solid tires are. Not having to worry about flats is big. Wonder how much the retreading will be and how long the tread lasts? If you could get ten years out of a set with retreading it a few times then it may not be bad? Keep us posted if you don't mind.
Got in a set of Michelin's Bibsteel All Terrain's this week. Weren't ready to buy another set of Tweel's yet and wanted to see how these performed. Being steel belted radials they are more resistant to punctures to begin with. Most all other SSL tires are Bias ply. These were a little more than the Firestone Duraforce DT's but were half as much as the Tweels. We never got very good life out of the Firestones. Maybe 600hrs. The Michelins start with a little more tread and the Radial construction should help them run at least twice as long. With wheel loader tires I was always told 3-4 times the life with Radials over Bias and that was what the prices reflected as well. Tractor tires seem to wear at least two to three times as long in addition to other benefits. If these last as long as I am hoping they should have decent tread for trade in time. These will be going on our 242B3 that runs in the barn, pushes up feed, scrapes manure, beds freestalls, jumps center alley curbs, moves bales, etc. I did disable the 2 speed on this machine however which should help some with the tire life. Our 242B3 for feeding will need tires next winter. By then we should know if we want another set of the Tweels or not I am thinking. Then we would just take the tires from the new machines and put them on the trade-in's and keep that rotation going. I do not know if we will want three sets of the Tweels though due to the fact we may trade down a size on the barn machine to a 226 which runs 10" tires and they do not make the Tweels in that size yet. I also attached a picture of the Tweels after 150hrs worth of use. I made sure to not wash them in that amount of time. In the deep snow and mud they keep themselves cleaned out well and do not allow much buildup at all. I forgot to put a gauge to them when new, however Michelin claims 30/32" original tread depth. At this time they measure 29/32". If they continue this trend in theory we should easily see over 3,000hrs worth of life in the original tread. We typically run SSL tires down until the center is smooth. With the Tweels being flat across though it will allow slightly longer wear. I would not expect the retread material to last as long, however I do not know if Michelin will be supplied a pre-mold or custom mold tread or if they will be having people use an off the shelf retread material.
Lookin Good! :thumbsup
They do look cool. Does the rubber seem much harder than a pneumatic tire? I have high hopes for their performance and will look forward to future posts.
The compound is slightly harder but it will still leave marks everywhere so its still grips plenty.
According to the website, only 1 size is available. I don't know if the website has not been updated, or that is still the case. My Michelin dealer does not seem to have any knowledge of Tweels. Do you know if there are other sizes available yet? I would be looking for 14 x 17.5.
Yes they only have one size right now. They just came out last fall. I figure they must have figured the biggest market would be the 12" size. I can ask when other sizes may be coming. The Bibsteel AT's are working good. I can't believe how nice they ride. Its like driving with normal tires at 5-10psi. very spongy and soft. Sidewalls actually flex and bulge so the footprint ends up being very large which should help with traction. I may worry about sidewall damage from that, however it does help with the ride and such. The hopping and dancing when turning is also gone with these tires.
I got some answers from Tweel on the life of the poly "casing". They are working on their legal warranty right now, but they will essentially be covering it for the initial tread life. They poly is rated for UV exposure to 30 years and millions of load cycles. It is rated to operate in temperatures ranging from -40*F to 266*F. The Tweel can operate with many of the spokes damaged. There is not immediate fail if any one of them breaks. Diminishing performance will be noticed with each injury the Tweel sustains until it is decided to pull it out of service, but it will continue to operate with a lot of damage. Making sure to get them retreaded before the tread is completely smooth is important as well to avoid hitting the steel belting. He would not give any info on how soon other sizes will be available other than they are planning on adding more in the near future.
i do want bibsteel tires. they WOULD have to last 3000 hours to make them worth the money, which i would find real hard to believe... you will have to keep us posted...
What are your running now and what are you getting for life out of them at what cost? We had been running Firestone Duraforce DT's which would maybe hit 800hrs. The factory Cat tires are Titans that were a little cheaper IIRC but lasted to 1000hrs. The Michelin Bibsteels were 40% more than the Firestones. Strictly on a tire wear basis this meant we didn't even need to hit 2,000hrs for them to be worth it. However I also asses a certain amount of value to the resistance to puntures that the steel belts have, as well as the increased ride and handling performance. Traction is very good with them as well. These all add value to me. I don't just look at dollars per hour because the smoother ride, better handling, better traction and less downtime are all helping your bottom line at the same time as well.
Great thread! And I'll be waiting to see how the tweels stand the test of time....along with the bibsteel's. BTW, what kind of work are you using your skids for(or did I miss that)???
Dairy farm, gravel, concrete, mud, manure etc. Our barn machines take a lot of abuse due to the operators, they will give the Tweels a good test.
is that the way thier suposed to look? the back looks crushed already
That is how they operate. Just like any tire squats to get traction so do these.
i fill up 60 concrete feed bunks everyday from rock alley way. my tires have about 300 hours on them. dont think they will make it another 200 hours. looking for a longer lasting tire
Brief update on the Tweels. Over 1000hrs on them now and still holding strong at 22/32" tread. They started with 30/32" so at this rate I would say they are going to pay for themselves even without a retread. That statement would depend on one thing though, would solid/flexport/airboss style tires have cost us an additional $200-300 worth of lost productivity and/or machine repairs due to the ride and traction quality? I can't give a firm number really, but I feel they are worth it. Add in the couple hundred to retread them and then the Tweel becomes very economical. I'll be sticking with the Tweel on the 262C2 but do like the Bibsteel AT's on the 242B3. We actually traded the one that recieved them but put some Cat tires back on it and I swapped the Bibsteels to our other 242B3 as the machine we traded for was a 226B3 with 10" tires. I just ordered a set of Bibsteel AT's for it so that I can put the factory Titans on our lesser used LS170 NH that is running on cords. If we were still having punctures or bent rims with the Bibsteels I would get another set of Tweels, but the Bibsteels have been running great. They do wear faster but the traction and ride are much better than the Tweel. I feel between the Bibsteel and the Tweel we should be set on SSL tire choices for awhile. Both have their application where they shine. Here is a video they made comparing them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0oBUhUW5o4
Kind of made a bit of a comparison video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdfw5mTkjAY