Factory front tires on 1025R

   / Factory front tires on 1025R #31  
Get a tailor's tape measure (your wife likely has one in her sewing kit) and run it around the tire. An 18x8.50-10 should run 18.0" to 18.5" diameter, and measure 56.5" to 58.0" circumference.

Point is, maybe the new tire is the one that's more "right", and the old tire never actually met the specified front/rear ratio for that machine.

BTW, neither of those photo'd is what I'd normally identify as a turf tire.

 
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   / Factory front tires on 1025R #32  
I agree, those aren’t a true turf tire. John Deere is selling a lot of Versa Turf tires that are suppose to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I wonder if that’s what you have. The new tire you show that is too big I’m pretty sure is a Versa Turf.
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R
  • Thread Starter
#33  
The "too big" tire on top of the new ones is the Versa Turf removed from my 1025R which is failing. The versa turf seems to be about the most useless thing when paired with a loader!
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R #34  
I had read on a JD forum people liked the Versa Turfs but I have no experience. I have the old fashioned turfs on my 2025r. I have a better idea what I’m looking at now in your pictures. The new ones are R4’s and they should have known those weren’t going to work. It also explains the cost, I knew Versa Turfs cost more but didn’t know the cost.

Im not 100% sure of this but I think if you want to go to a different tire on the front you will have to swap the tires on the back to the same type, which of course will be expensive.
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R #35  
If you picked up a 1986 Deere 855 with a 52 loader and 6-ply Carlisle turf's on the front, it very likely could be my old machine, shown in my avatar. I had sold it to a local used tractor dealer, after buying the 3033R in 2019.
Sorry, it's not yours. Mine is a '95, with a later model 420 loader, from Wisconsin...
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R #36  
Sorry, it's not yours. Mine is a '95, with a later model 420 loader, from Wisconsin...
Good thing. The reason I sold the '86 was that this model year was different from all that came after. Sometimes a repair would involve upgrading several surrounding components, as the 1986 version of the part was NLA. Deere was great about providing upgrade charts and info, so you always knew what was needed, but the cost grew high in later years as the parts were farther and farther out of production.
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R
  • Thread Starter
#37  
So I've measured, and done the math: The Carlilse Versa Trufs on my 1025R measure 19 1/4" diameter when inflated to 22 PSI. That results in a circumference of 60.5". An 18" diameter tire has a mathematical circumference of 56.5". So the tires on my tractor have a 4" larger circumference that the 6 ply 18x8.50R10's sitting on my tire guy's shop floor. My search of the internet does not turn up any 18x8.50R10's which are larger than 18" ('makes sense...).

Does that mean that JD designed the 1025R four wheel drive system for an 18" diameter wheel, and the Carlisile tire is really too large for the four wheel drive to work correctly?

As the 6 plys are sitting for me to ethier buy, or return, I'm thinking to have them mounted to my rims, and take my chances with the four wheel drive...
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R #38  
Two observations:

1. The actual rolling circumference of your tire is less the number you'll get form unloaded diameter, something closer to 6.28x axle centerline to ground.

2. No dealer, including the one that gave you that tire combo, has ever put this much thought or effort into matching front/rear actual size. They go by the table of published combinations, actual resulting numbers be damned.

It's not super critical, with the disclaimer that you're instructed to not operate the machine in 4wd on any non-slip surfaces. Some prefer to have their front pulling slightly faster than their rear is pushing, it helps to keep the machine tracking straight in snow. Others insist on trying to match up the ratios perfectly, but given differences in actual loaded rolling circumference due to weight and load, this is an unrealistic goal.
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R #39  
I said it earlier but you need to match the front and rears. If you put those on the front you should replace the rears to match them. I’m not sure if that difference in diameter is enough to make a difference or not. This is a really good Internet forum but you might want to post this on the green tractor forum. The JD guys seem to love the Versa Turf tires so I wonder if you just got a bad set. You also may get some better feedback on going with the wrong diameter tires on the front.
 
   / Factory front tires on 1025R #40  
Since they're not worn out, (and IMHO - I like the tread pattern) may I suggest putting good tubes in them and just running them (a bit over inflated). My JD manual for the loader, has inflation #'s which are like 5 pounds over the tractor manual specs.
 
 
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