FULTON — Farmers have a lot riding on their tires.

They can’t plow a field or pick a crop if their machinery is sitting on a flat, and it’s not like they can just whip out a jack, crank up a 10-ton combine, pop off a tire and slap a new one on. It takes someone with the right tools and talent to get that machine moving again.

Meet Harry — or rather, meet the crew at Harry’s Farm Tire, a full-service tire and wheel shop serving eastern Iowa and western Illinois with locations in both states. With started out as a small service station more than 60 years ago has grown into big business today that can handle just about anything on wheels, from trailers to tractors, cars to combines, little lawnmowers to big rigs. If it moves, Harry’s can keep it moving.

Shop manager Jeff VanderEide oversees a staff of seven service techs at the Fulton shop. He’s worked at Harry’s since 1993, when the current location was based in Albany. It moved north along state Route 84 close to Fulton in 2012 with the construction of a much larger shop.

Despite its name, there’s more to Harry’s than just farm tires; the business works on all types of tires.

“Tires are the main thing that we do, and farm tires are our niche in the market,” VanderEide said. “We do all tires from lawn and garden, trucks, semis, construction equipment and all of that type — ATV, lawn mower, whatever you got, we can take care of it for you” — and they can take care of it even if the job’s too big to bring to the shop.

“We have two service trucks that can go on site and can work on the big equipment right on the farm. Not many other places around the area can do that,” he said, adding that the trucks can service a pretty broad area, having traveled as far as 90 minutes away from the shop to take care of customers.

The company is based in Wheatland, Iowa, and also has a location in Wenona in Marshall County. The “Harry” in its name is for founder Harry Rowold, who started the business in Wheatland in 1963; his son, Ross, now owns the company. The Albany location opened in 1983 before its move to Fulton.

Tractors and farm tire technology has changed over the years, and Harry’s staff keeps up to date on what’s going on in the industry, and helps keep their customers up to date, too. One of the newest advances is push-button control from the cab to adjust tire pressure, helpful for when tractors are on the softer surface of a farm field vs. a harder surface. Air pressure may not seem like a big deal, but it can make a big difference on the farm, especially in soil compaction.

“It can affect your yields,” VanderEide said. The more compacted the soil, the harder it is for root systems to break through, which can lead to stunted growth and reduced yields. Reducing tire pressure can help reduce the risk of that happening, distributing the weight so that soil compaction is minimized. But when you’re hauling a load down the road: “Transporting equipment … you need more pressure for that,” he said. “There’s a lot of variables with what they’re doing with the farm equipment, where, for instance, with your car, you’re putting one amount of pressure in it and it’s good no matter where you go and what you do. With the farm equipment, you got to know what they’re using the tractor for and what the application is, so there’s a little more research that you have to do.”

“It’s important for us to know where to set the pressure and to educate the farmer on how they do that, and what they should look for,” he added. “Sometimes you got to help people make the decision on what’s best for them,” VanderEide said.

Harry’s is an independent tire dealer, and can sell any brand, including major ones such as Michelin, Cooper, Goodyear and Bridgestone, and a wide range of sizes are available. Harry’s also offers a selection of used tires. “Tires are expensive, and sometimes people are looking for something just to get by for a while until they can afford new ones,” VanderEide said. “Price is a huge thing, but sometimes cheaper isn’t always better, and sometimes you have to educate the customer that, yes, this is the cheapest one, but, this is the better one for you because you’re going to be doing these things for your vehicle.”

If it’s steel instead of rubber that you need, Harry’s can help with that, too. The business stocks wheels for most machinery — and if they don’t have it, they can make it in their shop, where they can build ag rims.

While Harry’s history began as a service station, these days the company’s focus is on tires. They’ll do oil changes, too, but that’s it.

“We stay busy enough just doing tires, especially with being so broad in our market with tires,” VanderEide said. “If you’re a place that strictly does car tires, then, yes, you need to fill that space with something else, but we’re kind of known as being the tire place to go to in the area.”

Being the go-to place for tires means being able to service older equipment, too. It’s not unusual for Harry’s to work on vintage machinery.

“We have a lot of older farmers who still tinker around with their old tractors,” VanderEide said. “It’s kind of enjoyable to see them and go out and work on them because all of those tractors have stories behind them. They’re not just chore tractors. There are people who’ll say, ‘This is my dad’s,’ or ‘This is my grandpa’s.’”

The same goes for car tires, too. Harry’s has had a number of classic rides roll into the shop, along with new models. From a Model T to a Tesla, Harry’s team can help — in fact, according to the shop’s Facebook page, they got the T and Tesla jobs “because no one else in the area was willing or knew how to work on either one.”

When the staff hears something to the tune of “You guys are the only ones that ...” it’s mechanical music to their ears.

“It helps to have the experienced employees who know what they’re doing, because customers can trust us,” VanderEide said. “They’ve been here before, they’ve seen their faces, and they want them to do the job because they know what they’re doing.”

Blown tires and other issues with rubber on the road and rows can be frustrating for farmers — and costly, too, keeping them from getting their fields plowed and picked. Farming is a field where time is of the essence. Profits can rise and fall based on deadlines missed or met, but having a good shop to go to can ease the tension, VanderEide said.

“It can be satisfying to help people out and teach people the importance of tires, safety-wise and maintenance-wise,” VanderEide said. “Lots of times people are calling us not having their best day, whether they have a flat tire or are stuck in the field and want to get their crops in or picked. The key is calming them down a bit and explaining what we need to do to help them out and get there as quick as we can.”

Harry’s Farm Tire, 16262 Waller Road in Fulton, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Find it on Facebook, email harrysfarmtire@frontier.com or call 309-887-4447 to schedule service or for more information.