Mitas Tyres, the Czech tyre manufacturer, has recently joined forces with Russian agricultural machinery company, Rostselmash, in a project designed to raise awareness of the ice-covered ecosystem of Lake Baikal in Russia.
This was done in the form of a collaborative photo and video shoot with National Geographic Magazine. The shoot was carried out on the frozen lake in March of this year but was only released in recent weeks.
As can be seen in the video (below), the participating companies arranged for a Versatile 2375 tractor and a Rostselmash Acros 595 Plus combine harvester to drive on the ice-covered lake and its wintry Siberian ssurroundings – exhibiting the durability of both the machines and the tyres in extreme conditions of -25 °C.
The thickness of ice at Lake Baikal was put to the test by the 5.5m-wide tractor, which weighed 11.69t and was fitted with Mitas AC85 duals.
At the time of filming, the ice at Lake Baikal was about 1m thick, so even the heavy-duty agricultural machinery used during filming was relatively safe.
Versatile 2375
A real beast of a machine, the 2375 is an articulated tractor with a 375hp Cummins engine. Originally known as Buhler Versatile, ‘Buhler’ was dropped from the name in 2009. Versatile is a Canadian manufacturer that specialises in high-powered tractors; the majority shareholder in the company is Rostselmash.
Rostselmash Acros 595 Plus
Meanwhile, the Acros 595 Plus is a 325hp machine with a 6-cylinder Cummins engine and a 540L fuel tank, weighing 14.33t in total.
While it undoubtedly proved to be a tough, durable machine in such conditions, the harvester couldn’t have cut too much on that particular day…
