Timken Goes Around the World With CLAAS

Timken Goes Around the World With CLAAS The Timken Company announced today that it is co-sponsoring the journey of a CLAAS ARES tractor as its driver circumnavigates the globe in the coming months to collect donations for CARE, a charitable organization whose mission is to help families in poor communities improve their lives and escape poverty. CLAAS Group, the German-based company that organized the tour, equips its agricultural machinery with Timken products. The tour is reaching Mount Rushmore next week in the U.S. state of South Dakota. "We have worked for many years with CLAAS to enhance the performance and reliability of their agricultural equipment,¡± said Paul Schulte, Timken manager of original equipment industrial sales in Europe. "Now, we are pleased to work with them as they¡¯re using that equipment to raise funds to support nutrition and education in developing countries.¡± Throughout the tour, CLAAS will be collecting money for school gardens in the African nation of Lesotho. These "gardens for life" are intended to improve the nutrition of children and youngsters and give them the opportunity to attend school. Children who were too hungry to attend school will get one meal a day from the school garden. The CLAAS tour, which set off from Germany, is expected to cover some 15,500 miles over 300 days. Agricultural machinery mechanic Matthias Lause is driving the 150-horsepower ARES tractor with a trailer in tow that will serve as his home during the journey. The itinerary includes stops in Italy, Morocco, Spain, France, Belgium, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Lesotho, Russia, Ukraine and Poland. The tour is scheduled to return to Hanover, Germany, in November for Agritechnica, the world's largest agricultural trade fair. CLAAS uses Timken® tapered and needle roller bearings in axles and gear drives for its line of agricultural machinery, which includes mowing machines, combines and harvesters. Timken also supplies bearings for the company's subsidiary Renault Agriculture, a French tractor manufacturer. The CLAAS fund-raising tour matches the spirit of Timken's philanthropic activities. Through volunteer efforts, community leadership and charitable contributions, Timken is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates around the world. This philosophy derives from Timken's core values of ethics and integrity, quality, innovation and independence. About CLAAS CLAAS Group ranks among the leading agricultural machinery manufacturers in the world. Nearly half of all combine harvesters sold in Europe are built by the company, whose headquarters is in Harsewinkel, Germany. CLAAS is the world market leader with its second major product line, namely self-propelled field choppers. The CLAAS Group generates sales of about 2.4 billion euros, employs more than 8,000 people worldwide and sells some 70 percent of its products abroad.