Radial vs Bias ply on a compact tractor?

[tractorsam]

I just got a Kioti DK50SE and will need to replace the rears (13.6 x 24 ag tires) fairly soon. The original tires are Titan’s with the long bar short bar style. The tractor does (or will do) quite a lot of loader work, spend some time on the road, and be used for general farm duties (making hay and mowing mostly) as well as clearing snow and some time in the woods. Wondering if there are any benefits to radial tires in this size of tractor or if it’s just a waste of money. Thanks, Sam

 

[jeff9366]

Radials are usually wider. Radials usually run at lower inflation pressure. Radials are more common on tractors in Europe, where tractors run more miles on arterial hard roads than in the USA. Radials give a smoother ride and brake the tractor in a shorter distance on hard roads.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Radials give a smoother ride...

My experience in dirt, on rocks, any uneven terrain, with LT tires is the opposite.

A bias ply generally has superior conformability and will "envelope" lumps and bumps that the radial belts resist. A fair amount of tire testing proved it.

A radial's softer sidewalls certainly helps the ride quality on pavement, though.

 

[Torvy]

My understanding was that in addition to width, for stability, the other advantage to radials was they typically come with greater puncture resistance.

There's some physics in there about power to the ground and resistance. Also some fuel economy differences.

Personally, I have R4 and would consider radial R1s if and when I need to replace. I think I can get them without having to replace the wheels.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

My understanding was that in addition to width, for stability, the other advantage to radials was they typically come with greater puncture resistance.

In the tread area a radial would normally have the edge in puncture resistance, but that's usually traded off with weaker sidewalls.

Unless tractor radials are more like commercial truck tires and have steel from bead to bead.

I put bias tires on everything I can, which means anything that doesn't see normal road use.

 

[USMC43]

Radials will give you more traction and therefore less slippage. If this pencils out on a smaller tractor doing utility work, I doubt it?

It pencils out greatly in fuel savings for tillage work.

Radial will also squat in the sidewall the harder they pull. When they then suddenly loose traction the side wall bounces the tractor and it violently hops as it repeats the cycle. I have not operated enough small tractors with radials to see that but it’s crazy when it happens in a big FWA tractor.

I would think bias tires filled 75% with rim guard would be the best value for what your doing.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Radials will give you more traction and therefore less slippage. If this pencils out on a smaller tractor doing utility work, I doubt it?

I can certainly see that since a radial behaves a lot like a tracked vehicle, able to put down a longer footprint without any distortion.

Which can work for or against you depending on the surface.

 

[tractorsam]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far. Looking for something that will give a decent ride as well a decent traction and float fairly well. I’ll have to see what is available and what the pricing is like.

 

[dieselscout80]

I know my 17.5/R/24 radials ride MUCH better than my bias 17.5/24 tires do.

The sidewall flex is much greater.

I posted a picture of both with zero air pressure for reference.

17.5LR24 Tires w/ R1 Tread

I had Titan 17.5L24 R4 tires on my New Holland TC45DA and they provided terrible traction, so I set out to find a R1 type tire. I only found one 17.5LR24 / 460/70LR24 tire with a R1 tread pattern the BKT RT 747. https://www.bkt-tires.com/ww/us/rt-747-agro-industrial The RT 747 is a radial and...

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