The Michelin X Tweel non-pneumatic tire on a John Deere mower.

Michelin recently launched their X Tweel non-pneumatic tire for some of their commercial mowers.  The airless tire and wheel uses

“…a combination of deformable polyurethane spokes, a steel-and-rubber outer rim, and rigid metal hub. The outer rim—called a shear beam—carries most of the load. The spokes and hub distribute the load across different parts of the shear beam as the tire rolls over objects.”

The tire is available for their ZTrak series of mowers and according to John Deere lasts two to three times longer than other tires. The X Tweel are only being used on slow-moving vehicles currently because at high speeds, airless tires tend to vibrate and make lots of noise. The company sees golf cars and small utility vehicles as the next likely market. The reported cost is $749 for a pair of tires. Learn more:  Popsci.com

Comment:  Non-pneumatic tires are a likely to become more prevalent in the next three to five years. Polaris has also recently began selling their non-pneumatic wheel into commercial markets after first being used for some of their military vehicles. While it would seem ideal for high end side-by-sides being used on rough trails, Polaris has noted that the wheels have to be in effect “tuned” for a model’s and suspension, so it is likely that commercial users will be the first to use the wheels. Currently a set of four of the Polaris Terrainarmor wheels costs $4,000 and includes a speed key to limit vehicle speed to 25 mph.