Just discovered my Kubota has skid steer front tires.

[CADplans]

My R-4 front tires are "a little worn",, but, not ready for replacement ,, yet!!
They turn real nice on grass,, almost like a turf tire.

 

[jonsstihl]

get that Fram filter off your JD

 

[CADplans]

get that Fram filter off your JD

I KNEW that I would get fussed at for that,,
I put that on while I was waiting for Amazon to deliver the WIX filter!!

I figured it was better than a dirty filter,, if only for a few engine hours,,

 

[jonsstihl]

okay your off the hook for now. those R4's sure are worn but if they work for you and are easier on your turf than why not.

People seem to hate the R4's but I like the fact that they seem to wear out slowly and are more puncture resistant. and for what I do with my tractor they seem to work fine in the mud that is on my property. Never have gotten stuck. my rears are studded as well and that seems to work well on ice atleast compared to my b7800 that were not studded.

 

[beowulf]

. . . those R4's sure are worn but if they work for you and are easier on your turf than why not.

Regarding tire wear, I wanted to find out how much tread my R4s had left compared to the same tire new. My tires have, as best I can figure between 3/8 and 7/16 inches of tread height left in the middle of the tire (I bent a curved ruler over the center of the tire and measured up to the bottom of the ruler). Checking the specs on line for the same tire it states the treads are 20.2, but does not say what that is in, but I am assuming it is in millimeters. Converting that to inches it comes to a shade over 3/4 inches (0.795 inches). So, my tread is about half of what it would be on the same tire new. That is measured in the middle of the tire - the outside edges of the tires seem to be more worn down - and I guess that would make sense as that part of the tire could get more wear.

Anyway, I think I can get some more hours out of the tires.

 

[RickB]

Run them until the air in them shows.

 

[beowulf]

Run them until the air in them shows.

 

[CADplans]

Run them until the air in them shows.

I had a local tire guy put two take-off tires on my trailer yesterday.
The tires on it were tubeless, and the tires were so old, the tread broke away from the inner casing of the tire.

The inner casing was bulging out like a balloon,,,

The tire guy laughed, and said that I had almost lost the air out of the tire,,,

 

[marcwert]

After my tires crack and leak air through the cracks I put tubes in them and use them until they are all worn out. I just don‘t drive the tractor around corners at 50 mph. Also the belts provide the strength not the rubber.

 

[nikerret]

After my tires crack and leak air through the cracks I put tubes in them and use them until they are all worn out. I just don‘t drive the tractor around corners at 50 mph. Also the belts provide the strength not the rubber.

If I was smart, I would have done that. Instead, I bought new tires. I put skid steel tires on my BX:

SCUT Front Tires: BKT Skid Power HD on BX25D-1

My front tires were shot. They lasted five and a half years and 370.3 hours. The outer edges were getting worn, but that wasn’t the problem. I could have just switched sides, if I were to keep running them. The issue was the thin sidewalks. The right front developed a large hole and a tiny hole...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[azbinder]

In regards to your statement "front tires are in fact labeled Skid Steer Premium 10-16.5".
After having spent over 20 years working for a Kubota dealer in various positions, I can't remember any L3400 having "10-16.5" tires on the front. A 16.5 tire takes a different rim than a standard Kubota "R4" rim. Here are the standard "R4" 's for the L3400.

Industrial front:	27x8.50-15
Industrial rear:	15-19.5R4

 

[RickB]

In regards to your statement "front tires are in fact labeled Skid Steer Premium 10-16.5".
After having spent over 20 years working for a Kubota dealer in various positions, I can't remember any L3400 having "10-16.5" tires on the front. A 16.5 tire takes a different rim than a standard Kubota "R4" rim. Here are the standard "R4" 's for the L3400.

Industrial front:	27x8.50-15
Industrial rear:	15-19.5R4

OP has an L3410. His stated tire sizes are cataloged for that model.

 

[Texasmark]

I took a front tire off of my L3410 that had a very slow leak in to the shop - I was tired of adding air every week. They fixed it, and asked if it was off a 'skid steer' which at the time I thought was an odd question. He also mentioned the tires were old and had some cracking and would need to be replaced soon. So I decided to check out new tire prices and checked the manual for the tire specs and it showed an Ag tire 7.20-16 - not the tire I want. I always thought I had industrial - R4 tires - at least originally. An Internet search was not finding a match for that number, or for suitable R4 replacements. I went out and discovered that the front tires are in fact labeled Skid Steer Premium 10-16.5, and also state: 10 ply Samson, NHS, heavy duty, with rim guard. I searched my files and find that I bought these skid steer tires in 2014 at a local tire service shop that serves the ag community as well. I assume I took the old tires and rims in when I replaced them in 2014 and that they sold these to me as the same or equivalent tires.

The treads on the existing tires appear to be similar to treads on R4 - or industrial tires, which is what I want. Anyway, is there any issue with replacing my tires now with tires designated skid steer, or should I request a non-skid steer R4 tire. I don't know a lot about tires - but I am thinking this is probably a non-issue. But, still, curious.

Yepper if you have the 16.5 rim (and OEM tractor manufacturers love them) you have the skid steer tire and you get the ride with them......totally SUCKS!!!!!!!!