Included in this year’s Farm Progress Show event program are equipment demonstrations -- and organizers have picked grain carts, the new must-have implement, for one of them.

The grain cart is rapidly winning producers over because of its ability to increase the efficiency of combines and speed up harvesting operations.

Iowa's Balzer is showcasing its high-capacity grain carts in demonstrations during the Farm Progress Show in Regina. (Scott Garvey photo)

Balzer Inc., an Iowa-based manufacturer, is using the demonstrations to showcase its line of giant-capacity models, the 1325, 1550 and 2000.  Each of those model numbers also represents the bushel capacity of the cart.

According to Jason Liechty of Balzer Inc, all three models shares the same hopper base.  Raising the height of the basic hopper design adds the extra capacity -- but the largest model, the 2000, uses a self-steering tridem axle design to handle the extra weight and increase flotation. The two smaller carts use a tandem configuration.
 
To ensure unloading time is minimized, all three carts share the same 1,090-bushel-per-minute, PTO-driven unloading auger.  The largest model is capable of transferring a full load, in just under two minutes.
 
This is the first production year for the model 2000, which replaces the discontinued 1,800-bushel model that had topped the company’s model line.  Balzer carts are distributed through Viterra in Western Canada.