are my front tires wimpy?

[Baby Grand]

Q: Are my front tires wimpy?
A: Not if you ballast wisely.

[daugen]

Q: Are my front tires wimpy?
A: Not if you ballast wisely.

and I don't have enough weights in my ballast box yet, so the extra heavy FEL grapple combo I have up front is really putting some pressure on those front tires, hence my tracks in the lawn.
So if I get more weight in the rear, I've shifted the weight to a tire with more contact area. Gotcha.

[ovrszd]

HMMMMMM. The tractor I almost bought was a M9540, it did everything I wanted except be trailerable by my Suburban, which I had just bought, and was not
about to go buy a diesel dually to haul it. That's another 60K...
So I went down a size; guess my original mindset didn't...
I am reminded of what I own every time I lift up the back end unintentionally, weight box or implement on and all.
But I am also very happy with what I have, and after spending fifty hours in the woods with it, wonder if the 9540's width and height would
have made that even more challenging. So I am content with what I have. But if I move to a bigger place...hmmm.

Yep I agree about the hauling issue. I can tell a considerable difference in trailering my old L4400 and the new M9540. Equipped as they were, I'm guessing somewhere around 4000lbs difference.

I worried about the height/weight thing in the timber too. I was pleasantly surprised how little difference there is. After a couple days in the timber I stopped even thinking about it. The biggest adjustment was ducking under low hanging limbs. I put 80% of my hours on in timber. I also run open station. A cab would not work in my timber.

The bigger place issue was the driving force in my trade up. I was overworking the L series daily. I got so I could drive the L4400 around fairly well with the bucket bouncing on the ground and the rear tires airborne. My Brother kept saying you are gonna tear that tractor up, but it never complained or failed.

[crazyal]

Have you priced tractor tires lately?

[daugen]

yup. Put new rears on my 255. Almost a thousand each which gave me financial palpitations, but I found some very nice
BKT tires for 650. At my age, they better be the last tires I put on that tractor...

Some of these rear tires, especially the high tech low pressure radials cost 2-3 grand apiece. Yikes.

I think it's interesting that "old fashioned" bias ply tractor tires are still being made in the US. Glad some tires still are...

[TripleR]

HMMMMMM. The tractor I almost bought was a M9540, it did everything I wanted except be trailerable by my Suburban, which I had just bought, and was not
about to go buy a diesel dually to haul it. That's another 60K...
So I went down a size; guess my original mindset didn't...
I am reminded of what I own every time I lift up the back end unintentionally, weight box or implement on and all.
But I am also very happy with what I have, and after spending fifty hours in the woods with it, wonder if the 9540's width and height would
have made that even more challenging. So I am content with what I have. But if I move to a bigger place...hmmm.

Many of us fit into the "been there done that" camp. My father in law decided in 1998 to trade his Massey Ferguson 375 in on a new cabbed Case CX80. I advised with as much woods and small areas as we have on our properties, I thought he should keep it. Well needless to say he didn't listen and a month later had to go back to the dealer and buy his old tractor back at a significant loss after busting lights and mirrors off the Case. There is no telling how many set of lights and mirrors were replaced before he just gave up.

If you have a variety of tasks, the ideal tractor is going to be two tractors, I don't think there is any getting around that. Since most of us can't afford that, we wind up with a compromise and have to decide which way to jump.

[DT86]

Some of these rear tires, especially the high tech low pressure radials cost 2-3 grand apiece. Yikes.

I had to put one new Titan Radial rear tire on my M9540 last winter, it was around $2000 plus fluid. I d*mn near fell over!

[Bob77064]

The tires on my LS R3039 are R4's. The rear tires are 43" tall and the fronts are only 25" tall. The fronts look small, but the tractor turns real well.

[daugen]

I had to put one new Titan Radial rear tire on my M9540 last winter, it was around $2000 plus fluid. I d*mn near fell over!

did you tear up your sidewall? Or just a tired tire?
I'd like to learn more about what wrecks modern tractor tires, so maybe I can avoid it...
Always thought the more plies the merrier.

[magicheater]

One of the first things I do to a tractor new to me is put a steering wheel spinner on it. The VERY next thing is to increase the WIDTH of the front tires, keeping them in the Static loaded radius dimension of the stock tires. You may have a little more turf damage on tight turns but what you gain in flotation for your loader is worth it. It can be challenging to find the correct rim size/tire type but it can be done. I'd like to see some tire companies cater to this and offer some new sizes.