Farmall H & M Ploughing: Steel v Rubber Wheels

I have two Farmall M tractors and a Farmall H. I have a set of steel wheels for the H as well as the rubber tyred wheels currently fitted. I have a fair amount of ploughing to complete this autumn/fall. I have noticed that heavy work, such as the first harrowing over newly ploughed ground is very bad for the front wheel rims. I have hardly ever seen a Farmall H or M tractor which was used for ploughing and harrowing that did not have bent rims. I will get the rims re-rolled, but it is pointless if they just bend again. Is ploughing and harrowing on steel wheels a better option? I have never driven a tractor on steel wheels. Advice greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
SadFarmall

What are you plowing rocks with no air in the tires so get the rims bent. Ive only been around the H and M for more yrs that i can count and never seen the rims bent from pulling a plow or anything else. There are some people who can mess up everything they touch but not bending a rim from plowing.

I have steel wheels on my old b and when i put them in i had to drop down a gear. to put the same plow. Bob

My experience with steel wheels is they don't have as much traction on loose ground as rubber - never tried them on unplowed ground but I suspect rubber will give better traction there too.

makes no sense to me either. but rubber is a better choice.

I have never noticed any damage to any rim except when the tire changer bends it with a hammer. I did plow once with steel wheels. Perhaps not a good test but I couldn't tell any difference from rubber. As to loose ground, you don't plow in loose ground and the traction is probably better with steel. Steel does not slip but "may" need a little more power than rubber. I have repeatedly pulled a tandem disk with steel, and again could not tell it from rubber, both loose and firm ground. This was on an H.

Man, if you're bending rims you either have some poor quality rims or you're doing something very very very wrong.

Rubber tires are ALWAYS better for field work. Steel will jar your teeth out even on smooth ground.

Wheel slippage is one of the big things. You WANT some wheel slippage. You NEED some wheel slippage. It's counter-intuitive, but with a little bit of wheel slippage the tractor is actually faster and more efficient.

Let's say you have an H on steel, and you pull a 2-14 plow in 2nd gear. With rubber tires and 3-5% wheel slippage you can pull the plow in 3rd gear.

With steel every time the tractor hits a tough spot the engine bogs down. With rubber the wheels will slip a little bit and let the engine stay in its power band longer. That's what allows you to run in the higher gear.

The tractor is running wide open whether it's in 2nd or 3rd so you're using the same amount of fuel. However, even with the 3-5% wheel slippage, you're still going faster, getting more done.

SAD,I collect tractors with steel and you get less traction with steel and it takes more power to turn steel,If you dont beleive me try pushing one on steel and than try rubber,its a big difference

I used a tractor years ago..a F-12..on steel wheels doing all sorts of tractor work and believe me there is no advantage for steel wheels in at least 95% of the jobs you'll do with a tractor in general farming. The only practical use of steel wheels I ever saw...and I'm 77 and have seen a lot, was we had a set for our H we used to skid logs in the woods with in the wintertime. The steel seemed to pull around better on the frozen and unfrozen but always slippery ground...and you didn't have to be careful to not tear them up like you could the rubber tires if you weren't.
Slipping doesn't give you additional power, it does give you sort of a cushion when pulling tillage tools and plows...and honestly, the steel wheels slip some pulling heavy loads too. Find a video of a steel wheeled tractor plowing and watch the land wheel closely.
If you keep the tires inflated to correct pressure they'll protect the rims from being bent..and the tires are far more vulnerable to damage than the rims are.

There may be confusion between steel wheels and
rubber tire rims. If you see rubber tire rims
bent, there is a metallurgical problem with the Australian rims, I have seen a few bent rims but
they were from smashing into solid concrete in 4th
(no longer hanging around, so no issue) I have
never seen a IH front or rear rim bent from field
work, and there are bowling ball sized rocks in
the fields.
If they are steel "tires" they should be 1030 or
higher carbon steel and 1/2" thick. Rubber tires
add a cushion between the drive train and
implement. Gears and bearings last longer. Jim

From experience, let me assure you, steel wheels are fine if you are absolutely positive the are no rocks anywhere you intend to plow.
You think you had a hard time plowing over rough ground on rubber, you have a rude awakening coming after you switch to steel, definitely keep your thumbs out of the spokes, and hang on for dear life.
Steel was popular quite a while ago when tractors were geared a bit lower than yours, I would drop a gear either way.
What air pressure are you running on your rubber tires that keep bending the rims???
What size tire / tubes are you presently running ??
What gear are you plowing in?

Thanks for all the responses. The front rims on the two Farmalls I recently bought are both bent. I assumed that the first harrowing was what does it because cutting hay surely does not. It is just that almost without exception, every Farmall H and M I have come across for sale has front rims which need re-rolling. The front rims on my 1939 Farmall M are slightly bent, but it does have a very serious bulldozer blade on it and it was used to push down trees and dig out dams in very very hard ground. They have always been off-round in my memory, though they never have got any worse (or better) working at our farm. Another note concerning ploughing. We have an endless supply of bent grass (agrostis tenuis), very acid soil, very thin topsoil on top of clay, basalt and quartz. Under that is millions and millions of tons of salt; have to be careful with the water table, or nothing grows. Moreover, we get serious dry periods. At the moment you can dig a hole three feet deep and it is dry… we are the driest continent on Earth after Antarctica. It is disc plough or nothing. With a five disc plough you have to run in 1st gear or just burn out the clutch, so speed is not the problem. I am really just trying to make sure that the rims (which are original Farmall equipment) don't get bent again. Front tyres on the H are 5.50-16 and on the M 6.00-16. Rear tyres on the H are 12.4-28 and on the M 13.5-32. The rear rims are entirely made from cast iron. Tyre pressures in front tyres are 30 psi.
SadFarmall

(re
ply to post at 00:47:29 02/08/12)

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Sad i have tried to send you a PM and email but i do not think it is working , give us a call 0427723205 pat

The bent rims are from poor quality metal, or plain old ABUSE.

Normal field work, even first-pass harrowing, won't bend rims. You couldn't stay in the seat of the tractor if you were hammering across a rough-plowed field fast enough to bend rims.

People are ramming into things with the wheels and bending them.