Round, black and hold air.

Ultradog MN · Jan 25, 2016

I don't have any money anyway so this is all just idle speculation.
My 4200 has 15.5X38s on it.
They are pretty old, worn, checked, etc.
So I look on CL from time to time for something used but good.
And cheap.
Looking in some OEM literature I have it gives the standard size as 13.6X38.
15.5s are listed as optional for a 5000 but not for a 4000.
Looking further, I see that 15.5s are nearly identical in height as a 13.6 - only about 1/2" different.
So what would be the advantage be of one size over another?
I will probably add fluid to these just for stability but probably never do any real heavy draft work with it where the added weight in the 15.5s would give me that last ounce of traction.
13.6s do seem to be more common and thus would be easier to find.
Oh, and I thought I would make a tractor related post for once. Just for a change...

<Img src="http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/Ultradog/4200/IMG_20150418_140534.jpg">

paul · Jan 25, 2016

The obvious first comment will be, why is your tire mounted backwards?

Paul

JMS/.MN · Jan 25, 2016

15.5 has a wider footprint on the ground, more traction.

Tom in TN · Jan 25, 2016

Okay, this is ridiculous for Tom in TN to be telling anything tractor related to Ultradog, but here goes. Isn't the 15.5 or the 13.6, the cross-sectional diameter of the tire? I know that's the way it works on car tires, so maybe it's the same on tractor tires.

If that's the case, the 15.5s would be a couple of inches wider (and also a couple of inches higher) than the 13.6s. Or maybe not.

Tom in TN

tomstractorsandtoys · Jan 25, 2016

I always liked the look of the 4000-5000 row crop tractors. I do not care for a utility style tractor. You can interchange 13.6 and 15.5 tires but unless you have a wider rims the 15.5 will be some what drawn in. Many people put 16.9 on 3020 Deere tractors instead of 15.5. Tom

JMS/.MN · Jan 25, 2016

I refer to it as the bulge...old size markings were measured at the rim. Some say new size marking is the tread width- I don"t agree, since some treads have more square corners, others are rounded, putting less on the ground.

Mike(NEOhio) · Jan 25, 2016

What about 14.9s? A lot depends on rim width.

Ultradog MN · Jan 25, 2016

Huh??

Actually, when I bought the tractor the tires were set way out. Too wide to get on my trailer.
I always bring some hand tools along but didn't have anything big enough to change a tire.
Had to hire a tire service to come out and dish them in.
I had just got it running in the photo above.
They're still on backwards.

<Img src="http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/Ultradog/4200/20150213_120310.jpg">

rrlund · Jan 25, 2016

14.9s are taller. Used to drive the mechanic crazy at the Ford dealer when guys would bring their 4000s in and want them put on. He'd grumble all day about how it made them look like they were going down hill.

hd6gtom · Jan 25, 2016

Ultradog, 15.5X38's are far more popular that any other 38"tire except 18.4X38's. You should be able to find them at any salvage yard. If you stay with Firestone Traction Field and Roads you will be real close to the same height as 13.6x38's. If you are buying used tires please be aware there is also a Firestone Field and Road. It is a different tire than the Firestone Traction Field and Road. After 20+ years selling farm tires, I would not put straight Field and Roads on my tractor. If you turn those tires around you may not need fluid. If you purchase used tires, make sure there are no cords pulled loose inside the tire. Make sure the beads have not been damaged by improper dismounting. Good luck.

Jshum40 · Jan 25, 2016

Why didn't you just switch left one to the right so the thread would have been correct?

merlynr · Jan 25, 2016

(quoted from post at 12:08:58 01/25/16) Why didn't you just switch left one to the right so the thread would have been correct?

Not enough jacks maybe.

Mike M · Jan 25, 2016

Maybe he wants to push the disk and not pull it ?

RandyB(MI) · Jan 25, 2016

A very ligitimate reason, and smart too. Just get it loaded and home and worry about it then. You knew you'd get hammered tho didn't ya??

paul · Jan 25, 2016

Understandable.

Tire size, fluid, cast weights, none of that will matter much if you have the tire tread backwards like that.

Traction is aweful in mud and snow when the tread is backwards. The tread digs down to firm ground when its on the right way, and it pulls soft mush under the tire and spins endlessly and hopelessly when on backwards.

You likely know that, but it just stands out so much on your picture, and you do talk about traction and disking in soft dirt there - it is an issue.

Some folks years ago would mount the tires on their combine backwards, they could drive into mud until they spun, put it in revers and back out.

Otherwise, having the tread on backwards is counter productive if you do any dirt work.

I think the tires you mention interchange well, but I easily get confused on tire sizes so I best not say too much.....

And I didnt mean to derail your thread, I fugured it would come up right away so might as well get it out of the way....

I'm sure when you get your new to you tires you will get thrm mounted the right direction.

Paul

Fordfarmer · Jan 25, 2016

15.5's give a bit more flotation. They are far more common than 13.6's.
I think I've seen some listed somewhere recently. I'll email it to you if I find it again.

paul · Jan 25, 2016

To sidetrack even more, around here narrow front is rare on that size and bigger tractors. If it was set with the rears very wide, did it have a picker mounted on it? Older row crop mid-mount clitivators also fit on narrow front, but we soon learned a proper modern mid mount cultivator on a wide front tractor worked much better, so it likely wasn't special narrow fron for cultivating....

Came down to mounted corn pickers by the late 1960s as the only need for a narrow front.

Paul

Fordfarmer · Jan 25, 2016

15.5's are a low profile tire. Most tractor rears are something like an 80 series profile, while 15.5's are more like a 70.

LarrySTN · Jan 25, 2016

The 15.5 x 38 were designed to give a wider foot print than the 13.6 x 38 while not raise the drawbar. In other words the 15.5 is a low profile
tire. So if you find 13.6s or 15.5s used you can easily interchange them. If your tractor sits nose up (like the later Deere putt putt) you may want the 14.9 x 38s which seem to raise the drawbar over an inch. All these tires can be used on the same rim.

LarrySTN · Jan 25, 2016

By the way I like your 4200. Years back I had a 5200 select-o-speed narrow front with a cab. I wish I still had that tractor. Sometime I
may find a 4200 diesel select-o-speed that will follow me home (so long as Mrs Larry doesn't know) she frowns on more tractors.

Ultradog MN · Jan 25, 2016

A lot of good information here.
Thanks to all.
One thing I've learned about narrow front tractors is if you are going to run your tires backwards at least people cant tell from your tire tracks.

paul · Jan 26, 2016

I like that, good one!

Like your tractor too, I have a 5200 wide front I've posted here in the past.

Paul

showcrop · Jan 26, 2016

Hard to tell from here but those look like the old Firestone Gum Dipped 15.5s. I wish I had a pair. They are impossible to find. I went to 15.5 38s on my 960 puller maybe 10 years ago when most tracks were soft. I got only a season and a half out of them when one got a bad sidewall split. I replaced them with new ones but those have about a two inch higher side wall, which messes up my gearing for the hard tracks that we pull on now.

Round, black and hold air.

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