Hi guys. Fred's got it pretty much covered.
A lot of large new tractors are 4, 6 or 8-wheel drive (4 driving axles with 1 or 2 wheels each). On that type, they're all the same size.
The smaller 2WD ones are still all-terrain devices, and therefore need both the 'floatation' effect and the massive lugs. The large area of weight distribution aids in staying on top of mud and soft soil, so as to avoid either getting stuck or causing too much disruption of the ground. While spreading fertilizer, for instance, you don't want to be digging up the crop as you go. As mentioned, most of the weight of a tractor is on the back, so the thin wheels up front don't cause a lot of damage.
I don't know if anyone still makes them, but some of the older jobbies from when I was a kid were almost tricycles. The two front wheels were only a foot or so apart and had massive camber so they formed a downward-facing 'V'.