tire pressure

[steve tym]

My TYM T654 has ag tires. The rated pressure is 24 psi in the front. They squat, and with a load, they really squat. Can I run more psi?

 

[RjCorazza]

I assume the loaded bulge is from a front end loader? 24psi seems rather low for a front tire on a loader tractor. The common recommendation is to run the fronts at the maximum sidewall pressure on loaders, which you are currently at with unsatisfactory results.
I would start by confirming you have the correct tires on the machine load-wise, and make sure you're under the tire weight rating. Next, (again, just my opinion) I would try inflating them to maybe 30-40psi and see where you're at.
R1's are going to bulge under load, how much is too much is subjective. I have R4's with much stiffer sidewalls and keep them inflated to max sidewall pressure.

 

[steve tym]

Max load is 2400 pounds. Probably pretty close with a bucket full.
All my past tractors had R4's. Maybe I'm just not used to looking at R1's. Maybe R1's are for farm work, not loader work.

 

[John0829]

Are you using a counter weight? Your manual should specify what the max rear weight should be and adding that amount or as close to it as possible will counter act the squish of your front tires. My JD scut really mashed the front tires until I added a 650 lb. counter weight.

 

[steve tym]

I do have a counter weight. I ususally put it on if I'll be doing a lot of loader work. But they squat way more than my R4's. Which I didn't like by the way. I'd like to try some R14's.

 

[bigtiller]

I'm with john above, add an extra 600 lbs. into your ballast box.

 

[1stDeuce]

R1's bulge a bit a max capacity. You are not going to blow out a tire or peel it off the rim at 24psi. If you're given to carrying max loader lift for 20 miles down the highway, you bought the wrong tractor, but for short haul loader work, it'll be fine. I run mine softer on purpose for better traction. A rock hard tire does not provide great traction. FWIW, you probably want to steer when the tractor is moving when you have a LOT of weight in the loader... Much easier on all components, as well as tires...

 

[Sportsman762]

The R1's are meant to squat more than a R4 or a car tire. The sidewalls are designed to flex more to increase the tire footprint lowering ground pressure. R4's are designed to hold loads with minimal side wall flex as it could lead to the tire breaking the bead on a skidsteer, or causing scary moments in a manlift as the tire flexes at full extension. I would not be surprised if TYM put the lowest ply tire they could on. A higher ply tire would reduce the squat if you believe it could lead to a problem. Getting the correct rolling diameter with another tire type R4 or R14 would be critical, incorrect rolling diameter and your inducing undesired strain on the drive train. It is not that R1's cannot handle loader work, they will bulge more and be much harder to steer than an R4. I have spent lots of loader time with different tractors with ag tires ranging from 40 to 120 hp and appreciate the ability of the R1's to squat under load. An R1 tire tractor will generally do way better in the mud than any R4 tractor, even with a load on the loader.

I would just check the pressure on the tires keeping them at max PSI and keep running them as long as it does not look like any damage will occure to the rim. When it comes time to replace I would buy the highest ply R1 I could. The R1's require a "recalibration" of your internal "the tire is flat" instict.

 

[MTGreen]

When I was looking into why the tractor with loader at max rated load seems to vastly exceed front tire load ratings from the tractor manufacturer, I found that the max tire load ratings vary by speed. The higher the speed the lower the rated load. I only found one or two tire manufacturers that had tables reflecting this providing max loads at different speeds. The other manufacturers just had a single load rating which was for the max speed which was something absurd like 20mph. I'm sure there's litigious reasons for this but it sure is misleading.

 

[oosik]

I run six ply R-1's on my Kubota M6040. I always have my 1000# Rhino rear blade on the 3-point when using the grapple. I run the max recommended pressure on the front tires - 30 psi.

Yes - they do squat when handling a heavy load. That's just part of having R-1's. Just be very careful with heavy loads and making sharp turns. In other words - DON'T DO IT. Make your turns WIDE.

I have never run the front tires off the rims.