Mixing Radial and Bias Back Tires JD 4440

albertarancher · Jun 24, 2020

Our John Deere 4440 needs one new back tire. It currently has a nearly new rear radial on one side, but needs a new tire on the other.

After calling around for prices; a new bias tire costs about $900, while a new radial is close to $2000.

I'd obviously prefer the radial but that is a significant price difference. My main concern of mixing the tires is the difference in height of the radial vs. bias, due to the bulge in the radial. I wonder if this could be hard on the transmission or diff?

kthompson · Jun 24, 2020

I would not mix them. The traction of the radial is much better and so is the ride. If you were to happen to lock the rear differential think you could have problem. No idea how the height may vary if the same size tires.

Texasmark · Jun 28, 2020

Rolling circumference won't be the same. Differential will be in continuous rotation which could cause problems down the road besides uneven stability and uneven traction.

My last used tractor purchase was with 4 ply bias rears from different mfgrs. which meant different tread designs. The tread design of one was more bidirectional whereas the other was with more angle to the tread. Traction was such that I had to run cambered steering just to keep the tractor in a straight line when plowing with the bidirectional leaning pattern getting the most traction.

JD3520Turbo · Jun 30, 2020

I would not recommend doing that if a all possible. I am not sure what size you are looking for, but I can't imagine a radial tire costing $2000 unless it is for a combine, or large row crop tractor. Depending on size, you should be able to find a radial for around $1400 or so. If you have a 4440, then you could have an 18.4R38 size, or 18.4R34 or possibly 20.8R38. I would keep looking unless you have already figured it out.

albertarancher · Jul 1, 2020

I ended up finding a matching radial for $1725 and going with that. The tire is a 18.4R38 (480/80R38). Hopefully the tires will be good for a while now. I'm in Canada so things are more expensive up here due to the dollar.