Shark Wheel has won about 3 government grants through the National Science Foundation for its irrigation wheel (agriculture). These 3.5 foot tall wheels have shown incredible results. The most recent test was against the industry leading pneumatic wheel (pneumatics make up over 80% of the industry because they mitigate rutting). The pneumatic dug a 14″ rut compared to a Shark Wheel’s 1″ rut on the same tower/same field/same conditions/etc. Although the virtually elimination of rutting is the #1 advantage. Let us talk about some other advantages:
1. Least amount of rutting in the industry (the out of phase wheels push soil toward center unlike a circular wheel – once you see the new design it becomes even more apparent)
2. No flat (Shark Wheels do not have air and cannot go flat)
3. Shark Wheel’s design allows crops to grow in the wheel tracks. No other wheel does this to our knowledge. Of course the crop output is significantly diminished in the wheel track, but there is crop nonetheless
4. Non-pneumatic wheels put too much stress on the drivetrain. Shark Wheels used hundreds of hours of computer simulations to push nearly all of the stress to the outer circumference of the wheel nullying premature drivetrain failure
5. Modular design allows farmers to fix a broken ‘lug’ (the modular tire portion) in only 60 seconds with only 2 bolts to pull out and put back in
6. Pricing is in line with industry standard – far less expensive than the NFTrax, which is most likely the best non-pneumatic solution pre-Shark Wheels.
7. The new wheel design is compliant. This means the wheel actually flexes (unlike the wheel in this video) and can absorb blows from rocks and other debris. The compliant design also removes vibration and other stresses.
8. The width of the Shark Wheel does not leave a berm like pneumatics that push soil away from the center. In measuring the total width of the Shark Wheel vs. a pneumatic, they are exactly the same
In short, the Shark Wheel in its newest form is a work of art and engineering. Everything was thought of with the final design that commercializes in Q4 2022.