Tires Radial vs Bias Rear Tires??

[wjb-49]

Hi everyone . . . I need new rear ag tires (16.9 x 30) for my Ford 4610. Are radials better than bias for primarily agriculture use? I have not talked with my local tire dealer and wanted some info before going to the tire store.

Thanks to all!

 

[WilliamBos]

Radials are superior in every way. You can air them down to 8psi, depending on brand and leave virtually no foot print, which means compaction is minimal.

Save and get front radials too.

 

[DT86]

Radials cost about twice as much but last 3X longer.

 

[TomSeller]

What is a good source for reasonably priced tractor tires these days? About fell over when I priced a set up a few weeks ago.

 

[DT86]

What is a good source for reasonably priced tractor tires these days?

I put a pair of BKT tires on the front of our little tractor that sees limited use these days. They were very cheap, both in price and quality.

 

[sixdogs]

I have 18.4 x 30 and 12.4 x 24 equivalent radials on a JD5520 tractor and feel it adds dramatically to the pulling power of tillage tools while causing minimum compaction issues. The amount of air in them is based on the load per axle and yours would likely be very low. My belief is that lighter tractors don't benefit as much from radials as do heavier ones. Loaded with 1000 lbs up front and 600 in the back I can get my 5520 to over 9300 lbs and can easily pull an 8ft very heavy chisel plow at 5mph. It would pull maybe 5 ft without the radials and weight. Plus, take the weight off and I could float across my lawn with the radials and not leave much of a mark.

A 4610 is pretty light and my guess is the advantage of radials to you would be significant but not be as much as it would with a bigger tractor.Plus you would have to add weight so radials for a 4610 would be a maybe kind of thing. And they aren't cheap for the good ones which I would label as Firestone and Michelin.

 

[MHarryE]

Bias ply tires are rapidly dropping out of the market in the larger swarm tractor sizes due to improved traction, reduced slippage, reduced compaction, better fuel economy as opposed to higher initial cost. Our CUT has bias ply but all of our mainline ag tractors are radial equipped. The CUT would have got them if they had been readily available although they would have been triple the cost.