front tire choices ribbed? treaded?

[schiker]

2 wheel drive tractor old and loose steering, mostly a mower. What is the advantages of the 3 ribbed std farm tractor tire?

Why not use a treaded tire. Which is easier on grass? I am thinking new ribbed tires are going to cut more turning. Mine have been bald for a long time and have been easy on grass. But I just developed a sidewall bulge and am going to have to replace front tire(s).

Sorry I forgot to write down tire size will post size later.

 

[schiker]

They are 6.00-16 tire.

Back of envelope calculation its roughly kinda sorta a 155/80 R16. Or about a 6" wide 29" tall inch tire on a ~ 4" x 16" rim. Which is a bastard size for a treaded tire very few make or carry I can find googling with dial up. (I did find a chinese company that sells containers of a comparable bias tire though 6.00-16 I think would work.) A couple of tractors I have seen with treaded (truck? bias tires) must have been different size rims.

So is 3 rib standard tractor tire my only option? The local tractor supply store has them for ~$58 a piece unmounted. I was hoping to find a treaded tire in the $30-45 range or cheaper.

 

[Tom_Stewart]

i put some 16" trailer tires on mine to get rid of tearing up the yard....they worked fine even with the weight of a front end loader...it was a kubota l3010.....

TS

 

[EricinTN]

I had some 4 ply treaded "turf" type tires on front of mine, and they were easy on the grass. But when I added a FEL and upgraded the tires, I ended up getting skid steer style tires, since they were the only thing local that had the load rating I needed, and man do they tear up the grass.

My buddy always runs the ribbed style on his tractor and backhoe, and they seem to be fairly easy on the grass, if the turns are easy.

 

[schiker]

Hmmm that gives me hope there might be an alternative. But after googling a while I don't think its going to be cheaper; if anything more expensive. I stopped at a local tire place yesterday too close to 5:00 to learn much of anything. He said come back Monday and he'll see what we could do.

Turns slicing/cutting grass is my main concern. My steering is worn out and loose there is no chamber left (if there was any before). During full turn to right a bald tire wants to cut grass and dig into dirt. I usually cut counterclockwise to reduce chance of turn slices (left turns aren't quite as sharp) I am a bit worried that new ribbed tires may significantly increase my turning radius or cut up the grass.

 

[FLHayman]

I run a fairly heavy JD 3020 with nearly bald front tires and have the same problem. It seems that the edge shape of the tire plus the wheel camber (in my mind, the angle that the wheel tilts toward or away from the center line of the tractor) have more to do with the digging. On my JD, the outside front wheel also turns more degrees than the inside wheel, guaranteeing that there will be some digging. That might be from worn parts more than design, not sure.

I always thought that the rib tires were for getting a turn in soft or plowed ground. For your purposes, I think a turf front, or automotive radial (if you could fit one) would work, since the edge will be rounder, and less knife-like to slice your grass.

Of course, slower,bigger turns will help, too. I have R4s on a different tractor, and ribbed tires on another.....they don't cut in as much during a tight turn, but don't know if they have as much turn angle on the front wheels as that old JD. I'm also willing to bet that extra weight in front would help a sharp edged tire dig in on a small radius turn. If your cutter is 3 pt. mounted, does it dig in more or less when you lift it during a tight turn?

 

[schiker]

Its manual steering and it does turn easier and a little less front wheel cutting/digging with cutter raised but it still does it.

Its an industrial tractor with short "knees" (axle extensions & spindles etc) and a little nose down stance. So I want a comparable or bit taller tire.

Thanks for the reality check. Yeah I kinda figured all tractors of this age and condition the tires "cut" in a decent turn (especially good ribbed tires) just trying to minimize it if I can within budget. If not I'll just live with wider turns.

 

[Soundguy]

1, if ya got loose steering.. find out why and fix it.

Could be:

loose front hubs / wheel bearings.

loose spindle bushings/bearings.

Worn out tie rod or draglink ends.

Worn out ( egged ) steering arms or pitman arms.

Excessive sector backlash, or worm/sector play due to worn thrust bearings.

As for the tire.. 3-rib helps with turning.. yes.. it will cut. You can generally get 4-ribs.. or wider 16" tires. They make 7 or 7.5 in 16's as well... though I doubt TSC has them. ( or the 4 ribs ).

I have 2 old fords.. a 660 and 850.. both with laoders.. the tr-ribs ont he 660 make good tracks int he soft pasture.. the quad-ribs barely print..

Lastly.. yes.. you can get car tires to mount on the larger 16's.. etc.

Large truck tires wil make steering less positive.. If there is lots of slop..it oughta be a fun ride..

Soundguy

2 wheel drive tractor old and loose steering, mostly a mower. What is the advantages of the 3 ribbed std farm tractor tire?

Why not use a treaded tire. Which is easier on grass? I am thinking new ribbed tires are going to cut more turning. Mine have been bald for a long time and have been easy on grass. But I just developed a sidewall bulge and am going to have to replace front tire(s).

Sorry I forgot to write down tire size will post size later.

 

[ToadHill]

In my experience treaded tires do not work very well in snow or loose soil.

 

[schiker]

Yeah if I had the extra money I would tighten up the steering and a few other things too. When I run across a deal on some farm "knees" for the front end I'll put the effort into tightening it up.

Its just an old farm tractor used for mowing pasture and what ever else I can do with it. Nothing critical for sure. It can get squirrely in top gear wound up but that aint very often at all and as long as you keep a close hand on it its ok. One day I'll fix'er up.

I picked up my tires today. The shop I went to the guy had some equipment and knew what I was getting at. He put on Implement tires 6.00-16 straight multi-ribbed with a soft round cross section like a big wheel borrow tire. It should be easy on turns. Might not have the best floatation but I don't have a loader or anything. I think they will work well for the application. They are I-1's:6 ply tire previous were bald F-2 4 ply iirc.

It'll be next week or next weekend before I can put them back on the tractor and have a chance to try them out. I will try to post back positive or negative feedback as it becomes apparent.

on edit just thought maybe the lateral stiffness might be a less with I-1's as they are usually meant for being towed and led around. But since Its a realitively small tractor and they have 2 more ply's than before they should be ok. I don't think they will be any worse than the bald tires I replaced that were dry rotted cracked up and worn completely out. If they last half as long as the ones they replaced they will still be a good deal if they don't cut up the grass.