Tires Upsized front r4 tires on L5030

[slowzuki]

My L5030HSTC has about 400 hours on its latest set of R-4 tires which has left the front ones completely bald while the rears just lost their whiskers.

I drive a lot of road miles in the winter, which seems to be hard on the fronts.

The stock 10x16.5 R4's are too small, and the slip ratio is a few % underdriven in the front of these tractors while they should be overdriven.

A friend borrowed my tractor and rolled a tire off the rim, then shredded the tire so I bought 2 new 12x16.5 R4's.

They seem to be just about right in ratio to the rears and theres a little more sidewall to run a bit lower pressure.

Price was right at 155$ each and there is all kinds of room/clearance to the loader frame. Just putting this out there for other L30 series owners with the same stock wonky tire ratio.

 

[TripleR]

Good to know, it won't be long before I need to replace my front tires.

 

[KennyV]

I bought 2 new 12x16.5 R4's.

They seem to be just about right in ratio to the rears and theres a little more sidewall to run a bit lower pressure.

Just wondering, what size are you running on the rear? KennyV

 

[funwithahoe]

Is 400 hours typical? Seems like I get more than that but only maybe 25% of my tractor time is loader related.

 

[TripleR]

Is 400 hours typical? Seems like I get more than that but only maybe 25% of my tractor time is loader related.

Mine has the originals with 950 hours. I am going to replace them because of a cut, otherwise the still have some life in them.

 

[funwithahoe]

:laughing:

Mine has the originals with 950 hours. I am going to replace them because of a cut, otherwise the still have some life in them.

Good - My tractor has 25 hours on it now and it was quite an expense (for me) so I always struggle with whether I should feel guilty running it whenever my return on investment is really quite low - Meaning that I am not directly making money with the tractor - I am doing a project that I think will make my place better (some might argue it was better before I started).

I figure though other than changing oil I really should be good for a lot of years. Maybe the battery at 7 or so years and at my rate sounds like the tires will last a long long time. I figure I will put about 75 or so hours a year on it and that means the engine should last about 75 or so years - Maybe 6000 hours.

I was going to replace the tires on my last tractor when my farmer friend told me they had 1000 hours left in them - I sold it 6 years later and they looked the same - New owner didn't object.:laughing:

 

[slowzuki]

The rears are stock, I think they are 17.5 x 24's on all the 30 series when you get R-4's.

The fronts wore off from road use, I'm sure. Tractors that don't drive on pavement, with our soil will have the tires dry rot off before they wear out. My Michellin's on my massey have 4000+ hours on the original rears and 2000 hours on the fronts.

The turf tires that were on my L5030 the first 600 hours looked like new when they were swapped for r-4's.

BTW "Mechanical Ratio of the L5030 is 1.564 with 0-5% allowable lead."

 

[TripleR]

:laughing:

Good - My tractor has 25 hours on it now and it was quite an expense (for me) so I always struggle with whether I should feel guilty running it whenever my return on investment is really quite low - Meaning that I am not directly making money with the tractor - I am doing a project that I think will make my place better (some might argue it was better before I started).

I figure though other than changing oil I really should be good for a lot of years. Maybe the battery at 7 or so years and at my rate sounds like the tires will last a long long time. I figure I will put about 75 or so hours a year on it and that means the engine should last about 75 or so years - Maybe 6000 hours.

I was going to replace the tires on my last tractor when my farmer friend told me they had 1000 hours left in them - I sold it 6 years later and they looked the same - New owner didn't object.:laughing:

Sounds like maybe your grandkids will be the ones buying new tires.:laughing:

 

[art]

On solid footing how does it shift out of four wheel drive when using the tractor after changing to the larger tires?

 

[slowzuki]

Better than before. Previously I'd have to lift the front tires with the loader, find some dirt or rock back and forth because the front are lagging so much.

Was originally a 3% lag on the fronts as new, before losing the 3/4" tread off the tire. Would bind bad right before replaced.

The new larger tires are a 5.5% lead when inflated. Slightly more than its supposed to be but should fall within spec once they wear. I also tend to run really low pressure on the fronts which shrinks the rolling circumference putting it closer to spec.