Filling Rear Tires

John_Mc · Sep 9, 2002

I have a Craftsman 22 HP. When I moved from the flatlands of Ohio to the hills of Vermont, even my 55# wheel weights were not enough to get up some hills, especially when there was even a light dew on the grass. I switched the tires to an Ag tread, and have had very good luck with it.

I've not yet tried it in snow. Unfortunately, I don't think I can still fit chains on these tires. They are a bit bigger than my old ones, and there's not much clearance left.

John Mc

Anonymous Poster · Sep 9, 2002

John Mc - My tractor is a garden tractor. I am not sure what Ag tires look like, but mine have pretty large cleats on them.

Steelfan · Sep 9, 2002

Hey Oldud,

Ag tires look more like farm tractor tires. They are a pretty harsh tire for mowing grass. I would imagine that they grip well. Still remember you need weight to keep a tractor moving. My Wheelhorse, and Craftsman have more power then the tractor can handle. Weight on the rear tires is a very big issue. 110 lbs of weight on the Craftsman plus your weight is enough, and remember what this tractor was built for. Most are for mowing , light plowing, and some garden work. This was my main reason for buying a compact. I couldn't live with the garden tractor limitations. And believe me, I love my garden tractors. I hope you get my drift. Good Luck.

Kent

MarkStewart · Jan 22, 2003

Anyone know how to fill tires and if it would be something I could do myself at home? Thank you

NY_Yankees_Fan · Jan 24, 2003

To fill the tires do the following:

1. By a pump that connects to a drill, about $6.00 at HomeDepot
2. Go to the autostore or tractor store and get a valve for the filling tire with liquid. It screws onto the valve stem, and has a garden hose connection on it, about $6.
3. Connect the gareden hose to the pump, and from the pump into a 5 gallon bucket.
4. Pour the windshield washer fluid or what ever your choice of fluid is into the 5 gallon bucket.
5. Turn on the pump via the drill and fill the tire.
6. Keep the valve steam at the 12 o clock postion when filling.
7. Stop after the first 5 gallon and let the air out of the tire, the pump put in.
8. Repeat until the tire is filled about 75%, remove the valve steam keeping the tire at 12 o’clock. When you do not get fluid out, the tire has enough.
9. Put in about 10-15 psi of air into the tire.

I filled about 10 gallons into a tire in about 15 minutes using this method, also you need to remove the valve assembly, and then repalce when done and put air in the tire. You may also want to jack the tractor up to take the weight off the tire if you do not remove the tire from the tractor.

Good luck

Tom

John_Mc · Jan 25, 2003

Oldud -

Sorry for the long delay. My Craftsman is also a garden tractor. The standard tires that come with most Garden tractors are "Turf" tires. "Ag" tires (short for "Agriculture", also known as "R1" tread) are what you see on most farm tractors. Rather than the lugs you see on turf tires, they have ribs or bars set at an angle. The tracks they leave look like a herringbone pattern (or a sort of broken "V" shape).

Since my earlier post, I've had a chance to use them in the snow. They work better than turf tires, but turf tires with chains work better than Ag tires without chains... especially when backing up. I have problems backing up even a moderate grade with bare Ag tires in snow or ice. I used the 55# wheel weights on both the turfs and the Ag tires.

I've since added my old ladder-style chains on to the Ag tires. They were a bit too small, so I had to use some wire to hold the ends together temporarily (I keep telling myself I'll add some links, but haven't gotten around to it yet). The chains have helped a good bit. The Craftsman does most of my plowing with this set-up, though I have to get out my Compact Tractor or bug my neighbor (with the F-350 pickup) to plow after the heavy stuff.

In summary, if it were just for the snow plowing that I needed the extra traction, I would have left the turf tires on and used chains and wheel weights in the winter. However, I can't use the chains with my mower deck, so I needed something besides turf tires (even with the weights) on my hills in the spring/summer/fall. The bare Ag tires fit my needs well when I'm not plowing snow.

John Mc