In 1997, Denny Bell recognized a problem and seized an opportunity.
A seasoned farmer and experienced businessman, Denny owned Agri-Logic, the producer of Case and Ag Leader’s early yield-mapping software. His business dealings allowed him to visit thousands of farms and interact with individual customers at trade shows. These discussions resulted in the discovery of a universal problem: agricultural water management. Farmers all recognized that proper field drainage was the only correlation that consistently impacted yields.

True, various types of farm drainage equipment existed on the market, but Denny wanted to create something better and more widely useful. He identified with the farmers’ need for a land improvement tool that was also cost effective and the Soil-Max Gold Digger was born.

In 2011, Soil-Max releases the patented Stealth ZD tile plow.
This new design decreases the amount of tractive power required to pull the machine through the ground by increasing the amount of lift generated in the soil profile. The plow also moves the tile exit point directly in line with the pivot point of the shank thereby eliminating deflection and pinching of the pipe during grade changes.

In 2012, Al Myers (Ag Leader) acquires Soil-Max and Gradient.
Soil-Max remains a stand-alone company building tile plows and tile carts while Gradient is incorporated into the Ag Leader Technology structure. A dealer network is implemented and expanded going from 18 original dealers in North America, New Zealand, and Denmark to around 60 dealers spread over 5 continents worldwide today.

In 2015, Soil-Max releases the ZD48 tile plow in response to customer demand.
This plow is specifically designed for installing drain tile in specialty crops as well as laterals in pattern tile designs. This plow installs 3” and 4” tile up to 48” deep with much smaller tractors than are required of the previous plows. The typical tractors used on this plow are in the 125-250 hp (10,000-20,000 lbs) range.

In 2018, Soil-Max releases the European plow models in response to dealer requests.
The ZD1200 and ZD1600 models are specifically designed for the smaller pipes and tractors common in the European countries. Soil-Max also developed an aggregate box and an onboard tile reel for the European markets.

Soil-Max - Tile Feeder