Tractor tire traction questions

I'm starting to look at replacement tractor rears as the old bias Firestones on my daily driver are getting to the point of more slip than grip when moving more than the tractor itself. I won't name the application, because I want this thread to cover the generalities applicable to all sizes. I started looking at the Firestone site and was somewhat amazed at the options. I'm sure the vast experience here is better than any tire salesman I could get a straight answer out of.

Basic options:
Bias vs radial / pros and cons of each

Number of lugs: is more or less better for some soils, and/or road wear?

What about lug pattern, e.g.: long-short, split, some other?

Any "formula" for tractor HP / weight vs tire footprint (flat plate area)?

Going over or under on rim width to change tire profile / traction?

And to further open a can of worms, what brands/types have you been happy (or unhappy) with?

I know a couple farmers who have gone to "rice and cane" on their tractors, and if they made them in the size I currently need, I'd be tempted.

We had a M IHC on 14.9 x 38 rice tires. Would
practically go anywhere in the mud.(mounted corn
picker) But lugs will turn back on hard ground. It
also would throw dirt on you disking plowed
ground. Dad finally took them off. I like
Firestone regular old field and roads 23 degree
tread for average use, especially tractor pulling!
We have a tractor on 18.4 X 38 radials Titan.
Might pull more than a bias ply. But feels like
will turn over at any time. Need duals to feel
safe. Our tires are in on 3o in rows. Vic

I'll give you this advice based on my experience. Firestone are some of the best tires. Bias have better traction compared to radial. We had a set of cheapo tires on a tractor once. When one of them started leaking fluid had the dealer come out and took it off said it was shot. Went to their base to get another tire while the service truck went to another job. The dealer sold us a used(but good thread left) radial front tire for a large 4wd, said with the size of tractor we had it would work for the rear. Got home and had it put on and fluid put back in . It slips bad compared to the bias on the other side. When the other side cheapo went, put a new Firestone bias because of the trouble we had with cheap brand and the radial tire.

Best rear tractor tires I've ever used are firestone field&road.
Have several tractors with those tires and are very satisfied
with traction and wear. Had one set of goodyear radials and I
was not at all impressed with the traction they had. Now have
a set of BKT radials on a mfwd tractor. Traction is good, but
the tires are very bulgey and show a fair amount of
weathering. Anytime I buy new tires, I go with firestone bias.
Have yet to be disappointed.

(quoted from post at 12:11:25 12/31/14) We had a M IHC on 14.9 x 38 rice tires. Would
practically go anywhere in the mud.(mounted corn
picker) But lugs will turn back on hard ground. It
also would throw dirt on you disking plowed
ground. Dad finally took them off. I like
Firestone regular old field and roads 23 degree
tread for average use, especially tractor pulling!
We have a tractor on 18.4 X 38 radials Titan.
Might pull more than a bias ply. But feels like
will turn over at any time. Need duals to feel
safe. Our tires are in on 3o in rows. Vic

Click to expand...

VicS, you pretty much nailed it. No arguing from me. For what it's worth, I've got a pair of Akurets on my M, and a pair of Titans on an H. No problems with either brand, but neither of those tractors ever go to the field. Don't know how they would hold up or perform under actual, real farming use.

Go radial if you can afford it way better traction
than a bias had loaded bias and duals on my
tractor with wheel weights I can pull the same
load with singles and no fluid better than I ever
could before. If you use it to scrape snow you
won't believe the difference

k here's mt 2 cents:

bias, are cheaper that radials, Radials are
only worth the money if the tractor is going to
be used for higher draft loads or you are
looking for floatation, and you must be
prepared to air them down to make them work
regardless of what your neighbours say/think...
own 180hp fwa runs 8 psi in the rears
480/65r42, and the neighbours 900 metric
radials are under 5 psi.

lugs, wider spaced lugs allow for better self
cleaning, but wear poorly on road use, goodyear
used to make a dt810 radial, had a 2 piece lug
on each side of the centre line, they wore very
well, and we great in hard dry conditions for
traction, but god help you if it was wet or
slippery...

if you want floatation then the rule of thumb i
use is to have at least 3 lugs touching the
ground at a time... i've never seen any sort of
formula for weigh/hp/tire size, but as i
understand it, taller tires have less rolling
resistance, narrow tires provide less
floatation to cut down through mud to a firm
base (if there is one) while wide tires provide
floatation...

