R14 tire pressure... have you read the sidewall?

[S854]

Just doing the first overall check of the new tractor equipped with R14T... I got to the "check tire pressure" portion of the show, checked the owners manual (which doesn't list R14) the closest I found was the "Industrial" tire--which matched the sizes I have on my tractor (15-19.5 & 27 X 8.5-15)... the owners manual requires 60 psi front, 41 rear... out of habit, I checked the sidewall for the manufacturers rating--which turned out to be contradictory...

One mark shows a load rating of 1860# @ 44 psi (these pics are from the front tire)

Another marking shows a Max pressure of 35 psi...

Neither of these pressures are what the manual suggests... "Keep the front tire pressure to maximum when using the front end loader..." is what the manual states... I.e. 60 psi...

I have sent an email to Goodyear requesting a clarification... I'll let you know what, if anything, I hear from them...

Right now I set the pressure on all four tires at 35 psi and plan on keeping my loader work to a minimum until I hear different...



EDIT: I found a related post regarding R14's and tire pressure... seems most prefer to keep their tire pressure well under the 35 psi MAX on the sidewall... most are in the 12 - 16 psi range...

Does anyone have a chart of recommended tire pressures for the R14? 16 psi seems to be a bit low for FEL work...

 

[Roadworthy]

I would not exceed the tire manufacturer's maximum pressure. If you need higher pressures to support your loads you probably have the wrong tires.

 

[ovrszd]

I pay attention to the tire markings. The owner's manual does not know what tires you have.

Front tires will always require more PSI than rears if they are similar ply rated. This has nothing to do with the task at hand. It has to do with the volume of atmospheric air required to carry the load they are rated at.

For example, the 7.50x16 14ply tires on my GN are marked 80 psi. While the 18.4x30 tires on my Kubota are marked at 24 psi. Even though they are rated to carry a very similar load.

One exception to air pressure markings. If you fill a tractor tire with fluid you dramatically changed the volume of air. This will have an effect on required pressure to carry similar loads.

 

[dieselscout80]

When I looked the actual R14 17.5-24 / 460/70R24 seemed to have a lower load rating than the R4s.

That said I didn’t look at what the weight rating was for the factory R1s for my TC45.

 

[dieselscout80]

When I looked the actual R14 17.5-24 / 460/70R24 seemed to have a lower load rating than the R4s.

That said I didn’t look at what the weight rating was for the factory R1s for my TC45.

The larger rear AG R1 14.9-24 is rated at 3000 pounds at 20 psi.

 

[S854]

I’m new to this “FEL, loaded rear tire” thing…

The front sidewall says “1830 lbs at 44 psi”… my FEL rating is right at 1830, that added the front axle weight (2000 lb? I don’t know…)

if I’m reading this all correctly, I need to keep the front tires close To max pressure… no?

How would I decide on the correct pressure for the loaded rear tires? I saw a video where the outside of the tires weren’t on the ground… the guy placed something under the tread and let out air until the tread was making contact… yes? No?

 

[dieselscout80]

I’m new to this “FEL, loaded rear tire” thing…

The front sidewall says “1830 lbs at 44 psi”… my FEL rating is right at 1830, that added the front axle weight (2000 lb? I don’t know…)

if I’m reading this all correctly, I need to keep the front tires close To max pressure… no?

How would I decide on the correct pressure for the loaded rear tires? I saw a video where the outside of the tires weren’t on the ground… the guy placed something under the tread and let out air until the tread was making contact… yes? No?

What does your owners manual say for a psi range?

My fronts lowest psi is 16 psi. How the outside edge might be slightly off the ground like by a 1/16”.

I may try lowering it say by a pound to get full contact.

 

[LouNY]

I’m new to this “FEL, loaded rear tire” thing…

The front sidewall says “1830 lbs at 44 psi”… my FEL rating is right at 1830, that added the front axle weight (2000 lb? I don’t know…)

if I’m reading this all correctly, I need to keep the front tires close To max pressure… no?

How would I decide on the correct pressure for the loaded rear tires? I saw a video where the outside of the tires weren’t on the ground… the guy placed something under the tread and let out air until the tread was making contact… yes? No?

Just remember that you have two tires carrying that load.
If you are always using the leader and carrying weight in the bucket you might want to air up the front tires to the sidewall maximums.
Just observe your tires and the tread marks they leave if the lug impression is fairly consistent across the width of the tire it's preety good.
On the rears air down till you have good contact all the way across the tire. That will likely be much less then the tire maximum.

 

[jjeff]

Don't ask me how I found this out but be careful not to misread your sidewall. Some of you folks know that Some manufacturers will list the max psi when setting a bead that has nothing to do with the max recommended psi when operating.

 

[ovrszd]

I’m new to this “FEL, loaded rear tire” thing…

The front sidewall says “1830 lbs at 44 psi”… my FEL rating is right at 1830, that added the front axle weight (2000 lb? I don’t know…)

if I’m reading this all correctly, I need to keep the front tires close To max pressure… no?

How would I decide on the correct pressure for the loaded rear tires? I saw a video where the outside of the tires weren’t on the ground… the guy placed something under the tread and let out air until the tread was making contact… yes? No?

On a tractor with an FEL, front tires should be ran close to max pressure.

I want all of the tread contacting the ground with a slight squat.

As to appearance, radials versus bias needs to be considered. R4 versus R1. In your case R14. Each tire design "sits" on the ground differently.