Tires Replacing Tires

[bill18163]

I have a Kubota B2710HSD that I bought in 2000. It came with R4 Ind. tires on it. I would like to replace the R4's with turf tires. The front tires are worn pretty bad but the rear tires look OK. I could just purchase the turf tires that are specified in my manual but I wanted to be sure that I maintained the correct front to rear ratio since there could be small differences from manufacturer to manufacturer in the tire size. Just wanted to be careful. I read a lot of the old posts on this forum on this subject. A lot of them were very helpful and I learned a lot which made me cautious about doing this. One of the things that I hunted for in the forums and ultimately all over the internet was the front axle gear ratio of my tractor. I came up with nothing. I could not find any information on this at all. I ran across a couple of calculators on line that would help with the tire selection but they required that gear ratio. I emailed Kubota tech people and asked the question. The person that replied to me said she could not find any info on that gear ratio. She suggested I use the info in my manual for the purchase of the tires or to go ask my dealer the question about the gear ratio. I didn't expect that kind of answer from Kubota. I went ahead and used the info from the manufacturer of the R4's currently on the tractor to get an idea of what circumference to use for the front and rear tires but I would still like to be more sure. I even looked up the gear pair in the front axle to see if I could calculate the ratio but that didn't pan out. There was a pair of numbers there (11/20) but that would generate a number of 1.82 which I don't think is right. Too high. So, has any one been able to determine this gear ratio number for a particular tractor or found a way to get the info? Years ago if I or my friends wanted to find the rear end gear ratio of a car we just put a chalk mark on the bottom side wall of the tire and another chalk mark on the drive shaft and drifted the car till we had one revolution of the tire while counting the revs of the drive shaft. Since we knew most of the rear end ratios of particular cars it wasn't hard to tell what you had. But if you did this with a tractor you would only have a ballpark number and I don't know if that would be useful. So I guess I'm back to asking if anyone has ever been able to get that gear ratio number from somewhere?

 

[nybirdman]

I may be wrong but think the turfs would require a different rim?You are playing with fire by changing tire type and or size.

 

[LouNY]

If you went by the tire manufactures website specifications for your existing tires, then either purchasing new fronts of the same or close to the same loaded radius you should stay in the ball park for the tires ratio, if comparable fronts are not available that data could be used to calculate the front rear ratio and maintain that ratio using different sizes front and rear from factory stock. Also if your tractor was available with turf tires from the factory that information could provide comparison data.

 

[radios1]

turf tires are like slicks, you might as well save some money and wait until the tires are all worn down to slicks or speed up the process.. turf tires are only good for cutting grass, and on a dry day if any hills are involved!.. no pulling!.. and when you need tires for bad weather, or pulling, are you going to go through the bother of changing tires, or get a new set of rims with the turf tires mounted, and change out the whole wheel when needed?..

 

[bill18163]

You are correct on the tire rim. My current front rim is 14" and the turf tires would require a 12" rim. The rears are both 16". This tractor would be used just for grass cutting and maybe other work once in a while. I used to keep this tractor at my camp in the mountains in north central Pennsylvania. I used it for everything. Grass cutting, backhoe work and FEL work. It was well set up for the 20 years I used it there but I sold the place last Spring and now I have it at home where we have about two acres of grass to cut. My wife uses a BX1860 and I use the B2710 but the B2710 with R4's is hard on the lawn. That's why I am thinking of putting the turf tires on it.

 

[deathtoblackberries]

Had a B2920 with R4's filled with beat juice, hard on the lawn. I switched to a BX2380 with turf tires, much easier on the lawn. When I need ballast for FEL work I have a Heavy Hitch weight bar, Land Pride QH10 quick hitch, and Kubota suitcase weights total is about 500 lbs.

 

[TMGT]

Are you sure the current rear wheels are 16" and not 16.5"? Also have you checked Kubota wholegoods for pricing on wheel/tire combos?

 

[gimmodog]

if you go with the sizes the manual call for then you should have no problems.

 

[bill18163]

I have never heard of Kubota Wholegoods. Is it a place where you can purchase items? Would someone give me a link to the site? Also, the rear tires are 16."

 

[radios1]

I have never heard of Kubota Wholegoods. Is it a place where you can purchase items? Would someone give me a link to the site? Also, the rear tires are 16."

checking posts even way back here, no-one ever came up with a link, but some have made copies of what they have and posted them..