Tires L4610 Ag tires

[cmsedore]

When I was doing some loader work recently (spreading a 10 wheeler load of topsoil), I noted that I was really squatting my front tires down. This was particularly true with the second load, which was wetter than the first.

The loader had no trouble lifting even the bucket loads absolutely heaped with topsoil, but the tires sure did flatten. When I got it home, I checked the tire pressure. It was around 20lbs. I've since increased it to 32lbs, which, judging from some other loader work I did recently, helped, but I was still concerned. (Increasing the pressure also makes it harder on the lawn.)

After doing some research, I found that the R1 tires on my L4610 are only rated for 1200 lbs at 34psi (at 25MPH). Given that the tractor weighs in at ~4200 lbs with the loader on (ignoring rear balast, which isn't really relevant), and assuming that approximately 40% of that weight is on the front, I'm assuming that the tires are carrying around 800lbs with the bucket empty.

Since the loader is rated to lift 2000+ lbs, and since that is 4' front of the axle, it probably translates into as much as 2000lbs of bucket load + nearly the weight of the whole tractor or 5000 lbs, for a total of 7000lbs or 3500lbs per tire, almost 3 times the limit.

I did some initial searching and could not find an R1 (or R4 for that matter) tire that would directly substitute for mine (8.3-16 goodyear power torque) with a higher load rating. I like the ags because they really grip when I'm working in the field, the woods and in mud (and I'm already excited to try them in our copious snow), which is why I didn't choose R4s in the first place.

Am I overly worried about weight ratings? I was squatting the tire badly enough to have it make a squeak noise because it was rolling the lugs under on tight turns, but it only had ~20psi in it then.

-Chris

 

[JATO_RaT]

On a L4850 I use routinely, the same thing happens. While the R1's offer great traction, they have a much less load carrying ability. We keep the fronts pumped to the maximum psi they are rated for. A heaped load of wet material will still "overload" the tires. The tractor was purchased in 1992, the front tires where replaced last year because they wore out. Even with what appears to be overloading, the tires never failed. On my Kubota L48 with R4's on front, it is impossible to overload them with this tractor. The bucket capacity is considerably greater then the L4610, they also go up to 65 PSI and are many plys heavier. On the other hand, they offer considerably less traction on many surfaces. Because of that, they also don't tear things up as much. Check Michelins website for your next purchase of tires. They carry higher loads and offer the best traction around according to some well respected folks here at TBN. They are a radial tire which is different then the typical R1 most tractors come with. Rat...