Good Year Dura Torques- Junk in my opinion!

I bought a set of 18.4x38 8ply dt's for my 1070 case that I use for planting, haying ect. At 1 years cracks are already developing on the sidewalls. I notified GY and was told that because it is over 12 months it would cost me $250.00 a tire plus the mount /dismount fees. I have several Firestones that are much older that don't have a blemish on them. I knew that Good Year had problems in the past but I was assured that those issues had been corrected. Thats what I get for trying to save a few dollars by buying GY junk. Back to Firestones for me.

I also was aware of Goodyear tractor tire issues of the past. Sounds like they didn't learn from their mistakes.

I have Goodyear Dyna-torques and Ultra-torques 18.4x38s and have never had that problem. I don't know what he Dura-torque is but you must of had a real bad batch. I would try to call Goodyear and get a hold of a factory rep or field engineer and see if they can take a look. At one year or even 10 years that is un-acceptable. Usually the only thing better then Goodyear is Michellens and they are real pricey.

I have good year power torque rear tires on my early 80s Ford Original tires, but there almost like plastic when it gets cold out, they are cracked and looks like they are delamenting, or something. I think by far the best tire I have seen is the Firestone field and road, R1. I have also seen a tire called Conentional? they seemed good.

If you like the firestone f/r but don't like the price, look for someone that handles AUKERT tire brand the maxx trac is the same tread as the firestone and 8ply for half the price. There oversea tire but they work real good for pulling. The last time I priced them in 13.6x38 they were 425 a tire vs over 650 for firestones. And that is at dealer cost to me as I am a part time sales man for my tire store.

Im all for 'buy USA' and try to in many cases. Tractor tires is one place its ceased to me to be practical. Of all the rear tires I've had over the years the best by far have been Belshina brand, coming out of the old USSR. I've got a set of 38 inch radials nearing 5000 hours with almost no signs of wear. The valve stems arent much on their tubes, brass over steel, and they corrode over time.

I've also been pleased with Titans and, of course Michelins, especially the rear radials. Pretty extreme range in price here though. Alliance, made in Israel seems to have a really good rear tire too. I've gotten a few of them the past few years as single replacements.

Worst I've ever had were East One, made in China fronts.

Akurets have a higher domed tread with less touching the ground and wear about twice as fast as the Goodyears, that is why they are half the price. I bought a set of 18.4x38s a few years ago and already have to replace them. I had an issue with one that the inner cords were trashing my tubes so I had to replace it.

"Continental" I think.

Yep, I dident put to much effort into spelling it, I guess,, that looks better ,LOL

I've found that Goodyear tires for tractors or skid steers weather check way faster than anything else. I've been quite happy with Titans though. I was also told that it depends on how the tires are stored before they're sold. Lots of places don't have enough warehouse space and the tires sit outside for who knows how long. Dave

Titan owns Goodyear Ag

Those cracks are why we left Firestone for good years ago as they would not admit there tires did that.

I know it shouldn't matter but I never liked the way a Good Year looked. They are all humpy and bulgy. I like the profile of the Firestones the best.

Dad pretty much refuses to buy Goodyear anymore. He just bought another tractor and that was a major factor when looking. Most people around here consider Firestone the preferred tire. No Michelins to speak of though. We have used the cheaper off-brands but seems like you get what you pay for. He has had a set of DT710 GYs (the funky looking tread) for about 10 years that have done well but with limited use. Just traded it for the new tractor so that'll be the end of those as well.

Hmmm, my goodyear dyna torques are 5 years old and look brand new 11.2x24.
My 5 year old Titans 9.5x24 are so weather checked they look 50 years old.

Both these tractors are stored indoors year round and out of the sun.

These are on the fronts. So now I have a hard decision. I have to buy rears 14.9x28s. Your Goodyears are cracked, my Titans are cracked.

Do I switch to Firestone?!?!?!?

Rick

Spend the extra money for Firestone or Michelin radial.... Seems to be worth the extra money to me and I get to leave the weights in the shed. Its lighter on my hay ground and still pulls well on tillage.

The Dura-Torque is a cheap entry level tire from GY/Titan that will more than likely wear out before it blows... I've had a lot of Dyna Torque II's over the years that never wore worth a damn but they ALWAYS had strong casings. There's a set here on some duals that are probably 20 years old and well cracked... and have been for a long time... but tehy keep on keeping on... So unless Titan has changed the composition of those tires I'd suspect they'll probably give their 1500-2000 hours use and be worn out and probably give you little trouble.
The same can not be said of any of the Armstrong/Titan line I've had here. They never wear out. Always blow...
Firestone and Michelin seem to be about the best here tho.

Rod

We had Goodyears on some of dads tractors and they always seem to break or crack long before the treads gone. Put new Field and Road firestones on my 1466 eight years ago and they were completely bald and still no breaks this spring. I move a lot of hay each year and went with the 23 degree firestones this spring and really like them. They were just bias 8 ply and I think they were around 1000 a piece.

For several years now, I've used ONLY Titan tires for replacements on mowing tractors I own. We mow highway right-of-ways. The tires get far more abuse than anything short of logging rigs. Side loading on hillsides causes sidewall destruction on most brands. Then we run over all sorts of trash and debris. Lots of road wear too. So far, NEVER had a Titan carcas to fail because of structural problems. (Have sliced a few from hidden "treasures") Titan now owns GoodYear AG tires. I had several sets of Dyna-Torques. Mediocre wear, good carcas life. We run 10 to 12 tractors, averaging 1800 hours each per season. I base my opinion on a LOT of hours in conditions far more abusive than most tires ever see.

