rear tires

thanks
greg

For general-purpose, you should be looking at R-1 category tires. Deeper tread doesn't always mean better traction. The tread depths/spacings are specifically designed for their applications, and if you go with R-2 mud tires for everyday dry or only slightly wet soils, you are likely to have increased tire wear and less traction than the R-1 tread. There's an in-between, the R-1W that fills the gap between R-1 and R-2 if you'll be using the tractor in both fairly wet and fairly dry conditions.

45 degree long bar: Often seen on antique tractors, they have good forward and lateral traction.

23 degree long bar: Modern tire design. Puts more power to the ground, and cleats seem to clean better in wet ground (compared to 45 degree). Seems to have less lateral traction than 45 degree, long/short, and short/short tread patterns.

Long/short bar: The idea behind this tread is staggering the leading points of the cleats to improve the biting surface, and to provide different lug angles on the same tire. Goodyear's Dyna-Torque tires are an example. We've used them with success. The wear was pretty even and they had good life. In the end, I'm not sure they worked better than long/long bar patterns. I recall some occassional vibration on the road when using this style tire tread.

Short/short: Sorry, but again going to Goodyear for an example. The DT-710 is a short/short bar tire. We put these on the tractors we make hay with the last time they needed new tires. Overall, I've liked them. Because of how the short bars overlap, they have about as good traction in reverse as forward. Quite a bonus when backing a mower-conditioner up in a hay field with dew on it. If there was any slope at all, the long/short and long/long tires we used before were much more prone to spinning in reverse. No question, the short/short tread has a much smoother ride on the road. The downside to all the wonderful news is that the tread life appears to be shorter with this pattern. From Goodyear, the latest in this style appears to be their Versatorque, which is a completely non-directional pattern. That means the tread will bite the same in forward and reverse. I suspect it'll have the same problems with tread wear.

You need to think about what you intend to use your tractor for and what kind of soil conditions you'll encounter. Your tire dealer should be able to help you choose the right tread (if you have a choice available). I'm not trying to push Goodyear, either. We've used Goodyear, Firestone, Armstrong, BF Goodrich, Kleber and Titan. I can't say we had problems with any specific brand, or that one brand was superior to the others.

For general-purpose, you should be looking at R-1 category tires. Deeper tread doesn't always mean better traction. The tread depths/spacings are specifically designed for their applications, and if you go with R-2 mud tires for everyday dry or only slightly wet soils, you are likely to have increased tire wear and less traction than the R-1 tread. There's an in-between, the R-1W that fills the gap between R-1 and R-2 if you'll be using the tractor in both fairly wet and fairly dry conditions.

45 degree long bar: Often seen on antique tractors, they have good forward and lateral traction.

23 degree long bar: Modern tire design. Puts more power to the ground, and cleats seem to clean better in wet ground (compared to 45 degree). Seems to have less lateral traction than 45 degree, long/short, and short/short tread patterns.

Long/short bar: The idea behind this tread is staggering the leading points of the cleats to improve the biting surface, and to provide different lug angles on the same tire. Goodyear's Dyna-Torque tires are an example. We've used them with success. The wear was pretty even and they had good life. In the end, I'm not sure they worked better than long/long bar patterns. I recall some occassional vibration on the road when using this style tire tread.

Short/short: Sorry, but again going to Goodyear for an example. The DT-710 is a short/short bar tire. We put these on the tractors we make hay with the last time they needed new tires. Overall, I've liked them. Because of how the short bars overlap, they have about as good traction in reverse as forward. Quite a bonus when backing a mower-conditioner up in a hay field with dew on it. If there was any slope at all, the long/short and long/long tires we used before were much more prone to spinning in reverse. No question, the short/short tread has a much smoother ride on the road. The downside to all the wonderful news is that the tread life appears to be shorter with this pattern. From Goodyear, the latest in this style appears to be their Versatorque, which is a completely non-directional pattern. That means the tread will bite the same in forward and reverse. I suspect it'll have the same problems with tread wear.

You need to think about what you intend to use your tractor for and what kind of soil conditions you'll encounter. Your tire dealer should be able to help you choose the right tread (if you have a choice available). I'm not trying to push Goodyear, either. We've used Goodyear, Firestone, Armstrong, BF Goodrich, Kleber and Titan. I can't say we had problems with any specific brand, or that one brand was superior to the others.

Size of tractor? Heavy pulling? Light loads?

Ag tires, R4s, turf tires?

More info!

--->Paul