Tracks or tires? That is the question Don Van Houweling hears from farmers at his equipment dealership.

For years, it was a simple answer. Famers with high horsepower tractors or combines found tracks worked best for getting across a field in all conditions while reducing soil compaction when compared to traditional farm tires. Then in 2014, along came LSW or low sidewall tires from Titan International.

Van Houweling owns Van Wall Equipment, one of the largest John Deere groups in the country. He says the difference between a standard farm tire, and LSW is like comparing the bias tire back in the day and radial of today. "It has a superior foot print with less air capacity required to accomplish its task of moving the equipment forward," the Iowa farm equipment dealer says. "It is a design breakthrough for the farmer."

Now those LSW tires are taking on tracks head-to-head in farm fields across the Midwest. The result is less cost and better performance according to Van Houweling.

In field testing
The Iowa equipment dealer put the LSW technology to the test. Two years ago, he put 1250 LSW tires on a 600 hp. John Deere tractor and ran it in the field against a track machine. "We found the 1250 LSW was not enough tractor tire capacity for that horsepower," Van Houweling says.

A year later, Titan International brought him the largest LSW in the world — a 1400. He tested a John Deere 9620R equipped with Goodyear Optitrac LSW 1400/30R46 against a John Deere 9RX trach machine. "If performed very similar to tracks in good soil conditions," Van Houweling says. "At the same time, we found out it used less fuel."

In Illinois, Chad Colby, general manager at Central Illinois Ag, is also finding good success with LSW tires on his Case IH combines.

"The first time I drove a combine with LSW tires, I thought it was a joke," the Case IH dealer says. At that time, he was using smaller 900 LSW tires. "Back then, they were little. But after one pass in the field you could tell a difference."

Colby tried them on multiple tractors and combines and says just changing to these tires improves the ride. "There was no power lope or road hop," he says. "You just bolt them on to a tractor or a combine and go to work."

He believes in the LSW tire technology so much, that this fall, he is taking it on the road going head-to-head in the field with red track tractors. "We will be going from farm to farm with a Steiger 580 with 1400 LSW super single on it to show producers there is another option," Colby says.

In an era of reducing soil compaction, the LSW works. Using Tekscan pressure mapping technology, Titan found the pressure with the LSW 1400s was an average of 16% lower than tracks, with the tire's maximum recorded pressure being 38% lower than the maximum pressure of the tracks.

And while both men like the overall performance, they say price will make farmers consider switching from tracks to LSW tires.

Price point
LSW tires cost from $40,000 to $50,000 less than tracks, according to Colby and Van Houweling.

"With the economy the way it is, pennies are little bit tighter," Van Houweling says. "We have done a lot of work with the flotation and traction on these LSW 1400s. It will be the right jump for the guy who doesn't want to get into track machine but wants to get into flotation option with the 1400."

TRAVELING SHOW: Chad Colby, general manager at Central Illinois Ag, will be taking a Steiger equipped with LSW 1400s to his customers to show them how switching to a wheeled machine is competitive to tracks.

With commodity prices lower, Colby says farmers are looking at ways to save money. "If we can get the work done with tires that make a tractor burn less fuel, reduces soil compaction and it is cheaper," he says, "our producers are going to say yes."

While the upfront cost savings is substantial, the maintenance cost is unprecedented.

Colby says caring for LSW tires is like caring for the tires on your car. "It is air," he says.

Upkeep on tracks can add up quickly depending on farm field type, how much load hauled and travel distance from shop to field. "Maintenance on tracks can add up really quick," Colby says. "You can easily spend $10,000."

With continued pressure on margins, growers are evaluating their equipment investments with a sharpened pencil. "We're entering a key replacement cycle for machinery and farmers are ready to buy," says Scott Sloan, ag product manager for Titan and Goodyear Farm Tires. "But they are looking for a better value. That is why Titan is putting such a heavy emphasis on developing flotation options, and why we've partnered with dealers to ensure their viability as a replacement to tracks."

Sloan says farmers should look for more LSW tires in the future. "There will be a big brother to the 1400s," he says. The company already have plans for a 1550.