Tires Longevity of Titan Trac Loader front tires?

[Dougster]

For those folks with older 4WD Mahindras using the Titan "Trac Loader" tires... what sort of service life did you get or are you expecting? Mine seem to be wearing and showing signs of damage much faster than I ever expected. I'm wondering if it is my particular (sometimes very hard) commercial use or whether this is the norm for these particular tires. In comparison, my rear industrial Titans still look like brand new. Neither are loaded and I can often get both spinning pretty good while digging out roots and rocks with the FEL grapple. Perhaps I am sometimes too hard on those front tires.

Also, when you finally did replace your Titan front tires... was it due to wear or damage? Did you replace them in kind or with some other tires?

Dougster

 

[SPYDERLK]

Think what those little tires have to put up with when youre doing loader work. With a full capacity load theres more weight on them than on the back - and on mine at least, sometimes I am spinning to boot. Ive no idea what might be more durable. It is possible that filling them would help marginally. When I filled mine I found the ride was better since I could use lower pressure. Then, when loaded heavily the pressure would jump high quickly due to the high compression ratio, and support the load w/o too much squat. I use water tho so no problem if it leaks.
larry

 

[George2615]

My 2615 has Titan tires also. Fronts do show more wear than rear but they get more use when turning, especially in 4WD and really get tread scrubbed off if turning while on blacktop. I've only got 200 hours on mine though.

On the Bobcat at work we go through a set every 1 1/2 years but 80% of that time is running it on the blacktop parking lot.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The front tires on an ag tractor with a loader get a lot of abuse and wear very quickly compared to the rears. A couple reasons for this is that the front tires drive over the stubble and such first laying it down so it doesn't damage the rear tires as bad. Also, the front tires do more scuffing as you turn (this is magnified when you have a load in the bucket). The scuffing tears them up while all the back tires do is go round and round. One more issue is that the front axle pivots which puts more stress on the edges of the bars as the axle is pivoted again leading to scuffing of the tires.

It is just the nature of a FWA tractor.

 

[skipmarcy]

Doug, Just changed my tires (both front & rears) a few weeks ago, the rears to hopefully correct my front drive problems, and the fronts because they were showing what appeared to be heavy wear and I got a "good" deal on some offbrand front tires. I put Titans back on the rears. I had thought my fronts were pretty worn until I had the new ones side by side to compare to - they weren't as worn down as I had thought, maybe down to 40 or 50%, just some nasty cuts here & there . The rears were still in primo shape when set next to the new ones - probably 60 - 70% remaining. The tires had about 1350 hours - at times very rough use. The first 2 years I had my tractor I spent alot of time getting gravel out of creeks - sometimes sharp-edged gravel and occassionally an odd piece of metal and such. Of course alot of tire spinning. I've probably clocked close to 15 - 20 hours on pavement in those 1350 as well. One front tire got a **** of a gash in it in the creek one time, had a large patch put inside and it has held ever since(still tubeless too). I saved the old front tires in case I tear one up in the future and sold the rears for $100 each. If these "East One" brand front tires don't hold up I'll go back to Titans for the front too. These I bought are supposedly 12 ply and have a very heavy sidewall & rim guard, but so far I'm thinking the rubber compound may be a little soft, time will tell. Boy, I could sure tell a difference as soon as I sat in the seat after getting those 16.9x24 tires on in place of the 17.5's, have had to get used to it. Also a difference in ground speed is noticeable - last time I cut my 5+ acre yard I was changing gears quite a bit more trying to get used to it.

 

[Dougster]

Doug, Just changed my tires (both front & rears) a few weeks ago, the rears to hopefully correct my front drive problems, and the fronts because they were showing what appeared to be heavy wear and I got a "good" deal on some offbrand front tires. I put Titans back on the rears. I had thought my fronts were pretty worn until I had the new ones side by side to compare to - they weren't as worn down as I had thought, maybe down to 40 or 50%, just some nasty cuts here & there . The rears were still in primo shape when set next to the new ones - probably 60 - 70% remaining. The tires had about 1350 hours - at times very rough use. The first 2 years I had my tractor I spent alot of time getting gravel out of creeks - sometimes sharp-edged gravel and occassionally an odd piece of metal and such. Of course alot of tire spinning. I've probably clocked close to 15 - 20 hours on pavement in those 1350 as well. One front tire got a **** of a gash in it in the creek one time, had a large patch put inside and it has held ever since(still tubeless too). I saved the old front tires in case I tear one up in the future and sold the rears for $100 each. If these "East One" brand front tires don't hold up I'll go back to Titans for the front too. These I bought are supposedly 12 ply and have a very heavy sidewall & rim guard, but so far I'm thinking the rubber compound may be a little soft, time will tell. Boy, I could sure tell a difference as soon as I sat in the seat after getting those 16.9x24 tires on in place of the 17.5's, have had to get used to it. Also a difference in ground speed is noticeable - last time I cut my 5+ acre yard I was changing gears quite a bit more trying to get used to it.

