WESTERN PRODUCER — How might revolutionary skateboard wheels relate to farm tires? If Shark Wheel has its way, skateboard tire technology will grow to become big tractor tires.
Machine power converts to productivity at the contact point where rubber meets soil. Technology of that crucial contact point has changed little in the three decades since rubber tracks made the scene. Tires and tracks have improved since then, but there has been no significant technological change. They have only evolved.
Until now. A California company called Shark Wheel has invented a shape that is a perfect cube at the same time it’s a perfect circle. It has distinct identifiable corners like a square box, but it rolls easier and more smoothly than a conventional round rubber tire. Shark calls it the Swift wheel.
Swift stands for Sine Wave Innovative Flotation and Traction. The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical curve that describes a smooth, repetitive oscillation. The sine wave occurs often in pure and applied mathematics, physics, engineering, signal processing and many other fields.
Firestone is the exclusive North American dealer for Shark Swift irrigation wheels. The revolutionary tire is designed to replace conventional round rubber irrigation tires.
Swift is designed to work in wet conditions, according to Bill Durivage, manager of product strategy at Firestone.
“Regular irrigation tires push soil away from the footprint. The sinusoidal tread pulls soil into the centre of the footprint, minimizing ruts. In side-by-side testing, pneumatic tires gouged out a 14-inch rut. Swift tires only scratched out a one-inch rut,” said Durivage in an email interview.
Another unique design feature is that the wheel is airless. It’s non-pneumatic. So the square-round Swift design eliminates time-wasting flat tires in the field.
The paddles of the tread design comprise spring steel with over-moulded rubber. The bi-directional tread pattern allows the wheel to work equally well in both directions, and it has been proven to minimize rutting with its sinusoidal tread design.
“We don’t know the full life expectancy for a paddle, but we’ve been field testing for four years with no paddle changes. Unlike a pneumatic tire, Swift paddles are modular. If one were to be damaged or worn out, it can be individually replaced in about one minute. Pneumatic tires may require complete replacement in the middle of the field, resulting in costly service, downtime and field damage.
“For extremely difficult soil types where traction is a major concern, the modular design enables installation of high traction paddles with a one-inch taller fin to increase traction. Farmers can purchase high-traction wheels, which come equipped with a high-traction paddle in place of a standard paddle.”
For now, the SharkSwift wheels are only aimed at the irrigation market. There’s no word about making them available for a full range of tractors and combines? Firestone says Swift is for application on lateral move and centre-pivot irrigation.
Although Shark Wheels are manufactured in China and India, the company is seeking domestic manufacturers.
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