Tire pressure

[rglaser]

I was wondering what tire pressure you all run? My B2630 and ZD323 both came from the dealer with about half of the tire pressure recomended in the manuals. The pressure in the manuals is the same as the max pressure listed on the tire sidewalls. The B2630 came with about 15 psi in the fronts and about 12 psi in the rears. Manual says 30 psi front and 20 psi rear. What is the reasoning for running higher or lower pressures? Maybe I am overthinking this, should I just run what the manual says and move on?

Thanks,
-rglaser

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Run what the manual says unless you want a softer ride then lower pressure some. More air will make a harder/stiffer ride. The numbers on the tire are what the tire can handle no matter what the tire is on same as cars. Rarely is a tire made specifically for one certain vehicle but for all vehicles using the size tire so for cars use pressure recommended on door plate or glove box and tractors use the numbers in manual. Some times people will lower tire pressure temporarily if they get stuck or we used to in the "old days".

 

[KennyV]

You run the tire pressure that is needed to get the particular job done.
Lower pressure will give you better traction as it will increase your 'footprint', go too low and all that traction could cause the bead to separate from its contact with the rim, especially if you are moving sideways.
A larger footprint also equals less PSI to the ground so less compaction. This will also give you a much softer ride, better for tractor and your body...
If you are doing loader work you will need higher pressure in the front tires to support the weight.
Tires can be used to get any particular job accomplished more efficiently. But it is like most everything you don't have to use all the variables to do most things... It is just very nice to be able to tweak the best ride and end results when it is available.
Myself, I like very low tire pressure as I am mowing 10 to 25 acres and I like a soft ride in a climate controlled cab. I also will not compact the ground as much...
When I do loader work I bump the pressure up... KennyV

 

[repete]

I run mine at what the manufacturer says. When you have a load in the bucket and it "settles" the front tires then something has to give in 4WD when you are moving. In my 2550 it is a hard gear connection after the transmission to both differentials. If the tires do not spin at the same designed ratio then one axle or the other must slip the tires (or break something).

I can always tell when my front tires are getting low on tread as it does not want to go in and out of 4WD easily. When you are on a hard surface in 4WD you will eat up tires rapidly if they do not spin "evenly".

My 2C

 

[rglaser]

Thanks John, Kenny, and Repete! All very helpful replies.

Sounds like advantages for lower pressure is smoother ride, less compaction of soil, and more traction. Advantages of more pressure is increased load handling, less risk of breaking the bead, and less chance of drive line binding.

Anyone have any advice for lower limit of tire pressure on the bigger b series and the ZD mowers?

Thanks again!

-rglaser

 

[Notomo]

Thanks John, Kenny, and Repete! All very helpful replies.

Sounds like advantages for lower pressure is smoother ride, less compaction of soil, and more traction. Advantages of more pressure is increased load handling, less risk of breaking the bead, and less chance of drive line binding.

Anyone have any advice for lower limit of tire pressure on the bigger b series and the ZD mowers?

Thanks again!

-rglaser

I have an B2320hs

This year we have not had a lot of snow and I already had my 6 way 3 point blade attached at the start of it so I have been using it to attempt to wing the snow into the ditch "I plow about a 100 yard road as well as my driveway" anyhow at the begging of winter we had a lot of rain and melting so there is about a 2inch layer of ice under the snow and I am having traction issues, the plow is angled right and back to push the snow into the ditch it sits about a foot past my right tire, when I start pulling a decent amount of snow the back end sometimes loses traction and slides sideways to the left so I have been thinking about chains to bite into the ice and also possibly ballast. Chains pretty much start right around 200 bucks, most ballast I don't want to use and it would only add around 120lb per tire I am going to call about rimgaurd and see how much it costs but that is pretty much the only stuff I am comfortable with using other than maybe rv antifreeze but not sure on the rusting properties of that, everything else either causes rust more than I am comfortable with or is toxic.

Anyhow I watched a video a while back and this traction issue reminded me of it https://youtu.be/9xqu7M68rmQ?t=45s so I did what he suggested "just his thing about tires fire minute or so of video", the tractor is parked in my shed on the dirt floor and I Could clearly see there was only dirt on about the center half of the tire, I checked the pressure with a gauge it was at 28psi the other tire is at 30 the recommended in the manual is 40psi which is also the max the tire can take, as far as going by what the manual says you have to take the manuals guidelines with a grain of salt.

I have called kubota a few times about attachments and they basically told me that all the 3 point recommendations are lawyered up they basically tell you attachments that it would be very hard to hurt your tractor by using. They basically told me your tractor can take larger attachments like wider blades etc as long as your not a moron and over work your engine with them it all depends on what your doing with them and how hard your working the engine.

Anyhow back on topic so since my treads were not touching the ground I reduced the pressure on both tires down to 20psi now they are pretty much touching all the way across "hard to tell perfectly cus its a dirt floor and it's not perfectly level"right now I have it plugged in to warm it up, and I am going to go and see if it makes a difference in a little bit. I have some worries about lower pressure causing stress on the sidewalls and wearing out the tires faster so I am still thinking about adding the ballast to put more of the tire on the ground without lowering the pressure "the weight of the liquid in the tire presses down on the tire to make more of it touch the ground similar to lowering pressure" and possibly still getting chains but I figured testing this tire pressure thing first was the cheapest option, and should give me a better idea of what I need to do.

 

[DK35vince]

My tractor I run 40 PSI front (since the loader is on/off often) and 15 psi in the rear.
I only run 7-8 psi in my zero turn for better traction and ride.

 

[mguitas]

Run 35 in front , rear 20.

 

[Notomo]

Well I went and took a 2x12" and put it across behind the tractor then backed up onto it and re-adjusted the tire pressure to 25psi the treads are basically touching all the way across, I went and tried winging out what I couldn't before cus of the back end sliding sideways and I am still having the same issue but not quite as bad I think chains would help more than anything else. Also just to check I slid the blade to the other side and changed the angle to try doing the same backing up, that worked better and I did seem to notice more traction than I did before doing that, I still spun a few times when I went through and hit the ice but it was improved in either orientation weather pulling or pushing it wanted to spin a bit less.

I called a few places about rim guard and found out I can put 15 gallons in each rear adding about 160lb to each, one place quoted me 3.50 a gallon the other quoted me 2.50 a gallon so definitely shop around. That being said I think I will wait on the ballast and save my money to invest in a decent set of chains.

All else fails I always have the 3 point blower, its just a bit slower and more of a pain than just driving forward with the blade behind me pushing it off to the side.