Tractor Tire Longevity

[ritcheyvs]

As a new tractor owner, I wonder how long tractor tires should last. Almost all my use is on dirt, grass, or in woods (seldom travel on pavement). I'm sure new tires are pretty expensive so I got to wondering if I'll need to buy a set any time soon.

Scott

 

[farmeratheart]

I don't know about the CUT/SCUT tires of today either Scott. What I remember from my early days on the dairy farm though, is that sidewalls would crack and rot out from exposure to the manure long before tread was an issue. This was with what are called R1 tires today. I've only had my tractor about 3 years (It was 1 year old when I bought it.) and it has its original tires ... It will be interesting to see what this thread yields in information!

Frank

 

[DAY]

"I wonder how long tractor tires should last."
-Longer than you. . .
Seriously, the tires on my Yella Fella are well past the 30 year mark (the odometer quit working at 3338 hours), and still have plenty of tread. the front sidewalls are showing some cracking, though.

 

[mguitas]

As a new tractor owner, I wonder how long tractor tires should last. Almost all my use is on dirt, grass, or in woods (seldom travel on pavement). I'm sure new tires are pretty expensive so I got to wondering if I'll need to buy a set any time soon.

Scott

As long as your not on the road, should last awhile.

 

[creekbend]

My Father and an Uncle of mine had farms joining each other's property where I grew up and was raised. Their Tractors were Farmall, Case and MF. I do not ever remember any of the equipment getting new tires. They may have, but I don't remember. I do remember bush hogging Mom's rhubarb patch late one evening, because the tractor that I was driving at the time, had no headlights.

 

[k0ua]

Like anything else, it depends on many things. How much you use the tractor, what kind of enviorment (flint rocks, sandy soil, lots of road usage) all add up. but I have seen a lot of old tractors with 30 or year older tires, cracking and splitting and chunks coming off from spinning the tires are a bigger problem than just normal wear. But in general they last a good long time.

James K0UA

 

[dennis52]

While searching for my last tractor purchase I was shown a Kubota L4300 with loader that was 3 years old and had only 400 hrs on it.

The tractor had done a lot of hard work clearing hard rocky land.
The owner clearly had not shown much care for it.

The front AG tyres were already in need of replacement.

 

[George2615]

My tractor is a 2004. So I guess that's 8 years since 2012 tractors are out.
I run R-4 industrial tires. Rears are in great shape. Fronts are the ones that seem to get the most abuse mainly from turning. They have various nicks and cuts and have been plugged from nail holes.
The tractor sees minimal road use and only has about 400 hrs. (My tires are pictured) They still have plenty of life left in them. From what I can see and from other friends tractors the front tires will be the first ones that need changing. One friend just changed his front tires on a JD 790 with about 2000 hours.

 

[Branchchipper]

Don't sweat the tires!
(and stay off the pavement)

My first tractor was a 1973 MF 135-D; I bought it from the original owner in the mid-80's. It still had the original R-1 (ag) rear tires (calcium filled), and the tractor had approx. 2000 hrs on it, all in field use.

I replaced those tires a few hundred hours later- they did not leak; there was some checking, but the main reason for replacement was that the lugs were simply no longer high enough for really wet conditions.

Having said that, those tires were still a long way from "worn out." Had I not lived on very hilly terrain, I probably wouldn't have thought of replacement for many more hours!

 

[MotorSeven]

I can say this, after 600 hrs, lots of heavy loader work in 4WD and quite a bit of road running, my front Ag tires are looking pretty beat. I am guessing that around the 1000 hr mark they will need to be replaced.