Tires Looking at industrial tires for the front

S Putnik · May 5, 2014

Hi all,

I'm hoping that someone can help me confirm or deny that the ag tires and industrial tires that fit my tractor have roughly the same outside diameter. The goal is to replace my front ag tires with industrial to reduce ground pressure.

I want to keep the R-1s on the rear. That is why I need to maintain the OD on the front.

The ag fronts are 9.5 x 20. The industrial fronts are 12 x 16.5. The machine is a Mahindra 6110, similar to the TYM T603.

Thanks in advance for any info!

GManBart · May 5, 2014

Your best bet is to either measure the actual rolling circumference of your present tires, or look on the manufacturer's website. Take that number, and find an R4 that gives you the same RC (or very close) and you're set.

S Putnik · May 7, 2014

Roger that. Thank you for the advice.

DennisFolsom · May 7, 2014

Generally speaking, the AG R1 tires used on a given tractor are narrower and taller than the R4 Industrial tires used on the same model. You may get away with mixing types by measuring and matching as others have suggested. However, I would be very wary of using anything other than the size combinations recommended by the tractor manufacturer. The gear ratios are designed to work with certain combinations of front and rear tire sizes together. If you deviate, you are likely to get binding, and possible driveline damage, when operating in 4 wheel drive.

Normally, a change of tire types is done by swapping ALL 4 WHEELS AND TIRES to get the proper combination. This can be expensive.

dieselcrawler · May 8, 2014

As long as you take your time and do the math properly, you will be fine as long as the ratio of front diam to rear diam stays the same. I have heard that they come from the factory with the front tires running up to 5% faster than the rears to aid in turning when locked in 4x4. If you are like me and kick it into 4x2 nearly every time I'm on hard pack and dont NEED 4x4 you won't hurt a thing if the ratio changes a little bit, 1-2%.

Lunk · May 8, 2014

S Putnik said:
Hi all,

I'm hoping that someone can help me confirm or deny that the ag tires and industrial tires that fit my tractor have roughly the same outside diameter. The goal is to replace my front ag tires with industrial to reduce ground pressure.

I want to keep the R-1s on the rear. That is why I need to maintain the OD on the front.

The ag fronts are 9.5 x 20. The industrial fronts are 12 x 16.5. The machine is a Mahindra 6110, similar to the TYM T603.

Thanks in advance for any info!

Keep in mind that you will need to source some new rims, as the R4's are not going to fit on the rims you currently run...

Otherwise - what the others said.

Lunk

S Putnik · May 8, 2014

Thank you all for the additional replies. The concerns that you have all expressed are the very reason for this thread.

The question that I didn't ask directly and should have is if anyone happens to know whether or not the factory R-1s and R-4s for this tractor have the same OD. Maybe that has now been answered by DennisFolsom.

So here's the main issue for me. I do tractor work as a side-gig for a portion of my income. Prime mowing season started a few weeks ago, but the weather will continue to be intermittently rainy for another month or longer. The soft soil through the first couple of months means that I leave ruts with AG fronts or have poor traction with IND rears. I'm toying with the idea of a compromise between the two in order to make the most of our short season.

Again, you all have my gratitude.