Good job. How are those winter tires working out on the front?
Thanks!
Working well so far, much better than the bald turfs that were on there before, appear to be the same size as the turfs were before they went bald as the turning radius that the 4wd lever falls in and out easily is just slightly tighter than the bald OE's. They hold up the loader weight about as well as the originals and grip better on snow, dirt, sand, and rocks. They plug up with dirt about the same as a turf. I have an old boxcar wheel on the back as ballast so I don't use 4wd that often, but when I do it's unstoppable. They do a better than expected job of steering because of all the radial edges too I believe.
The softer compound of a winter tire is better for traction year round, but I was worried about durability. I have had them about 2.5 years now and I have taken a couple of very small nicks out of the tread, maybe 1/8" wide piece off a corner here and there but that's it. They are Nokian Hakkapeliitta XL XL's, I forget the size. They were the highest load rating snow tire I could find that had the right OD, higher weight rating than the 6-ply OE Carlisle. So far durability has not been an issue and I've had them spinning in mud with sticks and rocks against the tread and sidewall. Sidewall strength was a concern when I was considering buying P-metric tires but I can cay that is a non-issue. They are very stable with a load in the loader.
Overall I see absolutely no reason to consider OE tires, except maybe for looks. I originally planned on grooving them to look more like a turf tire but lost interest and now the siping is full of sand so that will probably never happen.
O, and when I bought them it was the same price for 2 OE tires as 5 of these Nokians.
