16.9-30 vs 18.4-30 Tire for JD 5410 Tractor in N. Michigan

[Brown Dog]

I May have missed it but sounds like your rear 16.9-30’s aren’t fluid filled.
IF so : you need to fill them with antifreeze mix, beet juice or something besides calcium that won’t freeze in Northern MI

Those 16.9 is All you need.
You can add weights AND fluid filled to rears & you won’t have any problem whatsoever in snow, mud OR unweighting the rear with 2 round bales of hay up front.

You can also add a 3ph hay spear out back & carry a round bale for even more rear weight.

All 3 sources of weight out back would be superb with the narrower 16.9’s

Any tractor can’t be used to its potential IF not fluid filled AND wheel weights too imo.

I have all 3 of my JD & couldn’t be happier

All that weight also rides way better on rough ground too so it’s a Win Win in my book.

IF you have hills to pull : you DEFINITELY loose power & will have to run 1 gear lower than normal.

JD transmissions are really tall geared with those TALL R1 tires.

 

[rScotty]

Our ground is mostly high desert. Old stream bed and dry weathered granite sand. Lots of snow in the winter. There is no point in digging a lugged Ag tire into dry gravely sand, it just doesn't compact. So most owners here don't run any fluid in the tires or wheel weights either.
We tend to use wide tires without aggressive lugs. That gives us flotation for good warm weather performance but does require chains in the winter.
If the ground is sharp and rocky - and much of it is - then a lot of operators run chains in the summer as well.
rScotty

 

[rScotty]

Yes, I found info about the lead-lag issue you are talking about. My manual says I can use 18.4-30 and 12.2-30 on my tractor, but I want to do the calculations as well. I have the vin numbers and other info for my front axle and transmission as well as the Firestone tire specs. Thanks for the info!

If you like the lead/lag ratio performance you are getting with the tires you have now, it makes sense to record what your current front and rear tires measure in the standard terms of "loaded rolling circumference".

Once you have those Front & Rear numbers you can compare with any manufacturer's tire specs in their technical catalogue to find a "Loaded rolling circumference" that keeps the lead/lag ratio the same as you have now....or you can change the ratio if you don't like how it is working now. But at least knowing the numbers on what you have will help know what to expect.

To measure Loaded Rolling Circumference, put a spotch of paint on a tire and drive slow and straight in 2wd on a blacktop road for few hundred feet.
Then take out out a tape measure to get an average of the distance between paint marks. That average distance is the Loaded Rolling Circumference for that tire. Repeat for fronts and rears.

Good luck,
rScotty

 

[oosik]

I use the grapple on my Kubota M6040 to move large rocks and chunks of pine tree trunk.

I have 775 pounds of RimGuard in each rear tire plus a 1000 pound rear blade on the 3-point. You need to get some form of weight on the rear of that tractor.

BTW - those tires look fine. And I almost NEVER use 4WD when moving heavy loads. The RimGuard and rear blade keep the rear wheels firmly planted.

Carefully consider this. You have weight on the front end - a round bale. The front tires are firmly planted. You are in 4WD. The rear wheels are slipping/spinning. What do you think this is doing to the 4WD drive train. Like I suggested - get something heavy on the rear of your tractor.

 

[rScotty]

I use the grapple on my Kubota M6040 to move large rocks and chunks of pine tree trunk.

I have 775 pounds of RimGuard in each rear tire plus a 1000 pound rear blade on the 3-point. You need to get some form of weight on the rear of that tractor.

BTW - those tires look fine. And I almost NEVER use 4WD when moving heavy loads. The RimGuard and rear blade keep the rear wheels firmly planted.

Carefully consider this. You have weight on the front end - a round bale. The front tires are firmly planted. You are in 4WD. The rear wheels are slipping/spinning. What do you think this is doing to the 4WD drive train. Like I suggested - get something heavy on the rear of your tractor.

A slipping tire protects the 4wd. Unless the lead/lag ratio is zero, the tractor needs to be able to slip at least one tire in 4wd. Tractors are not full time all wheel drive, they are part time 4wd.
A good practice is to do what you say and NEVER use 4wd for moving heavy loads - not for any distance. A few feet just to get unstuck is about the limit.

The old mechanical rule is: If it is hard to disengage from 4wd, there was too much stress in the transmission and drive shafts.

 

[oosik]

Of course -rScotty. You are absolutely correct. It's just in my case - all four wheels are, most normally, firmly rooted on the ground. I have to be quite careful about using 4WD. There usually is very little slippage and thing will go south in a hurry.

 

[rScotty]

Of course -rScotty. You are absolutely correct. It's just in my case - all four wheels are, most normally, firmly rooted on the ground. I have to be quite careful about using 4WD. There usually is very little slippage and thing will go south in a hurry.

I know you know....just repeating the obvious.

Though I do wish we did have all wheel drive compact tractors to choose from.....and front wheel brakes too. IMHO, both those are about 50 years overdue.

At least we do have decent power steering even on subcompacts now - though getting there took awhile and involved some really oddball designs. Anyone here remember those weird Yanmar compacts with a hydraulic-powered drag link?

We might wish progress in the tractor world wasn't so slow, but maybe that creates an opportuity for a new manufacturer wanting to market a more modern tractor the easy way - by using proven off-the-shelf technology.

What puzzles me is that everytime a new manufacturer has emerged in the last 40 years, they try to compete by building the same tractor as everyone else but cheaper - and then going broke. You'd think that after half a dozen did that, someone would try an alternative.

rScotty

 

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At least we do have decent power steering even on subcompacts now - though getting there took awhile and involved some really oddball designs. Anyone here remember those weird Yanmar compacts with a hydraulic-powered drag link?



rScotty

I had a Yanmar built jd like that. Broke the cast steering knuckle that the drag link attached to.
About half the size of a fist. $400 from jd.
$75 from Yesterday's Tractors used.