Even within one company’s lineup of tires for agricultural uses, all tires are not created equal. As machinery size expands and farmers find new uses for a piece of machinery like a self-propelled sprayer, companies are keeping up by adding sizes and perhaps even specially designed tires to meet the demands of the specific machine a farmer wants to take to the field.

Some of the companies making tires today aren’t familiar names representing companies you grew up with on the farm. Many of those companies still sell ag tires, but so do other companies, like Maxam. Some of these newer names have produced and marketed tires for agriculture successfully in other countries for a long time, and are now bringing their technology and tire lineup to the U.S. to offer to American farmers.

One of the tires Maxam displayed at farm shows is designed specifically for large harvesters, primarily combines. It offers one new model for front tires and another for rear tires. Combine tires must be able to handle both heavy and lighter loads in the field, depending upon whether the grain tank is full or empty. With grain tanks that hold nearly 500 bushels today, that’s a range of nearly 14 tons from empty to full. They also must be able to handle higher speeds when the combine operates on the road, moving from field to field at higher speeds.

Demco also highlighted a new track system for its large grain carts. The Landflex Trax system offered on some Demco grain carts helps balance the load and spreads the weight over a larger surface area, reducing soil compaction.