Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me?

   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #81  
So does anyone else have problems with their front wheels? My rears have been good, but not the fronts.
I've had my tractor 15 years and the only complaint I have is the front tires going flat. I've unmounted and remounted them myself, I've taken them to a local industrial tire place and had them buff the rims and mount them, one or both of them still had slow leaks. The tires have both been replaced once, that didn't help. The only thing that stopped the slow leaks was putting tubes in, but as soon as I get a thorn or nail through the tire I get tired of having to take the whole tire apart every time I get a flat so I go back to tubeless. I've inflated them to high pressure and put them in the horse trough to look for a leak but can't find anything, takes about a week or so for it to go from 22# down to about 12#, then I fill it back up. If I ever have the tires off again I'm going to use bead sealer, see if that solves the problem. I used slime once and ruined a few tire pressure gauges when the tire stem pukes that stuff out, so I'm not doing that again.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #82  
My inflator allows lets me blow in some air before checking pressure on the many sealant filled tires.
Have also gone to bolt in valve stems in most trucks, tractors and trailers because of failures. Like the valve stem guards on the B26 rims. Necessary for mud, roots and rock work particularly on the fronts.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #83  
I've had my tractor 15 years and the only complaint I have is the front tires going flat. I've unmounted and remounted them myself, I've taken them to a local industrial tire place and had them buff the rims and mount them, one or both of them still had slow leaks. The tires have both been replaced once, that didn't help. The only thing that stopped the slow leaks was putting tubes in, but as soon as I get a thorn or nail through the tire I get tired of having to take the whole tire apart every time I get a flat so I go back to tubeless. I've inflated them to high pressure and put them in the horse trough to look for a leak but can't find anything, takes about a week or so for it to go from 22# down to about 12#, then I fill it back up. If I ever have the tires off again I'm going to use bead sealer, see if that solves the problem. I used slime once and ruined a few tire pressure gauges when the tire stem pukes that stuff out, so I'm not doing that again.

Not sure if this is your problem but several models of Kubota (including my two B2150's I've had for many years) have two piece WHEELS. They develop slow leaks between the two halves. I recommend having any good tire shop install tubes in the front tires. While they are at it, check the bolts holding the two rim halves together.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #84  
I wonder if this might be - asking a smaller tractor to do too big a job. Squashing those poor small tires/rims beyond their design capacity.

For sure - put tubes in the front tires and Blue Lotite 242 or Permatex PX 242 on the wheel nuts/bolts. I have Loctite on all 56 wheel nuts/bolts on my Kubota M6040. Don't have to worry about them vibrating loose and dropping off. Wheel lug nuts and bolts are torqued down to 225 & 180 foot pounds. A dab of Blue Loctite isn't going to make removal that much more difficult.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #85  
Blue Loctite is a product I brought into the Model A Ford shop in the 70's and at first the old timers scoffed.

Customers where losing nuts/bolts and more especially with trunk racks and one drop no more problems.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #86  
I wonder if this might be - asking a smaller tractor to do too big a job. Squashing those poor small tires/rims beyond their design capacity.

For sure - put tubes in the front tires and Blue Lotite 242 or Permatex PX 242 on the wheel nuts/bolts. I have Loctite on all 56 wheel nuts/bolts on my Kubota M6040. Don't have to worry about them vibrating loose and dropping off. Wheel lug nuts and bolts are torqued down to 225 & 180 foot pounds. A dab of Blue Loctite isn't going to make removal that much more difficult.

Never had an issue with loose wheel bolts or tire pressure, I check the tire pressures regularly and I own a torque wrench and check the nut torque regularly as well. My lug nuts torque at 175 foot pounds and rim bolts at 150 per.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #87  
I run 35 psi in the front R1's with the loaders and 25 out back. non loaded loaded tires don't work for me.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #88  
It is doing a fine job so far! Leaky tires aside. It is only a single story wooden building.

There is a place called Gensco that looks highly intriguing... Repurposing decertified aircraft tires. Go from 4 ply tires to 20 ply plus!

Check it out! Has anyone used them? Any comments if you have?


Super AG Tires

No comment. I get my ag tires from either Miller Tire (advertiser on here) or Speck Tire. I don't fiddle with tires at all personally, they come out with their service truck and jib crane and do them. Way too large and cumbersome for me to even consider handling and they require a pneumatic bead breaker to dismount anyway' plus they do field calls.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #89  
Not sure if this is your problem but several models of Kubota (including my two B2150's I've had for many years) have two piece WHEELS. They develop slow leaks between the two halves. I recommend having any good tire shop install tubes in the front tires. While they are at it, check the bolts holding the two rim halves together.

I can't remember if they are 2 piece or not. I've used tubes before but we have buck thorn and hawthorne trees, I probably get at least one thorn through a front tire every season and it's just too big a pain to pull the tube out every time. If the wheels are 2 piece I'm tempted to run a weld bead around the seam next time I have the tire off.
 
   / Are All Kubota Front Wheels/Tires Garbage, Or Is It Me? #90  
I can't remember if they are 2 piece or not. I've used tubes before but we have buck thorn and hawthorne trees, I probably get at least one thorn through a front tire every season and it's just too big a pain to pull the tube out every time. If the wheels are 2 piece I'm tempted to run a weld bead around the seam next time I have the tire off.

Your call but I do not see any advantage to welding the two wheels halves together (if they are two piece.) I have fought thorns and briars for decades. The smaller the tires the worse the thorn issues. When I was a kid [1950s] we used Carnation Milk (concentrated , dehydrated) to fill front tires and seal thorn leaks. Imagine the smell when it came time to change those tires !!??? I recommend using tubes in the front tires and if thorns remain an issue, use one of the commercial brands of "slime" which should cure the issue.
 

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