R4 Tire Pressure

[PeteN]

I've looked through the owner's manual for my MT357HC to find nominal tire pressures for the R4's I have on this tractor. Nothing listed for the size of R4's installed. About the only recommendation I found in the manual was a drawing showing the tread to be flat with the ground and not cupped in either direction.

The max tire pressure listed on the tires is 40psi. I'm not using the loader right now so I'm going to play around with tire pressures to see if there is any improvement in traction or ride. Any recommendations? Front is a 12-16.5 with a 17.5-24 rear.

 

[sea2summit]

So it’s different for front or back is the way I was taught. Fronts just max out pressure if using a FEL. Rears get your heaviest implement and raise it off the ground then adjust the pressure until the treads all touch on a a flat surface like concrete.

 

[Roadworthy]

I'd probably go with about 30 psi front and 15 rear.

 

[Doughknob]

I have 15 in my rears and want to go lower but am afraid to. I really want radials for the rear.

 

[Avenger]

I don't believe if having the rear tires filled makes any difference, but I have my rears set at 14 psi. I use a small black paint marker and draw a "14" right next to the valve stem to help me remember. Thats a big tire, and 14psi is a lot of air.

 

[dieselscout80]

On my NH TC45 I have 16 psi in the fronts 10x16.5 and 12 psi in the 17.5x24 rear tires.

To get full contact with the rears I need to go lower.

I can always pump up the fronts if doing heavy loader work.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Get one of the laser aimed thermometer. Run the tractor around a bit, and then take three reading on the tire surface or lugs. The tire should have the same temp at the side of the tread, and on the center. If the center is hotter, it is over inflated. If the center is cold, it is under inflated. Same temp all the way across, and it is right.

 

[PeteN]

Dealer set the pressures quite high and not evenly. Had 36psi in the fronts and the rears were 21psi on the left side and 24 psi on the right. I set the fronts to 30psi and that put the tread nearly even with the floor. Set the rears to 16 psi. Left side was no problem adjusting the pressure but the right side kept spitting out fluid even with the valve stem at 12 o'clock. What a mess. Not sure how they fill these but it almost seems like it was overfilled with fluid if that is possible.

 

[Avenger]

Left side was no problem adjusting the pressure but the right side kept spitting out fluid even with the valve stem at 12 o'clock. What a mess. Not sure how they fill these but it almost seems like it was overfilled with fluid if that is possible.

That actually happened to me this last fall when I dumped the air out of rear tires for snow chain install. I jacked the rear of the tractor up, rotated the tire so the valve steam is at the very top, pushed the core in a bit to dump what should be a very small mount of beat juice out of the valve stem. Then I removed the core....

Beat juice streamed out onto the ground until the air pressure dropped. I put the core back in to stop the flow, spraying juice all over. I rotated the tire around a bit, but when I removed the core again, it kept pouring out the juice! Very strange. I probably lost a few gallons onto the concrete.

Not sure how a liquid could flow up hill like that. Siphons do it, but I'd have a hard time believing that a siphon was created somehow. The other side worked as normal. Small amount of juice from the stem, removed the core and it was just air. Very strange indeed.

 

[5030]

What does the sidewall state as recommended maximum pressure? Go from there.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

What does the sidewall state as recommended maximum pressure? Go from there.

None of the tires on my tractor have inflation pressures.

That actually happened to me this last fall when I dumped the air out of rear tires for snow chain install. I jacked the rear of the tractor up, rotated the tire so the valve steam is at the very top, pushed the core in a bit to dump what should be a very small mount of beat juice out of the valve stem. Then I removed the core....

Beat juice streamed out onto the ground until the air pressure dropped. I put the core back in to stop the flow, spraying juice all over. I rotated the tire around a bit, but when I removed the core again, it kept pouring out the juice! Very strange. I probably lost a few gallons onto the concrete.

Not sure how a liquid could flow up hill like that. Siphons do it, but I'd have a hard time believing that a siphon was created somehow. The other side worked as normal. Small amount of juice from the stem, removed the core and it was just air. Very strange indeed.

Could it be foaming?

 

[Going4it]

That actually happened to me this last fall when I dumped the air out of rear tires for snow chain install. I jacked the rear of the tractor up, rotated the tire so the valve steam is at the very top, pushed the core in a bit to dump what should be a very small mount of beat juice out of the valve stem. Then I removed the core....

Beat juice streamed out onto the ground until the air pressure dropped. I put the core back in to stop the flow, spraying juice all over. I rotated the tire around a bit, but when I removed the core again, it kept pouring out the juice! Very strange. I probably lost a few gallons onto the concrete.

