lets see all of your Beavers!

demigodofa · Aug 13, 2012

I looked online for an hour, found a couple other brands but the lugs look the same as superstrong. The member Freakingstang looks like he put a set of Carlisle tires on his tractor, but they may be a 6-12? I'm not sure.

Ilikeurtractor · Aug 13, 2012

I think the best you can do is probably the Carlisle "farm specialist" for 6-12. They make a "tru-power" 5-12 tire that I prefer because of the less aggressive tread (and anticipated smoother ride on hard surfaces). Also the tru-powers are a bit shorter and for some reason the Beavers tend to sit lower in the back and I prefer a more level posture to the tractor. The Bucks sit level because they use 8-18 rears. I think you can fit Carlisle 9.5-16 tires on 16" rims and this can compensate too as the 9.5 wide tires are an inch or two taller overall - check Carlisle's website since I believe they have all the dimensions on there.

Back to the front tires, a 6-12 tire should fit your front rims fine, but rim sizes are fairly confusing. My Iseki tractors call for 5-12 tires, but the rims are actually only 4" wide. The Satoh front rims are closer to 5" the best I can tell with the tires on, they are definitely wider than the Iseki ag rims though for a TX1300F and 1500F (Bolens G154/174). I'm not even sure a tru-power tire will seal up on the 5" wide rims because I don't know if they will expand width-wise enough to seal the bead w/o a tube. I ended up modifying 3" wide rims and I stuck the tru-powers on them even though I don't think this is recommended but they seal and work fine but it does make the tire/rim taller over-all which I was trying to avoid but couldn't help.

Incidently, tubes appear to cause/accelerate inner rim corrosion so my policy moving forward is to try to eliminate tubes as much as possible. I believe all of the Carlisle tires are advertised as "tubeless" but I've found it to be hit-or-miss whether or not the factory rims can hold air but I have successfully sealed them by welding up pinholes. I would always clean/prime/paint the inside of any rims I break tires off of before reassembly. Rims can be difficult/expensive to find and preservation is key moving forward.

techwrtr2 · Aug 13, 2012

I suspect you'll find more rim corrosion without a tube than with if you happen to have your tires filled.

The OP has 6-12's on the front and I believe 9.5-16 in the rear. These are one step larger than the factory R1 AG tires but apparently the same size as factory R3 tires.

Oddly this is the factory size for R1's on my Deere.

Ilikeurtractor · Aug 13, 2012

techwrtr2 said:
I suspect you'll find more rim corrosion without a tube than with if you happen to have your tires filled.

I agree, if they are filled w/ calcium chloride. There are non-corrosive options available such as windshield washer fluid and commercial fluid ballasts such as "Rim Guard".

Freakingstang · Aug 13, 2012

demigodofa said:
I looked online for an hour, found a couple other brands but the lugs look the same as superstrong. The member Freakingstang looks like he put a set of Carlisle tires on his tractor, but they may be a 6-12? I'm not sure.

yes.

The factory ag tires were 8.5-16 rears and 5-12 fronts.

The factory turf tires were 9.5-16 rears and 6-12 fronts.

I traded my rears with another guy that had the brand new carlisles that are on the tractor now, so to keep the aspect ratio the same, I put 6-12's up front. I changed from turf tires to ags, so i needed all new tires and because I traded even up, and it worked out the best (and cheapest) for me.

techwrtr2 · Aug 13, 2012

The thought occured to me that if I would do some re-drilling on a set of wheels I have, I could put wider tires up front to match 9.5-16's in back. Probably will not since AG tires in the correct size would be rather salty and would make steering a bit harder even if it might improve traction and loader work. I could actually put R4's on in those sizes which while not great in mud they do well for loader work.

Freakingstang · Aug 13, 2012

techwrtr2 said:
The thought occured to me that if I would do some re-drilling on a set of wheels I have, I could put wider tires up front to match 9.5-16's in back. Probably will not since AG tires in the correct size would be rather salty and would make steering a bit harder even if it might improve traction and loader work. I could actually put R4's on in those sizes which while not great in mud they do well for loader work.

I didn't notice much of a difference in other tractors I measured between 5-12 and 6-12... less than 3/8" and differences in air pressure???? heck, that;s the difference between half worn lugs and new, or half lug vs bald...

I actually wanted R4's for mine, but couldn't find similar sizes to keep the aspect ratio right...

Freakingstang · Aug 13, 2012

They don't make any tires that have the depth of tread the original Brigestones had.

some updated pics of my beavers...

and my newest addition....

techwrtr2 · Aug 14, 2012

Freakingstang said:
I didn't notice much of a difference in other tractors I measured between 5-12 and 6-12... less than 3/8" and differences in air pressure???? heck, that;s the difference between half worn lugs and new, or half lug vs bald...

I actually wanted R4's for mine, but couldn't find similar sizes to keep the aspect ratio right...

I believe the 6-12 is 23" in diameter. My Deere uses 6-12/9.5-16 AG tires. Same size as you have on your Beaver. I have 23x8.5-12 R4's up front on the Deere and 9.5-16 R4's in back. I have a pair of wheels that I suspect could be redrilled to fit the Beaver giving me a 7" wide wheel.

At least that's the theory. I need to do a pile of other maintenance/repairs to the tractor first. The current tires hold air for the most and have enough tread left that I don't get stuck on dry ground. Front tires are the most worn.

Now if I were to do this tire thing, I'd have 3" wider tread roughly per side. Which could work both for and against me.