Tires Upsized front r4 tires on L5030

[RoyJackson]

Is 400 hours typical? Seems like I get more than that but only maybe 25% of my tractor time is loader related.

Read slowzuki's first post again...it's not the hours, it's the road use...tears 'em up.

 

[slowzuki]

The road here is chip seal which is extra hard on tires.

Read slowzuki's first post again...it's not the hours, it's the road use...tears 'em up.

 

[art]

Whats been the rear's air pressure?

 

[slowzuki]

Embarrassingly I don't know. They are loaded to higher than the valve stem so the rims don't rust and I value my tires gauges too much to fill them with CaCl to get a reading.

An off the cuff guess is maybe 15-20 psi? I haven't added any air in the 5 years I've owned the tractor. I've always wanted to lower the pressure to see if it would ride better in the field but I then figured the flatspotting would be worse in the winter.

Whats been the rear's air pressure?

 

[greenrider1]

Not to revive an old thread, but I was curious if these 12-16.5's fit on the same wheels as the stock 10-16.5's? I have an L5740 on order, and would be interested in upsizing both the front and rears (12-16.5 front, 19.5-24 rear). I mow on soft ground quite often, but I don't want turfs. I looked on Firestone Ag's website, and got some specs:

size - 10-16.5 12-16.5 17.5L-24 19.5L-24
rim width - 8.25 9.75 15.00 16.00
diameter - 30.4 32.7 48.9 51.5
circumference - 90 98 145 151

The stock L5740 tires are 10-16.5 front and 17.5L-24 rear. I'm not sure if this is the correct way to calculate the ratio, but when I divide the rear circ. by the front for stock sizes, I come up with 1.611. Upsize to the 12-16.5 fr and 19.5L-24 and I get 1.54. So this wouldn't change the ratio as much as just upsizing the fronts and leaving the rears stock (1.47).

I'm just curious if anyone has done this, and if they will fit on the same wheels. BTW, an MX5100 uses 12-16.5 fronts and 17.5L-24 rears. I'm not sure why Kubota doesn't use the larger front tires on the larger L-series?

 

[greenrider1]

Here's a good comparison of two L5030 tractors with what appear to be stock vs oversized R4's. Anyone know what size/type tires are on the 2nd picture? They look more like an R1 tread, and appear to be quite a bit larger than what I'm looking to do.

TractorData.com Kubota L5030 tractor photos information

 

[art]

Embarrassingly I don't know. They are loaded to higher than the valve stem so the rims don't rust and I value my tires gauges too much to fill them with CaCl to get a reading.

An off the cuff guess is maybe 15-20 psi? I haven't added any air in the 5 years I've owned the tractor. I've always wanted to lower the pressure to see if it would ride better in the field but I then figured the flatspotting would be worse in the winter.

I wonder how the tractor goes in and out of four wheel drive? We have found that the rear tire should should have a flat foot print just like the front tires to engage the four wheel drive easily on hard surfaces. BY running to much air in the rears you are always pushing the front end and of coarse scuffing the fronts casuing premature wear.

Front tires should get about 1500 hours plus of wear when a good balance of air pressure is used, it does make a difference as to when you feel they are worn out!

 

[dantran1010]

My L5030HSTC has about 400 hours on its latest set of R-4 tires which has left the front ones completely bald while the rears just lost their whiskers.

I drive a lot of road miles in the winter, which seems to be hard on the fronts.

The stock 10x16.5 R4's are too small, and the slip ratio is a few % underdriven in the front of these tractors while they should be overdriven.

A friend borrowed my tractor and rolled a tire off the rim, then shredded the tire so I bought 2 new 12x16.5 R4's.

They seem to be just about right in ratio to the rears and theres a little more sidewall to run a bit lower pressure.

Price was right at 155$ each and there is all kinds of room/clearance to the loader frame. Just putting this out there for other L30 series owners with the same stock wonky tire ratio.

How did you make out overall up-sizing to the 12-16.5 tires? Any issues?

 

[majorwager]

Never understood why L series used the smaller R-4 size. My MX 5100 is comparable in size and 12 x 16.5 is the standard R-4 front tire. The footprint of the 10" width would seem to exert excessive ground pressure on improved landscape surfaces, especially in using the FEL, loaded to capacity. Shortsighted thinking on Kubota's part ?. Other manufactures of this
size tractor seem to employee the 12" R-4. (Mahindra, an example) The L series rear tire sizes on L and MX are the same for Industrial Tires.

 

[slowzuki]

Yes the original 10x16.5 is way too small for the loader capacity. The 12x16.5 are good, I've got just under 3000 hours on the tractor and wore out two more sets of 12x16.5's. Ran a set of 32x12.50R15 on implement rims for a winter (they have better traction in snow) and now am running a set of 33x15.50R15 intended for all terrain scissor lifts on the wide turf tire rims. They are my new favourite. Work great in soft fields, no deep ruts. Lower pressures that ride nice still support the loader capacity.

The are slightly too much lead just like the 12x16.5, and is more noticeable with rears being nearly worn out now. The pics are from a few years ago when I put them on. Again, the chip road travel is what kills them. My M120 is eating its front set of 14.9x24 as well. The 14.9x24 front Agribibs on my massey are tough as nails and show no appreciable wear still.