Do I have a "real" problem ?

[SARG]

I recently bought a used NH T1530 tractor and it had a skid loader tire on the front -- one side only. The prior owner had sliced the original R4 tire and bought the skidloader tire and new wheel over the internet. Because the original R4 that was on the machine had 380 hours on it ..... I opted to buy a new duplicate of the Lifemaster tire that had just been put on the machine.

Today I had a new Woods brush cutter and forks delivered. The guy that delivered the items asked what was up with the front tires. I explained what had happened and he said I now have a major issue because the 4 WD tractors have a ratio in the axles built in and if the front tires are a different size from stock i.e. the circumference is different the front axle will eventually give out & that will cost many thousands of dollars to repair. He also said that as long as I don't use the 4wd feature it wont hurt the machine.

The front tires on the machine now are between 1" and 1.5" inches taller than the R4s that were stock.
Do the experts here believe I have a potential problem ?

 

[JD 430]

What size was the tire you took off and what size was the tire you put to match the other side

 

[SARG]

All were 10-16.5

 

[paulharvey]

Couple things, better to have fronts a hair too big and pull against rears then too small and being pushed. You shouldn't be using 4wd on paved hard surfaces anyways, so there will be some give in the surface anyways. I wouldn't spend a ton of money or time sweeping it; but others may disagree

 

[newbury]

Also consider how much you are going to actually USE 4WD.

A LOT of us "Harry Homeowners" struggle to put 200 hours a year on our machines.

It might take 10 years to become a potential problem.

 

[SPYDERLK]

The front tires on the machine now are between 1" and 1.5" inches taller than the R4s that were stock.
Do the experts here believe I have a potential problem ?

If thats diameter youre probably OK. 5 to 7% lead is ok - seldom more. Youve added less than 5% above what you had stock.
larry

 

[arrow]

Couple things, better to have fronts a hair too big and pull against rears then too small and being pushed. You shouldn't be using 4wd on paved hard surfaces anyways, so there will be some give in the surface anyways. I wouldn't spend a ton of money or time sweeping it; but others may disagree

This might be the other way around. The front tires are supposed to lead the rears at a certain percentage. As long as they are rotating faster than the rears at the percentage guidelines the manufacturer recommends for the particular machine, you should be ok. As a result, my understanding is that smaller tires might be less troublesome than larger ones.
If not in 4wd for long periods, you may not know a wit of difference , If you are worried about it, I'd use 4wd sparingly but I still think you're ok.

 

[SPYDERLK]

This might be the other way around. The front tires are supposed to lead the rears at a certain percentage. Larger tires actually decrease the percentage of lead. Smaller tires might be less troublesome than larger ones.
If not in 4wd for long periods, you may not know a wit of difference but if you are going to keep things the way they are, I'd use 4wd sparingly.

Hes got the tires of larger than normal size on the front - not rear

 

[arrow]

Hes got the tires of larger than normal size on the front - not rear

I know. I explained it better with some editing of my original post.

 

[paulharvey]

I know. I explained it better with some editing of my original post.

If he has bigger, they should be pulling faster at the ground. I had to double think it after your post. If front tires are rotating at X speed; and bigger tires are X plus; that would be better than slower.

Regardless, 4 wheel drive isn't intended for constant use on hard surface, and if it was me, I would not buy new tires. I might however make a mental note to use 4wd only when needed. After all, if you have no slippage, you don't need it. Might want to avoid using 4wd to push "just a bit farther" into a pile, ect