Not sure how a liquid could flow up hill like that. Siphons do it, but I'd have a hard time believing that a siphon was created somehow. The other side worked as normal. Small amount of juice from the stem, removed the core and it was just air. Very strange indeed.

I also jacked up the rear to check pressure. The right side which was an inch higher than the left due to the ground and FEL contact spit a little beet juice at the 12 o'clock position and read 14 PSI.
The left side is still unknown due to quite a bit of juice squirting out. I thought it might be over filled a little so I grabbed a empty soup can and filled that also with no end in sight. Started looking for an explanation here. Tires were cold during the check. I have a LX2610 cab model.

 

[Texasmark]

I've looked through the owner's manual for my MT357HC to find nominal tire pressures for the R4's I have on this tractor. Nothing listed for the size of R4's installed. About the only recommendation I found in the manual was a drawing showing the tread to be flat with the ground and not cupped in either direction.View attachment 753752
The max tire pressure listed on the tires is 40psi. I'm not using the loader right now so I'm going to play around with tire pressures to see if there is any improvement in traction or ride. Any recommendations? Front is a 12-16.5 with a 17.5-24 rear.

For a softer ride I adjust tire pressure to the point where the tires bulge slightly with the maximum load they encounter. R4s have a stiff sidewall (mine do) and have rated pressures 3-4x the total weight of the machine. One of my pet peeves with tractor designers.

 

[PeteN]

For a softer ride I adjust tire pressure to the point where the tires bulge slightly with the maximum load they encounter. R4s have a stiff sidewall (mine do) and have rated pressures 3-4x the total weight of the machine. One of my pet peeves with tractor designers.

I went down to 16psi in the rears (noticeably better than the 24psi the dealer put in after adding the RimGuard) and even with the wood chipper on the back (800+ lbs) the tires are still not flat on the ground. I'll probably drop them some more but doubt I would go less than 12psi.

 

[Cycledude]

Sure is strange that LS didn’t put some kind of recommendations for tire air pressure in the owners manual.
No pressure indicated on my rear tires, the front tires say maximum 40psi but that must be for when mounting the tires to get the bead properly seated.
My tractor has near 500 hours on it and I have never messed with air in the tires, doesn’t get driven on the road very often but every time it does I start wondering if maybe I should try letting some air out of the tires to make it ride a little better over bumps.

 

[GS650GL]

The tire should be filled with beet juice to just below the valve stem when it's at the top. When they pump in the beet juice, the only way to know when it's full is by listening to the sound it makes when it's spraying into the tire. Sometimes they get a little overfilled and the extra will continue to squirt out even with the stem at the top. It's not an exact science but an experienced tire guy can get pretty close. The dealers usually leave the tire overinflated somewhat so the tread is up off the ground on the outer edge. My dealer had a couple customers reduce the pressure down to where it looks right with the edge of the tread on the ground and a slight bulge in the sidewall, and they had beet juice start seeping out between the tire and rim so they had to increase the pressure again. Not all of them leaked but a few did. I have 15 psi in mine and they still seem too hard but I worry that if I reduce it they will start to leak. Rim Guard says tires that are filled need to have slightly higher pressure than unfilled tires.

 

[5030]

Every tire ever made for ag or commercial or non commercial use will have the recommended pressure embossed in the sidewall. What I always refer to and always have.

 

[Cycledude]

Every tire ever made for ag or commercial or non commercial use will have the recommended pressure embossed in the sidewall. What I always refer to and always have.

Most but not all tires have a pressure embossed on the sidewall but I believe the number actually indicates the maximum safe air pressure for seating the beads, not what they should be inflated to for normal everyday use.

 

[5030]

Have no idea so I'll play ignorant on that score. I keep mine at the sidewall indicated pressure.

 

[Avenger]

I look at the tread where it meets the ground. If it looks cupped, like the tire is only touching in the middle, its too much (not exceeding the sidewall pressure if listed, mine is not). If the sidewall on the ground looks squished, and the tread is in full contact, its not enough air. A good contact patch all around does nicely. It's easier to see if you park on concrete or asphalt.

Another thing I do, especially with new tires or a new tractor, is reference online data. There are a multitude of charts and tables with a quick google search. This puts me in the ball park and acts as a sanity check. When I figure out what my tractor "likes" (how the contact patch looks, sidewall, ride, wear, etc) I write the pressure down on the wheel with a black or white paint marker next to the valve stem. That way I don't have to attempt to figure it out again. I also wrote it down in the owners manual, incase the paint gets rubbed off.

Hope this helps.