I have talked to the dealer in Sioux Falls and the rep in Des Moines, they say they have their "policy" to go by. I told them I would give them all the free verbal advertising and post on every web site I could. tHe old power torque casings used to split and layers of rubber would peel off. They still make a cheap tire inmy opinion.

I was also told by one of my big tire dealers that Titan has bought out Goodyear tractor tires. I tried to get some 12.5R80/18's for the front of a 4x4 backhoe. I was told that by another dealer when I went to get a rear tire to match the other side after poking a hole in the sidewall.

I have always had great luck with heavy duty Firestone tires, especially ones for my scrapers that are 29.5 x 29's and 32 ply. I like the Firestone truck tires for my dump trucks too, but on my pickups I'd rather have Bridgestone.

You may have a lot of abrasion and a lot of hours... but it doesn't strike me that you've got a lot of load on them carrying a mower. Probably why you havn't had one blow on you... yet. I found the Titan/Armstrong tires that we've had generally wore quite well compared to anything else we had over the years... but they could never carry weight without rupturing. A similar Firestone will last until the canvas is showing.

Rod

Im glad its not just my power torque goodyears. there 29 years old and still going, but as you put there split in layers or something, and there hard like plastic,if that makes sense. Ford must have used many different tires, one has Armstrong, one has Firestone and one has Goodyear!

Lean a tractor over to where 75% of it's weight is on ONE side, and you have quite a load on one wheel. Then consider that weight is loaded on the sidewall to a MUCH greater degree than what you'd find on a flat surface. A couple of my mowing rigs have side-hill boom mowers. Those have quite a bit of weight with the mower itself, then a heavy counter weight on the other side. You won't find many tractors that carry as much weight, muchless on a continuous basis. We've been down that road way too many times....Most brands won't hold up to the torture. The Titans last longer, work better, and cost less.

There's lots of tractors that carry that much weight and have to pull to the limit of their ability at 4 mph to boot. I'm talking mounted moldboard plows that lift the front of 11000# tractors and manure spreaders that apply enough tounge weight to lift the front of the same tractors.... probably 15-20K # axle loads. This is on 18.4-30 and 18.4R34 tires. Titan's go boom. Firestones and Michelin's keep going.
You've got a fair bit of weight on yours, but not this much weight... and certainly not the same requirement to pull.

Titan has quality issues and from my observation, for the most part... they have no intention of admitting they have a problem. Their president has been active at times on the AgTalk forum trying to quell the unrest and regain some customers... but his remark to me was theat "you don't think we'll make tires that will last forever" or something very close to that wording. The biggest admission they will make is that they have problems in 1-1.5% of their tires the same as everyone else does and the rest of the problems are due to manufacturers using the incorrect wheels for their tires.
That may be true to some extent... but the manufacturers are not wearing the problem. Someone posted a picture on that forum some time back of a tire dealer somewhere in the midwest who had a row of GoodYear combine/floater tires stacked two high from the shop to the back of the lot, ALL warrantied... or at least all failed that fall. This was somewhere in the vicinity of 100 tires in one place, at one dealer in one town...
If you haven't had a problem all I can say is you've been very lucky... as about 90% of the posts I read on that forum are of experiences like mine... or worse.

Rod

If you read it as 90% in agreement with you, you should really try to read the other 99% of the post's.....I'm only seeing ONE person with your "story", and that's you. Maybe you've got a underiflation problem....Maybe OVER inflation, or maybe a dozen other issues.


Since you don't have much more than a clue as to how much weight my tractors do carry, you aren't qualified to make the statement you made. That speaks volumes....Spouting opinion as "fact" when you don't have enough info to make any more than a WAG, How would anyone give creedence to your unsubstanciated claims? (Answer; They DON'T)

If you could shut your mouth long enough to actually read what I said you could save yourself a lot of time. The 90% figure related to AGTALK forum, not this thread... and the Titan threads are so frequent there that most have simply stoped responding anymore other than to recomend 'Firestone or Michelin'... a simple three word response. 90% with bad experiences with Titan/GoodYear tires is a good rough estimate of responses on THAT forum. On this forum you find more Titan customers who wrap themselves in the flag, buy the tires because they're US made and then proceed to put 50 hours use per year on them with the tractor stored in a garage the rest of the time. You obviously put more use per year on yours... but again... at what load factor?
Just in case you're wondering... I do have a fairly good grasp of the different equipment that's out there in use for roadside mowing and right of way mowing. That is what you state to be a significant part of your activity... so I'll say again... wether that's a rear mounted bush hog, a side/boom mounted rotary or a Meri-Crusher... the load factor you're talking about is different. You may indeed have a good bunch of weight in some of those machines but you're still only pulling the weight of the tractor/machine along... either on asphalt at some speed or on ditch banks at a snails pace. That's just not the same as dragging a plow at 5 mph at full torque and ballast.
AS far as inflation problems go on mine... they probably were underinflated to some degree. They can't be perfectly inflated in every situation... but one thing stands out. The FIRESTONE and MICHELIN tires I'm running now DO NOT suffer from the same problems and they have the same inflation issues.
I don't think there's anything wrong with you running Titans if they work good for you It may be that they just fit into your particular situation very well... but I tend to believe you more likely just have incredibly good luck...

Rod