Thanks for the report Skip (and thanks to the other follow-up posters as well). Good to know that you got an amazing 1,350 hours out of those front tires... and I know your uses have certainly been no less severe than mine!!!

After a few really rough, rocky jobs, I could not believe the deterioration I was seeing in those fronts. The big question was: Should I buy a set of replacements now and have them ready for a fast change if necessary... or can I afford to wait a while longer... maybe even a LONG while longer. You may remember that there are already two patched punctures in one of my fronts and one patched puncture in one rear. Rocks, nails and screws are NOT my friends these days. I've also thought about going to higher ply ratings... and, alternatively... even turf tires up front to cut down on client lawn damage. Yes, contradictory and probably unworkable, I know.

These front tires are expensive but not really big money in the larger scheme of things. I just don't want to buy spares or replacements now and have them sitting around for the next 3 or 4 years unused. That makes no sense.

Good luck with those new tires! Hope this is the end of your front axle problems! Keep us informed how you're making out!

Dougster

 

[Nightrain1]

Boy, I could sure tell a difference as soon as I sat in the seat after getting those 16.9x24 tires on in place of the 17.5's, have had to get used to it. Also a difference in ground speed is noticeable

I hope you will keep us up to date on your tire changes, how it is working out for you. From your above quote, I take it you are mowing in 4wd? Did you change sizes in the back? If you're in 4wd, the backs are the same size, and you are noticing a substantial ground speed difference, I can easily see why you was tearing the front axles out. Keep us uptodate Skip, your story is quite interesting and I hope this cures your problems.....

 

[RAS323]

Boy, I could sure tell a difference as soon as I sat in the seat after getting those 16.9x24 tires on in place of the 17.5's, have had to get used to it. Also a difference in ground speed is noticeable....

Hey Nighttrain1-did you get 4110 tires on your 3510? Did you go down in size? What are 17.5's?

I like my 9.5x16 / 14.9x24 that replaced the 28x8.5-15 / 43x16-20 that came with it. I've noticed just about everything I do now is in one gear lower. In high range it's far more noticable the engine just can pull it like it did. I don't know if its the increase in tire size or the added weight (the rears are now loaded) it's probably a combination of both. Of course now with the tires loaded it's a different beast, with the hoe on the back I don't need four wheel drive.

Doug-I can't help ya with tire wear-I only use four wheel drive when I need it.

 

[Dougster]

Doug-I can't help ya with tire wear-I only use four wheel drive when I need it.

I am beginning to do the same. Used to be that my "default" was always 4WD... but now that the folks here showed me how easy and painless it was to switch between 2WD and 4WD... plus with this new front tire deterioration issue... I've decided that doing my work in 2WD ain't so bad after all!

Dougster

 

[SPYDERLK]

Quote RAS323: Hey Nighttrain1-did you get 4110 tires on your 3510? Did you go down in size? What are 17.5's?


Rick, Nightrain1 was quoting Skipmarcy there. Skip has had mismatched tires on his 4110 since day 1, I think. Hes had a lot of front axle problems.
larry

 

[RAS323]

Quote RAS323: Hey Nighttrain1-did you get 4110 tires on your 3510? Did you go down in size? What are 17.5's?


Rick, Nightrain1 was quoting Skipmarcy there. Skip has had mismatched tires on his 4110 since day 1, I think. Hes had a lot of front axle problems.
larry

Opps ...I guess I need to read better!!

 

[shvl73]

Dougster,
Do you find (as I do) that you have a suprising amount of traction in 2wd with the hoe on? For my little tractor, the extra 1000lbs on the back make it really go. I only click in 4wd as needed. My front tires are barely worn at 382hrs but, I don't do anywhere near the amount of excavation work that you probably do.

 

[Dougster]

Dougster, Do you find (as I do) that you have a suprising amount of traction in 2wd with the hoe on? For my little tractor, the extra 1000lbs on the back make it really go. I only click in 4wd as needed. My front tires are barely worn at 382hrs but, I don't do anywhere near the amount of excavation work that you probably do.

The removable portion of the backhoe/bucket/thumb/subframe is about 1,800 lbs... so that is going to make a big difference in traction no matter how you slice it... but I'm not sure I can answer your specific question since I haven't done much work requiring really serious traction in 2WD (It's all been done in 4WD) and, rather ironically, most of jobsite work requiring maximum traction ends up being done without the backhoe in place due to the simultaneous or subsequent use of 3-point implements!

Dougster

 

[Nightrain1]

Opps ...I guess I need to read better!!

I wish I was wealthy enough to buy another set of tires and rims because they sure look good. I was interested in this since others had problems with their drivetrain and possibly had wrong size tires that maybe caused their delimma. It was discussed in earlier post and I just wondered what they thought after the swap.....

 

[Bill Barrett]

Dougster, I'm not sure I'd buy them to just be at the ready. My Maclander trailer tires ( Goodyear ) gave out with 90% tread on them, so I go to my very good friend in the tire business. He was telling me that the newer compound used in tires will only last 7 to 10 years, not sure if this applies to tractor tires but all four of my Goodyears that tread look new fell apart.

