front tire choices ribbed? treaded?

[Soundguy]

The more ply's the better.

Post some pics of those tires when you post back and 'rate them'

Soundguy

 

[schiker]

I can't really rate them all that accurately since I haven't had them very long but so far they are OK... The name on the sidewall is Alpha and I am pretty sure they are "Chinese" made. Quality is fair to low as there is some rubber flash from the mold on lettering and limited info on sidewall. There is no recommended max inflation psi and load rating (first tire I have ever seen w/o it) Tread looks ok and I can't tell much. It might be soft as it will pick up some briars pretty easy. The grooves will pick up and throw small rocks from crusher run. As far as performance once I had it patched they worked pretty good. A normal turn does not cut the grass or dirt. A full turn will scrub and lightly cut the grass similar to the bald tri-ribbed. I think its much gentler than new Tri-ribbed would have been. I think the steering is a bit easier than before too as the tire has a little smaller contact patch.

I did have an issue with the rim cutting the inner tube because of rust and the inner tube scrubbing on rim when pumping up and moving into place. Learned a trick from the shop if you have an old rusty rim and need a new tube Friday afternoon at 4:40 PM so you can head out of town: use some Duct tape and line the rim before tube install. It can bandaid the rim for a while.

Originally the tire shop pumped them to ~24 psi which was not enough. Turning hard rolled or bent the sidewall of the tire a bit and I got a flat the first day I think from tube scrub in the tire/rim. With 38-40 psi the tires worked well. I also added a little Slime tube sealer in it for a little extra protection.

So far I think they work pretty good for my application. But I reserve the right to change my mind after some more time to evaluate them.

 

[schiker]

sidewall pic of tire

 

[schiker]

update: I finally had a flat with one of the implement tires on the front of my tractor. It was the same crappy rusted rim that failed early on and not sure it was a puncture (through the tire) flat or the tires fault. The tube was patched and the rim had the duct tape liner. Note the duct tape pulled off pretty clean after that long I was surprised.

It has been an ok choice for "turf tire" for the front end I would say. Many acres cut without issue. The tread seems to be still ok

This time I will use a wire wheel on my angle grinder to clean the rim up and repaint it before installing a new tube. I am not as rushed to get it back together this time.

 

[Mark Page]

My 231s came with 3 rib ag tires with a very prominent center rib. I mowed once with them and they really tore up the turf. Replaced them with 4 rib tires which will still tear up the turf if you don't take it ease on the turns. I would have used turf tires but they don't steer well in snow.

 

[CTPhil]

My 231s came with 3 rib ag tires with a very prominent center rib. I mowed once with them and they really tore up the turf. Replaced them with 4 rib tires which will still tear up the turf if you don't take it ease on the turns. I would have used turf tires but they don't steer well in snow.

Do you find that the 4 rib tear up the turf less that the 3 rib?

 

[Soundguy]

i run multi ribs on one of my tlb's, and it's easier on grass than a tri rib..

 

[schiker]

OK, so I made it about 5 years without a flat. That is pretty good especially with the condition of these old rims and looseness in the steering. I'd recommend these for tires to cut grass with.

 

[GManBart]

OK, so I made it about 5 years without a flat. That is pretty good especially with the condition of these old rims and looseness in the steering. I'd recommend these for tires to cut grass with.

I thought you had a flat in 2011? I actually read this thread when I started searching for multi-rib 6.0x16 tires recently, and it helped. Thanks for following up!

 

[schiker]

I forgot about that one and missed it when I scanned the thread for last date I posted. That one was really suspicious as the rim was so rusted and the tube had been patched. This is the other side. This rim isn't much better and will try and see if they can find the hole when I take it to the tire shop. I didn't see a nail or obvious puncture hole in the tread.

I was recently box blading and putting the front tires in some shear and scrubbing worst than mowing. I was trying to spread some dirt along the edge of a new section of cement with a drop off. I think in general these rims are so narrow and deep they are just hard on tubes anyway worst since they are rusty and have peeling paint.