Tires Front R4 Industrial tires with split sidewall

[panchohughes]

Hi all. I am a new member here and have enjoyed reading various posts. I recently had an experience that I figured I would share in case anyone else has also had this happen. One of my front tires on my BX2350 had a nasty sidewall split. The tire held air and it was only a slow leak though. I decided to buy a replacement for it so ordered thru my local Kubota dealer (Burke Equipment in Bear, DE). When the new tire arrived, I picked it up and had it installed at a local shop. When the guy brought the tire out he called my attention to a split (approx 1 inch) in the sidewall on the new tire!! I thought 'oh great'. I took it back to Burke and they were great. They ordered me a new tire (expedited) free of charge. At this point I decided to go ahead and order another one so i could have a matched set of new tires.
Not sure if this is a common issue with these tires? The split was on the heavy thick section on sidewall where the 'rim guard' is. (extra thick rubber) I couldn't really find anything on this issue when i googled for it, so perhaps it was just a fluke.

Funny thing is that after i got the new tires mounted, i didn't have any splits.. but the next day i came out and one of the tires was flat! It was a slow leak at the bead where it was not fully sealing. I got some sticky stuff from autoparts store and put a light coat on the bead and then pumped it up again and it has been fine since.

 

[rider0]

When the new tire arrived, I picked it up and had it installed at a local shop. When the guy brought the tire out he called my attention to a split (approx 1 inch) in the sidewall on the new tire!! I thought 'oh great'.
[...]
Not sure if this is a common issue with these tires? The split was on the heavy thick section on sidewall where the 'rim guard' is. (extra thick rubber) I couldn't really find anything on this issue when i googled for it, so perhaps it was just a fluke.

Funny thing is that after i got the new tires mounted, i didn't have any splits.. but the next day i came out and one of the tires was flat! It was a slow leak at the bead where it was not fully sealing. I got some sticky stuff from autoparts store and put a light coat on the bead and then pumped it up again and it has been fine since.

I have noticed that the larger Kubotas, starting with the B series, have made in USA tires. The BXs have tires that are "designed in USA" (and presumably made in China).

I am wondering if this may be part of the issue...

 

[BeezFun]

The age of the tires can be an issue, the date of manufacture is stamped on the tire using some goofy code that I always have to lookup. I always check to make sure the tire isn't more than a year old when I buy new ones.

 

[pedalstomper78]

The code on the sidewall is usually in 4 digits. Week and then year. 5212 would be the 52nd week of 2012. They figure that you can distinguish between a tire in 2012 and 1912. LOL

 

[deminin]

I replaced the front R-4's, this past Fall, due to cracks and splits starting to form on the sidewalls. They still had plenty of tread left, but I figured that since they were 10 years old, there was no sense in fighting any tire problems with Winter coming. Given all the work, and somewhat harsh conditions I have put my B2910 through in the past, a couple of tires is a small expense to insure that it will continue to perform well when I need it. BTW, I also had to finally replace the original battery, also, as it was starting to drop below 12 volts after sitting for a couple of days. If I can get away with tires and a battery every 10 years, I will be a Very Happy Kubota fan.

 

[kcender]

You probably could have bought the tires mounted on rims from Kubota whole goods for not much more money.

 

[panchohughes]

I looked at that site, but to be honest i found it somewhat difficult to use. I clicked thru all the drop-down menus only to find that it wanted to give me a diagram. I just want to get a price for tires! I probably spent 5 min dinking around with it, then left. Probably just me.