i currently run a set of trelleborgs on one
tractor, and very happy with them, a set of
mitas tires on another and very happy (these
replaced the aforementioned goodyear dt810s), i
have used michelins, but they are very $$$ and
we had puncture problems with them on the
loader tractor

Only radials I've had were Goodyear DT710 or something like
that. Four rows of short lugs. Worthless in clay, but supposed
to stand up to road work well and pull well in sand. Regardless
of brand, all long bar tires have worked better for me than the
long bar/short bar tires. If you have clay or loamy clay like I do,
more space between the lugs helps when it's wet. My favorites
are Firestone F&R and Titan Hi-Power Lug.

I have these Gallaxy bias ply tires on my 930 and 730 Case
tractors, as well as my 966 IH tractors . They have good
traction, and seem to hold up well. Not a real costly tire and
give a smooth ride for a bias tire. I would ask myself, how
much do I use this tractor, and what kind of jobs will it be
doing? Before I would lay down big dollars for radial rubber.
Bruce

I'm not sure you can buy long bar, short bar tires anymore. When they first came out they were supposed to be a good all around tire, but the road wear sucked. Our best seller was Firestone Traction Field and Roads. The field and road was cheaper tire and not as good, I think the tread depth was shallower and there were not as many bars on the tire. I had some Acurets on my Oliver, they were ok. Titan always had a thinner casing and we had lots of corn stalk problems with them. It seemedif we left them sit out back a year they toughened up and were not quite as bad. The later Goodyears we sold were ok after they went away from the long bar/short bar combination. I do not know how they are now that Titan is making them. There is a formula that you can use to see if radials will pay for themselves. Unfortunatly I have been away from farm tire sales for 9 years and cant remember it now. Perhaps it is still on the Firestone or Michlin website. I would stick with the tire size that came with your tractor. I would never go with R&C unless you are raising rice or cane. Over the 22+ years in the tire business I sold and we installed many full semi loads of Firestone tires. I would recommend them to anyone in the US. I think Firestone only sells the Super AllTraction bias tire now. At the time they came out the told us it was a bias casing with the radial tread installed.

I like Firstone TF&R the best. The double long bar
seems the pull better in the field. The LB/SB seem
to wear better on the pavement.I,ve had very good
luck with HarvestKing.In fact,Just yesterday I put a
brand new set of HKs (18.4x38) on my 1256.At $677
each,I got a bargain!They 'listed' at $777.Really
could not afford them.The 'old' ones could have
easily run another year but they were too 'cheap' to
pass up!

I"ve had maybe 4-5 sets of radials, including the DT710. They were not impressive, shoulders too rounded, should have been squared for better traction. On snow they had better traction, but not on dirt. They no longer make them. Other radials I"ve had have all been excellent compared to bias.

Great info. Thanks guys.

While good radials MAY have a little better grip, with the extra expense, the mixed response here, and the sometimes uneven terrain I work, I'm not sure I would keep my shorts clean with "mushy" tires. Also working in the woods over debris doesn't sound radial friendly, so I think for what I'm doing, a stiffer ride with bias is the way to go.

I know there's a lot to be said for keeping original size rims and tires on a tractor, but I have a clay loam soil that tends to be wet, and it seems that once it breaks a tire loose, even through sod, it only takes a quarter turn before it's going down rather than forward. One revolution will often coat the whole tire in goo with no lugs showing. Of course, thats with what remains of the current lugs, ~1/2" in the long spots. I also tend to work 'heavy' and duals aren't practical for this one, so will probably go up a rim and tire size for better floatation, but drop pressure a bit to help the tire grip the ground, rather than push the ground to grip the tire. I know when I dropped from 12psi (as I got it) to 8psi a couple years ago, the traction increased considerably without causing obvious 'squat'. Originally I though 12 was low. Still learning.

It seems that a lot of 'orange' equipment these days ships with Titan "loader" tires (wide lugs, small spaces), rather than Ag. Any benefit to those in the field, or just on the road?

Any comments on rim width and tire profile, such as 16" rims with 16.9 tires? I know wide tires on narrow rims, such as 18.4 tires on 12" rims don't mix well.