Longevity of Titan Trac Loader front tires?

[RAS323]

Originally Posted by SPYDERLK

Quote RAS323: Hey Nighttrain1-did you get 4110 tires on your 3510? Did you go down in size? What are 17.5's?


Rick, Nightrain1 was quoting Skipmarcy there. Skip has had mismatched tires on his 4110 since day 1, I think. Hes had a lot of front axle problems.
larry

Opps ...I guess I need to read better!!

[shvl73]

Dougster,
Do you find (as I do) that you have a suprising amount of traction in 2wd with the hoe on? For my little tractor, the extra 1000lbs on the back make it really go. I only click in 4wd as needed. My front tires are barely worn at 382hrs but, I don't do anywhere near the amount of excavation work that you probably do.

[Dougster]

Originally Posted by shvl73

Dougster, Do you find (as I do) that you have a suprising amount of traction in 2wd with the hoe on? For my little tractor, the extra 1000lbs on the back make it really go. I only click in 4wd as needed. My front tires are barely worn at 382hrs but, I don't do anywhere near the amount of excavation work that you probably do.

The removable portion of the backhoe/bucket/thumb/subframe is about 1,800 lbs... so that is going to make a big difference in traction no matter how you slice it... but I'm not sure I can answer your specific question since I haven't done much work requiring really serious traction in 2WD (It's all been done in 4WD) and, rather ironically, most of jobsite work requiring maximum traction ends up being done without the backhoe in place due to the simultaneous or subsequent use of 3-point implements!

Dougster

[Nightrain1]

Originally Posted by RAS323

Opps ...I guess I need to read better!!

I wish I was wealthy enough to buy another set of tires and rims because they sure look good. I was interested in this since others had problems with their drivetrain and possibly had wrong size tires that maybe caused their delimma. It was discussed in earlier post and I just wondered what they thought after the swap.....

[Bill Barrett]

Dougster, I'm not sure I'd buy them to just be at the ready. My Maclander trailer tires ( Goodyear ) gave out with 90% tread on them, so I go to my very good friend in the tire business. He was telling me that the newer compound used in tires will only last 7 to 10 years, not sure if this applies to tractor tires but all four of my Goodyears that tread look new fell apart.

[Dougster]

Originally Posted by Bill Barrett

Dougster, I'm not sure I'd buy them to just be at the ready. My Maclander trailer tires ( Goodyear ) gave out with 90% tread on them, so I go to my very good friend in the tire business. He was telling me that the newer compound used in tires will only last 7 to 10 years, not sure if this applies to tractor tires but all four of my Goodyears that tread look new fell apart.

Yep... that's the whole debate. To have some tires at the ready to quickly remedy flats, etc. and risk the longterm aging effect... or to wait until a failure actually occurrs to make sure you're always getting new, fresh stock. Later this week, I'm going to contact a few tire dealers in the area and try to better assess the tractor/skidsteer tire situation and what my downtime risk at a jobsite might really be. In this regard, I fear that the large percentage of weekend work I do might do me in if I am not properly prepared for the worst.

Dougster

[Keith_B]

Originally Posted by Dougster

Yep... that's the whole debate. To have some tires at the ready to quickly remedy flats, etc. and risk the longterm aging effect... or to wait until a failure actually occurrs to make sure you're always getting new, fresh stock. Later this week, I'm going to contact a few tire dealers in the area and try to better assess the tractor/skidsteer tire situation and what my downtime risk at a jobsite might really be. In this regard, I fear that the large percentage of weekend work I do might do me in if I am not properly prepared for the worst.

Dougster

Doug, you can probably get a few more years out of those fronts. They will wear faster than the rears, but you can get a lot of hours out of a set of front tires. Really, the nails and stuff are gonna puncture the new tires just the same, only you are going to feel worse when they puncture a new tire.

[Dougster]

Originally Posted by Keith_B

Doug, you can probably get a few more years out of those fronts. They will wear faster than the rears, but you can get a lot of hours out of a set of front tires. Really, the nails and stuff are gonna puncture the new tires just the same, only you are going to feel worse when they puncture a new tire.

Yep... that's for sure.

But I'm wondering... as was discussed a bit above... if these front tires are starting to deteriorate so rapidly simply because of their age rather than their recent hard use or number of operating hours. My tractor is now 3 months short of being three years old (going by production date). Could that rubber age factor be the underlying cause of this apparent increasing brittleness and sudden deterioration at the hands of a few sharp rocks? Is it time to replace them anyway and make these old tires the spares just to get some newer rubber up front? The idea of upgrading to a higher ply rating is appealing just on its own merits alone.

The GF and I were even speculating this past weekend if these are the original tires on my 2004 4110... or whether the original owner had some incident(s) and maybe swapped out damaged original tires for older used ones??? The contrast between the "like new" rears and "ready for the junkyard" fronts is really a bit troubling given that the deterioration seemed to come so quickly.

Dougster

[Keith_B]

Originally Posted by Dougster

Yep... that's for sure.

But I'm wondering... as was discussed a bit above... if these front tires are starting to deteriorate so rapidly simply because of their age rather than their recent hard use or number of operating hours. My tractor is now 3 months short of being three years old (going by production date). Could that rubber age factor be the underlying cause of this apparent increasing brittleness and sudden deterioration at the hands of a few sharp rocks? Is it time to replace them anyway and make these old tires the spares just to get some newer rubber up front? The idea of upgrading to a higher ply rating is appealing just on its own merits alone.

The GF and I were even speculating this past weekend if these are the original tires on my 2004 4110... or whether the original owner had some incident(s) and maybe swapped out damaged original tires for older used ones??? The contrast between the "like new" rears and "ready for the junkyard" fronts is really a bit troubling given that the deterioration seemed to come so quickly.

Dougster

Front tires on tractors always wear much longer than fronts, which is a good thing given their price. The best way to check for tire age issues on tractor tires is to look at the sidewalls and see if there are a number of age cracks in them.

Tractor tires are a lot different than car tires, and aren't really harmed a lot by surface cuts and things like that. We got a set of front tires put on a Ford 4000 in the mid 90's that look a lot more worn than they are, but a tread check shows they have not gotten a lot of treadwear at all. Next time you need to get a tire fixed, look at the inside of the tire. If it is in good shape, and not showing any cracks the tires will last a while longer.

Tractor tires will last a long time.

[Dougster]

Originally Posted by Keith_B

(Rear) tires on tractors always wear much longer than fronts, which is a good thing given their price. The best way to check for tire age issues on tractor tires is to look at the sidewalls and see if there are a number of age cracks in them. Tractor tires are a lot different than car tires, and aren't really harmed a lot by surface cuts and things like that. We got a set of front tires put on a Ford 4000 in the mid 90's that look a lot more worn than they are, but a tread check shows they have not gotten a lot of treadwear at all. Next time you need to get a tire fixed, look at the inside of the tire. If it is in good shape, and not showing any cracks the tires will last a while longer. Tractor tires will last a long time.

Well, I hope you are right. I'll just keep watching and try to get a better grip on what's happening here. Maybe what I need most is just fewer jobs with a lot of really sharp rocks!

Dougster