 

[Dougster]

Dougster, I'm not sure I'd buy them to just be at the ready. My Maclander trailer tires ( Goodyear ) gave out with 90% tread on them, so I go to my very good friend in the tire business. He was telling me that the newer compound used in tires will only last 7 to 10 years, not sure if this applies to tractor tires but all four of my Goodyears that tread look new fell apart.

Yep... that's the whole debate. To have some tires at the ready to quickly remedy flats, etc. and risk the longterm aging effect... or to wait until a failure actually occurrs to make sure you're always getting new, fresh stock. Later this week, I'm going to contact a few tire dealers in the area and try to better assess the tractor/skidsteer tire situation and what my downtime risk at a jobsite might really be. In this regard, I fear that the large percentage of weekend work I do might do me in if I am not properly prepared for the worst.

Dougster

 

[Keith_B]

Yep... that's the whole debate. To have some tires at the ready to quickly remedy flats, etc. and risk the longterm aging effect... or to wait until a failure actually occurrs to make sure you're always getting new, fresh stock. Later this week, I'm going to contact a few tire dealers in the area and try to better assess the tractor/skidsteer tire situation and what my downtime risk at a jobsite might really be. In this regard, I fear that the large percentage of weekend work I do might do me in if I am not properly prepared for the worst.

Dougster

Doug, you can probably get a few more years out of those fronts. They will wear faster than the rears, but you can get a lot of hours out of a set of front tires. Really, the nails and stuff are gonna puncture the new tires just the same, only you are going to feel worse when they puncture a new tire.

 

[Dougster]

Doug, you can probably get a few more years out of those fronts. They will wear faster than the rears, but you can get a lot of hours out of a set of front tires. Really, the nails and stuff are gonna puncture the new tires just the same, only you are going to feel worse when they puncture a new tire.

Yep... that's for sure.

But I'm wondering... as was discussed a bit above... if these front tires are starting to deteriorate so rapidly simply because of their age rather than their recent hard use or number of operating hours. My tractor is now 3 months short of being three years old (going by production date). Could that rubber age factor be the underlying cause of this apparent increasing brittleness and sudden deterioration at the hands of a few sharp rocks? Is it time to replace them anyway and make these old tires the spares just to get some newer rubber up front? The idea of upgrading to a higher ply rating is appealing just on its own merits alone.

The GF and I were even speculating this past weekend if these are the original tires on my 2004 4110... or whether the original owner had some incident(s) and maybe swapped out damaged original tires for older used ones??? The contrast between the "like new" rears and "ready for the junkyard" fronts is really a bit troubling given that the deterioration seemed to come so quickly.

Dougster

 

[Keith_B]

Yep... that's for sure.

But I'm wondering... as was discussed a bit above... if these front tires are starting to deteriorate so rapidly simply because of their age rather than their recent hard use or number of operating hours. My tractor is now 3 months short of being three years old (going by production date). Could that rubber age factor be the underlying cause of this apparent increasing brittleness and sudden deterioration at the hands of a few sharp rocks? Is it time to replace them anyway and make these old tires the spares just to get some newer rubber up front? The idea of upgrading to a higher ply rating is appealing just on its own merits alone.

The GF and I were even speculating this past weekend if these are the original tires on my 2004 4110... or whether the original owner had some incident(s) and maybe swapped out damaged original tires for older used ones??? The contrast between the "like new" rears and "ready for the junkyard" fronts is really a bit troubling given that the deterioration seemed to come so quickly.

Dougster

Front tires on tractors always wear much longer than fronts, which is a good thing given their price. The best way to check for tire age issues on tractor tires is to look at the sidewalls and see if there are a number of age cracks in them.

Tractor tires are a lot different than car tires, and aren't really harmed a lot by surface cuts and things like that. We got a set of front tires put on a Ford 4000 in the mid 90's that look a lot more worn than they are, but a tread check shows they have not gotten a lot of treadwear at all. Next time you need to get a tire fixed, look at the inside of the tire. If it is in good shape, and not showing any cracks the tires will last a while longer.

Tractor tires will last a long time.

 

[Dougster]

(Rear) tires on tractors always wear much longer than fronts, which is a good thing given their price. The best way to check for tire age issues on tractor tires is to look at the sidewalls and see if there are a number of age cracks in them. Tractor tires are a lot different than car tires, and aren't really harmed a lot by surface cuts and things like that. We got a set of front tires put on a Ford 4000 in the mid 90's that look a lot more worn than they are, but a tread check shows they have not gotten a lot of treadwear at all. Next time you need to get a tire fixed, look at the inside of the tire. If it is in good shape, and not showing any cracks the tires will last a while longer. Tractor tires will last a long time.

Well, I hope you are right. I'll just keep watching and try to get a better grip on what's happening here. Maybe what I need most is just fewer jobs with a lot of really sharp rocks!

Dougster