IndyIan
Veteran Member
Get the rears set as wide as they go instead of filled tires for $2k. I do have beet juice in mine too but setting them wide is a bigger help IMO. Get a nice heavy implement for your $2k when the back hoe is off.
The alternative is just to use the tires as they come. Most 4wd tractors have great traction without loading the tires. They ride nicer, and can always be loaded later if wanted. But Unloading loaded tires is more of a problem.
And then there are flats and slow leaks....fixing a nail puncture in an unloaded tractor tire is a no-brainer. Most tractor tires come mounted as tubeless, so insert sticky plug, air up, and the fix is permanent.
A leak in a loaded tire is a whole other ball game.
Traction probably has the most to do with what tires are on the tractor rather than if they are loaded or the tractor has MFWD or not. Loaded industrial tires or even worse, turfs, on a MFWD machine give less traction than air-filled ags on a 2WD in most cases. In my experience front tires get 95% or more of the tire leaks and flats, and it is usually only the rears that get loaded, so problems with loaded tires are usually not all that common.
I have yet to run into a dealership that does their own tires, everything gets done by local tire shops. Usually when you get a tractor you can get the rears filled with the usual fluid fill the local tire shop uses for no additional charge, the dealer will usually throw that into the negotiations. That used to be calcium chloride but has been methanol/water for quite some time. I would expect to pay if you wanted something other than the usual fill, such as beet juice. The local tire shop that does ag tires here not only doesn't fill tires with beet juice, they won't work on ones that have been filled with it as it's a big nasty mess for them to deal with.