Tall tires are big business after relentless rains
Chris Hanson with a pair of Keltgen’s tall tires.
Dick Hagen
We Are The Truck Headquarters offering the top 3 selling vehicles: F-150, SILVERADO, DODGE RAM, so you can do all your shopping at one location.....plus, we have a best price match guarantee!
2014 CHEVY SILVERADO 2500HD LTZ CREW CAB stock # 4T0652 VALUE PRICE: $49,660
(*Listed price shows all rebates avail. May require a trade, or specific financing)
2014 FORD F-350 XLT CREW CAB stock # 4T0665 VALUE PRICE: $49,400
(*Listed price shows all rebates avail. May require a trade, or specific financing)
(952) 758-4488
– Chevy Dealership
(952) 758-2700
– Ford / Chrysler Dealership
2014 RAM 3500 SLT CREW CAB stock # 4T0864 VALUE PRICE: $46,900
(*Listed price shows all rebates avail. May require a trade, or specific financing) “Where Farm and Family Meet”
New Prague Auto Group
<< www.TheLandOnline.com >>
damage” has become a very large issue in the world of farm tires. Even soybean stalks have become an issue as breeders develop stronger stems to “carry more bushels” per acre. Many soybean growers also harvest their fields at an angle to the soybean rows, thus exposing tires to even more stubble. “What makes us unique,” said Hanson, “is that we’re offering a product that you can’t get from the factory, be that red machinery or green machinery or yellow or whatever the brand name of the equipment manufacturer.”
He said there are only a couple of tractor and farm equipment rim manufacturers in the United States but some outfits buy the various factory pieces and then resell them as special custom rims. “They’re taking the cookie cutter stuff and reselling as custom made. But that’s a stretch,” Hanson said. “We make our own steel centers. We buy blank rims and reconfigure to fit equipment units as needed. Ours are not the ‘cookie cutter’ rims that you get from John Deere, Case-IH and such.” They’re particular about the rubber that gets fitted on the rims they build. “I don’t like to have problems in the field so we always equip with the best rubber,” he said. “But you live with reality — agriculture puts equipment in a hazardous environment which often is running over stuff damaging to the rubber regardless the brand. We predominantly are selling Michelin and Firestone. If a customer requests, we also do Goodyear/Titan. We can sell the cheaper generic tire but if it’s got our Tall Tire label on the wheel we want a totally good setup for that customer.” A good agricultural economy the past three to four years has translated to good business for Keltgen Tall Tires. “When equipment is moving we’re busy,” said Hanson. “Quite often a farmer buys a used tractor with wide rubber but he wants narrow. We can be very specific when it comes to meeting the demands of any particular farmer.” ❖
THE LAND, JULY 4, 2014
By DICK HAGEN The Land Staff Writer Wet weather has generated interest in bigger tires with more flotation to carry crop sprayers. Obviously dual tires provide much more flotation and more traction, both key in making wet fields doable. Chris Hanson, sales rep for Keltgen Tall Tires of Olivia, Minn., indicated growers in both 20/22-inch rows and 30-inch rows were ramping up with duals. “It boils down to more flotation, better stability, simply more rubber on the ground,” he said. “Tall tires for tractors have been our mainstay for the past 20-plus years but the last couple of years we’ve had lots of activity with crop sprayers, both the big self-propelled and pull-type units. And in today’s world everyone is spraying more so this has been great business for us.” Another expanding market for Keltgen Tall Tires is the rapidly expanding size of combines. “Machinery keeps getting bigger,” Hanson said. “These new combine heads, especially if equipped with chopper heads and 400 bushel and larger grain tanks, are incredibly heavy. So we build the special rims and size them up with the rubber. It’s a bigger tire option than what’s offered from the factory and we feel a stronger package, too.” Hanson said the tougher corn stalks of today’s hybrids are a challenge to field tires, saying “stubble
13