Tires A/T truck tires for 4100?

[vafarmboy]

My 4100 came with 31-13.5x15 turf and field on the rear. The tires seem a little out of size. It is squatted in the rear. The first owner said he had the originial turf tires changed out and made sure that the tire shop put on the same size. The best I can tell, the current tires are about 2 in shorter than the 315-75x15 that should have come on the tractor. It seems that those are hard to find. I am expecting to add a FEL in about a week and am concerned about the extra stress on the front end, if the tires are not a compatable size.

It appears I have 4 possibilities.

1. Leave everything as is. I would like to know for sure about the match. My JD dearler offered no help. The Firestone Turf and Fields work well for me.
2. Try to locate turf tires in the right size. I may sacrifice some traction for brush cutting on hills and using the loader, if I can find them.
3. Try to downsize the front tires for the rear. Any possibilities?
4. I did some checking, and it appears a 33X12.5X15 is the nearest match tire. Would it be reasonable to use an A/T truck tire on my tractor?

I appreciate any experience that anyone can offer.

 

[plowindeeper]

Ask another dealer

 

[vafarmboy]

I agree. There is only one JD dealer within 100 miles of me. I will check around.

 

[techwrtr2]

What size tires are in front? Looks like the 4100 uses the same size tires as my 855 which has 33" (roughly) tires in the back. If you do indeed have mismatched tires, you don't want to run it in 4wd.

 

[vafarmboy]

I have 23x8.50-12 on the front. I have avoided 4wd lately but did not notice any odd issues when I first got it.

 

[techwrtr2]

Your rears should be 33" or thereabouts. My rear turfs are 33x12.5-15, fronts are same as yours. I think my R4's in back are 12.5x16. I also think my R4's were takeoffs from a 4100 (rear tires/rims, front tires).

As far as rear turfs, I've considered using a light truck tire in that size though I might use something more agressive than an AT, many "mud" tires are no more nasty than good fresh turfs. The original turfs for my tractor are also rather hard to find and whenever I find somebody who has them, I don't have the money to buy them.

You wouldn't have a need for a pair of front wheels would you?

 

[vafarmboy]

I mentioned that option to the dealer guy and he said not to do the truck tires. Didn't really give me a reason. I thought I saw a previous post, maybe on another forum, from someone who had used truck tires. I have a good set of fronts with 12 in rims. Do you have something different?

 

[techwrtr2]

No, I just have a set of 4 lug 12" Deere wheels which came with my R4's. I use the older 5 lug pattern up front and so the wheels are not much use to me. If you wanted to have differing front tires (ie turfs or ags), you could use them.

I think if you do a search, you might find people here who have done the truck tires thing successfully.

 

[vafarmboy]

Thanks. I will keep that in mind. If I could work out something to keep my tires I might do something with some different on the front. I am looking at some mud tires on the web and plan to talk to my tire guy tomorrow. If I do the truck tires, I will plan to use tubes and fill them about half. I am going to do some more searching, but haven't come up with anything yet. I would be happy with turf tires, but I have some pretty steep hills to bush hog.

 

[techwrtr2]

Once you get to mowing 4wd will be your friend, especially if you are doing rough terrain. I use 4wd when I'm mowing the grass (because I'm other going up or down a grade in a few spots). It's also great when my mowing involves climbing over stuff. I've found if I can drive over it, I can mow it down.

I really need to fix that rear turf tire of mine, half worn out but they are good enough. It's just lost about half of the liquid ballast. Hopefully not done damage to the wheel.