How NFTrax Wheels Deliver Savings to Nebraska Grower

Tread damage. Wheel rutting. Air pressure checks. Punctures. When it comes to your irrigation system’s tracking solution, it takes strength and traction to keep it running smoothly. That’s something South Central Nebraskan grower, Brian Bergstrom, knows all too well.

Brian knew that he was looking for a low-maintenance solution that would keep downtime and ruts to a minimum. “We’ve had a history with wheel pivots, and they would make a lot of tracks and get deeper every year, so I was looking for something new,” Brian says. His search included low-pressure tires, plastic tires, steel wheels with pads that oscillate and beyond. But none of these options provided the flex and performance he was hungering for.

That’s when he noticed how little of a track a neighboring pivot was leaving as it went round and round—the pivot was using Zimmatics’ NFTrax wheels.

Our patented NFTrax tracking solution is an airless wheel design that eliminates flat tires and wheel tracking to help save time, labor and replacements. It uses a heavy-duty vulcanized rubber belt with steel cable core tensioned over multiple drive points to provide the ideal weight distribution, flexibility and traction.

After seeing NFTrax in action, Brian decided to test it out on two of his pivots. “We’ve had track tractors before, so I’ve dealt with rubber tracks and a wheel style like [NFTrax],and I wasn’t afraid of it at all,” he says.

After a couple of years, Brian was already noticing a difference in the tracks and overall profits to his operation, which consisted of flat land with silty soil. There are two differences that truly stand out for him though.

The first is when it comes to harvest time. “When we harvest, the bean head and corn head—I haven’t lost a snout yet,” he says. “Usually, when the tracks get pretty deep you can hit a snout and lose one. And then with the bean head, we’re basically able to get all the beans we need.”

The other is that prior to NFTrax he was dealing with deep tracks that needed to be filled every year. Driving over those tracks was also hard and jarring on his tractors, combine, sprayer and entire fleet of equipment.

But now, he’s only having to refill those tracks every three years, especially with his one-third, two-thirds crop rotation of corn and beans. And because NFTrax prides itself on having 30-50 percent less wheel track depth than standard tires in similar conditions, he has more peace of mind when his equipment drives over them.

Today, all seven of Brian’s pivots are outfitted with NFTrax, and any future ones will be too.

“They’re an added cost to the pivot purchase but they’ve been well worth it [for us]. When we buy another pivot, we’ll get them on it. It’s not an option to not have them anymore.” concludes Brian.

To learn more about NFTrax tracking solutions and how they can help your operation, talk to your local Zimmatic dealer or view our tracking solutions brochure.