New design for tractor tires

[Beaver Cove Deere]

I wouldn’t give running the R14’s over any manicured lawn a second thought and that’s coming from a guy who came from 14 acres of irrigated lawn.

The more I use them the more I like them.

 

[John_Mc]

My main reservation with the R14 tires is trying to determine if they are as tough at the R4 tires, particularly in the sidewall area. When using them in the woods, I generally prefer R4 over R1. The traction is not as good, but I almost always have "Euro-style" chains on anyway. The R4 sidewalls seem to better resist damage from scrubbing up against stumps or rock than R1 does. IF the R14 has similar sidewall/belt construction as the R4, I might consider them when I need to replace tires (which is something that is probably coming all too soon.)

 

[Vigo327]

So as far as i know the r14s are all radial construction, which likely means the sidewalls are somewhat weaker than a similar size bias ply tire.

Bias ply means all the layers of the tire go all the way across from one side of the wheel to the other. Thus, the sidewall may not have the thick rubber tread blocks of the tread section, but other than that it is the same ‘structurally’ with the same number of ply layers. This makes the sidewall strong at the expense of being stiff, which is why it’s still common on tractors/trailers/equipment but totally gone from light duty vehicles that emphasize ride quality.

A Radial tire has some ‘body’ plies that go all the way across, but the tread area has extra layers that do not extend over the sidewalls. This allows you to have a stiff tread and a soft sidewall, as well as having a ‘non-circular’ cross-sectional shape to the tire, such as a low-profile sports car tire which looks more like [ than C in terms of cross-sectional shape. Anything requiring a wide+flat+stiff tread basically has to be radial.

So while its possible to make a radial have the same thickness of sidewall as tread area, it usually doesn’t because the ability to differ there is one of the main things that justifies the more complicated construction. Most tire specs will list how many plies are in the tire, with radials naming the sidewall and tread plies separately. A higher ply count mainly facilitates higher air pressure (=weight) handling, with puncture resistance as a side benefit. The downsides to a high ply count are cost, weight, and stiffness.

 

[John_Mc]

Thanks for that information, Vigo327.

I did not realize that ALL plies on a bias ply extended up the sides of the tire. I've not had much luck getting information on the sidewall ply ratings of various tires. I have heard that R1 (Ag) style tires sold for compact tractors typically have lower ply rating on the sidewalls than on the tread. I had also heard somewhere that a Ply RATING does not necessarily mean a tire has that actual number of plies. (If true, I guess that would mean there are other ways of increasing the ply rating besides actually adding a ply?)

R14 are available in either Radial or Bias ply (I'm not sure if all sizes are available in both ply options). Here's the description for a Goodyear 15-19.5 R14, a common size for compact tractors. Partway down the page it says "This model is available in bias and radial ply structures." further down the page in red it says "This specific tire model features a BIASED ply construction."

 

[Vigo327]

The ply number is real if it is a bias ply tire. Unfortunately with radials there is this stupid ‘equivalency’ thing where a radial will say something like 8 ply when it doesn’t have 8 plies but the manufacturer feels it is ‘equivalent’ to an 8ply bias ply tire.. i hate that practice.

As far as the contradictory statements on radial va bias in the same tire ‘line’, i believe that comes down to what i was saying about shape.. bias ply can only result in near-circular cross-sections, which means your sidewall will always be about as tall as your tread is wide. If you want to build something that strays from that it will be built as a radial. So within the same ‘model line’, some sizes of that model could be built as bias ply and some built as radial.

I haven’t done as much tractor tire shopping as car tire shopping but most online tire sellers give a generic description of the entire model line, and then you select your desired size from a drop down menu and it shows you a price for that and nothing else on the page changes. I appreciate seller websites that let you look at a list or chart of all available sizes of that tire simultaneously vs a dropdwon menu, because that chart usually includes other columns of information such as the bias vs radial thing. When all else fails i have gone and found a pdf from the tire manufacturer describing their entire range of tractor/equipment tires and somewhere in there is that spec chart. Carlisle, Firestone, and Goodyear have all been easy to find that from.. cant say ive tried them all, though!

 

[dieselscout80]

Titan explains the difference between bias and radial tires.

Ag Tires 101 | Gaining Traction Blog | Titan International

A quick guide to common farm tire terms and acronyms.

www.titan-intl.com

 

[Smokeydog]

I'm hearing great reports about the new hybrid R14T tread. I'm having no luck trying to find a pair for my [AFFILIATE='1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"']Kubota[/AFFILIATE] L45.
Looking for 15 19.5 R14T.
Called the factory and dealers and have not been able to locate, though I see them on new tractors.
Any ideas?

Don’t know about the L45 but my M59 and B26 needs the tough R4 tires being a TLBs. Have grooved the tires to improve traction in snow and lawn and pasture.

B26