Tires 18x8.5-10 Front Tire Replacement Options

[exohomestead]

My right front GC2310 tire kept going flat. I took it off and soaped it and submerged it and I just couldn't see any leaks. I finally took it to the tire shop and they said it was slowly leaking through an aged sidewall. So I went looking for new tiers. I wanted the same shape and number of tread "paddles". One brand had less paddles, and only Carlisle and Titan had what I wanted. All are 4-ply bias tires.

The Carlisle True-Power 18x8.5-10 shows identical to the Titan True-Power tires I have. In fact, all the on-line sale places show a *larger* Carlisle tire on the product and order page. The actual 18x8.5-10 Carlisle tire has the same number of "paddles", but they're rounded instead of "square edge" with a "flat bottom".

I wanted the same full-size square edge paddles for traction so I pressed the tire shop to find me a Titan True-Power. Turned out to be $40 more expensive, but I'm glad I did it. The tire shop said it took over a month to get the Titan because they're short on stock and going to stop making them. Apparently Carlisle bought Titan and they're going to make only the Carlisle "roundy" tire. He was nice and put a Carlisle on and let me drive around and use it while I waited. It may have been my imagination, but it felt like the Carlisle rode a little lower on the one side.

 

[irvingj]

One of my turfs kept going flat... I just put a tube in it. Problem solved.

 

[4get gto]

Kinda curious if the rounded veris square shows any difference in traction?

 

[dnw64]

My uneducated guess is that the square tire was specifically designed for smaller tractors to give more contact surface and traction because of the typically lower weights. The more traditionally rounder one is just scaled down from full sized ag tractors where it works fine with the weight and cross section.