New Surface-Mine Tire from Michelin Reduces Operational Costs and Improves Endurance

MICHELIN XDR3 MB4 provides increased tire life and operator safety

amid challenging mining conditions

GREENVILLE, S.C., Sept. 23, 2016 — To address the productivity and endurance issues found in today’s surface mines, MICHELIN Earthmover announced today the introduction of the MICHELIN^® XDR3^® MB4 surface mine-haul tire. In development testing for the last six years, the new tire — developed for a range of rigid dump trucks of up to 400 ton trucks — is designed with new compounds and a revolutionary, new tread pattern which provides exceptional tire life, increased by a minimum of ten percent without any compromise on TKPH ⁽¹⁾. The use of corrosion-isolating cables incorporated into the tire architecture results in a 10 percent increase in tire endurance— significant in situations where this equipment is always moving as it is operated for up to 23 hours-per-day in extreme terrain.

The MICHELIN XDR3 — Michelin’s largest-selling tire globally — is designed for operator safety.  Michelin’s revolutionary tread pattern provides excellent load distribution across the contact patch and designed to lower contact pressure and reduce wear rate ⁽²⁾. In addition, the tread pattern is designed for better endurance thanks to revolutionary heat dissipation.   This prevents tire overheating which can result in tire failure, and in turn, lead to a threat in operator safety. The XDR3 40.00R57, the first in a range of coming sizes,  is MEMS ready 

“Michelin’s most popular tire, tested on all truck brands, is designed for punishing environments such as oils sands and other surface-mining operations where safety and performance is the goal,” said Jamey Fish, director of earthmover marketing for Michelin North America. “Michelin responds to customer needs by providing long-lasting innovative products to solve their most demanding business challenges in the specific environments where they operate.”

The MICHELIN XDR3 will replace the MICHELIN XDR2 line.

1. Projected improvement in tire life based on wear rate improvements on the new MB4/MC4 tread compounds and on field performance in 14 customer mine sites over a 29-month period comparing the tread pattern of the MICHELIN XDR (on predecessor and prototype tires) to the tread pattern of the XDR2 and XDR.   Additional improvements in tread cuts and tread fatigue anticipated because of 17 degrees lower tread operating temperature and corrosion-isolating cables.  Actual results may vary.
2. Internal comparison of +5% vs MICHELIN^® XDR^®2 40.00 R57