Odd Wear on Front Tire

[Turnip]

Hello. My first post here.

I wanted to get some opinions on the cause and solution for front tire wear on a 3 year old Kubota M5-111 FWD. The right front tire is wearing badly on the inside tread. From the center inwards. But barely at all on the outer tread.

The left front tire is much more even with the wearing. The pictures aren't really clear enough with the dirt on them to show the amount of wear.

The tire pressure is within spec.

Any thoughts?

 

[Rebeldad1]

still under warranty right? have the dealer correct it and replace tire.

if not

sounds like you have the tire toed out. simple check... take a tape measure and measure the distance from center to center at the front of the tires and at the rear of the tires. should be close to the same.

 

[ruffdog]

I'm just thinking that if it was a toe-in issue, the wear on the 2 front tires would be mirror images.....they are not. The outer lugs are worn on the RH tire and the inner lugs are worn on the LH tire. STRANGE.!!! Are you doing a lot of road travel on a crowned road? Pulling an implement that pulls to one side so you have to compensate by steering?

 

[Turnip]

Thanks for the responses.

Rebeldad1, not sure if it's under warranty or not for the tires. But I would have to pay transportation to the distant dealer. And they would have it a minimum of 2 weeks. I'll try to figure it out first myself.
I'll check the toein.

Ruffdog, Those pics were both the right tire from different angles. The left tire is wearing about right. I've done a little road travel with a grapple on the front but not really all that much. Both in the field and on the road, the steering stays close to center when moving.

 

[Egon]

https://kubota.ca/getmedia/a025170d...-M5-111-CAB-WSM-EN-3B79199712?ext=.pdf#page98

 

[radios1]

possibly just a defective tire, that wear don't make any sense, unless the tire is defective. the center of the tire is wearing, but only the lugs on one half of it..

 

[3Lfarms]

Do you run in 4wd most of the time?

 

[5030]

First off, no dealer will warranty tires (says so in your owners manual) Your tires look no different than mine do actually. mine wear the same way (Bias bar tread). Mine wear that way from a lot of hard pack and roading between fields (I farm). My philosophy is. they wear out and I replace them. Just reshod one of my M9's actually. 4 new shoes, mounted was 5200 bucks. Price of doing business.

Nothing wrong with your alignment, your tire pressure could be a tad high however and refrain from running in FWA as much as possible. The lead-lag ratio between the front and rears in FWA will accelerate tire wear. Just use FWA when necessary. I only use mine when I need to. Other than that they are in RWD only. Not sure if you can but on both mine I can lock the rears together and if in FWA, lock the fronts too for true all wheel drive.

Additionally, neither of mine have loaded tires, just air and cast centers on both. Because I farm on sandy loam, compaction is always an issue so no filled tires on my tractors.

 

[5030]

possibly just a defective tire, that wear don't make any sense, unless the tire is defective. the center of the tire is wearing, but only the lugs on one half of it..

I respectfully disagree with your premise. Normal wear on a bar tread tire.

 

[redman135]

Hello turnip, bad news I am afraid. Your wear pattern is typical of a lot of paved road use. Often seen on Contractors tyres, and caused by cambered roads and compounded by the extra weight of the loader(in your case).
Options:1) You can run the front tyres backwards to get more even wear. Read the manual. There should be a page on "prolonged running on paved surfaces" or words to that effect. Also the tyre manufacturer should have similar advice for your situation.

Option 2:swap the tyre from one side to the other and flip the dish/hub (assume 2 piece rims as you have ag tyres). This will wear the unworn side of the tyre. It works on a JD used for hay and silage contracting. Also the brand of tyre has a bearing on the rate of wear. Michellin and Continental wear most evenly(5000 hrs), while a budget brand will wear out in half the time(2700 hrs), literaly.
NOTE check your tyre laws. It may be illegal to run a directional tread tyre backwards on a public road in your state.

 

[Ford850]

How many hours? It looks like over inflated tires and FWA on hard surfaces to me.

 

[5030]

One thing to always keep in mind is the 'Lead-Lag' ratio which is ever present on ANY FWA tractor and it's impact on the tires, especially the front tires as they are usually smaller in OD than the rears and turn more revolutions per a set distance.

As the tires wear (reduce in OD), the lead-lag ratio changes and as the ratio decreases, tire wear will increase. it can be mitigated by refraining from using FWA as much as possible but it will still be there (due to some parasitic drag the FWA components exert on the tires), even with FWA disengaged.

One of the downsides in owning a FWA tractor.

How it plays. You can get that tread wear on hard packed dirt as well as pavement. Really makes little difference. Myself, I don't pay much attention to it. I just renew the shoes when it's time.

 

[ptsg]

Specially Japanese and Korean built tractors. They do increase the lead on the front axle significantly to achieve those small turning radius.

 

[5030]

Specially Japanese and Korean built tractors. They do increase the lead on the front axle significantly to achieve those small turning radius.

Yep. Kubota tried the 'Bi-Speed Turn' a while back with mixed results.

I was considering a set of R14's this time but went with the R1's anyway.

 

[ptsg]

Yep. Kubota tried the 'Bi-Speed Turn' a while back with mixed results.

I was considering a set of R14's this time but went with the R1's anyway.

Have you tried R1 Radials? It seems to last longer, ride better and provide better traction. A bit pricey though.

 

[5030]

Have you tried R1 Radials? It seems to last longer, ride better and provide better traction. A bit pricey though.

Quite a bit more actually. I might when it's time to shoe the other one. Depends on farm income. This year isn't looking good.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Nothing unusual about that tire. I get that on my front tires because I mow road ditches, and the front tires take a lot of wear because they operate on pavement or gravel roads. Some of it is steering, but it is also due to the crown of the road which is why one tire will cup the inside edge and not the other tire.

A common prevention is to put the front tires on backwards. Even with R4's, a lot of contractors and public works companies do. I am not sure if this is a dealership thing, or a Caterpillar supported practice, but most brand new graders have their front tires put on backwards so that they do not cup the inside of their front tires.

You can see that here...

https://www.equipmentworld.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Caterpillar-14M3-motor-grader-2.jpeg