SCUT Front Tires: BKT Skid Power HD on BX25D-1

[nikerret]

My front tires were shot. They lasted five and a half years and 370.3 hours. The outer edges were getting worn, but that wasn’t the problem. I could have just switched sides, if I were to keep running them. The issue was the thin sidewalks. The right front developed a large hole and a tiny hole; it would only hold air a few hours. The left front had a tiny hole; it held air a few days.

The original Garden Master R4’s were 4-ply and rated to 22 PSI. I went with the BKT Skid Power HD, which are a skid steer tire labeled 8-ply and rated to 100 PSI. The BX25D-1 calls for 22 PSI, in the front tires-so, you’re running these at max, right out the gate. The BKT are made in India and come with a date stamp.

The difference, in build, between the two models of tires is huge. The BKT are at least two and probably closer to three times the sidewall thickness, versus the Garden Masters. The tread of the BKT is much fatter and has larger spaces. I never had issues with the R4’s tearing up grass, but the corners of the tread would leave minor marks, sometimes. The BKT edges are heavily rounded.

I ended up ordering these from Wal-Mart, bought the pair for less than $110, shipped, to my house. Pretty cheap as Amazon wanted over $90, each. Other places had them for $70-80, each.

This site doesn’t usually like my pictures, but I’ll try:

I also made a crappy YouTube video, if you have a few minutes you never want back:

 

[Midniteoyl]

Nice. They look good. Let us know how they hold up long term.

As for future leaks, try this stuff: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07WZQBNMB Ya, it's something in your tire, but has already saved me several times with heavy thorns.

 

[IH3444]

About Us | BKT Tires

Solutions for tires for agricultural, construction and industrial vehicles. Applications in earthmoving, port, mining, ATV and gardening sectors.

www.bkt-tires.com

This includes “the tire of the future” project as well as new compounding methods by using rubber obtained from the Russian Dandelion TKS as a renewable alternative to natural rubber.

Taraxacum kok-saghyz - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Natural rubber and the Russian dandelion genome

The world needs rubber. Rubber is crucial for the tires on the cars, trucks and airplanes that propel modern transportation. It is equally important for da

academic.oup.com

Natural rubber from dandelions

Dandelions are modest plants that are an excellent alternative source for a raw material of high demand: natural rubber, the fundamental ingredient in rubber products. Fraunhofer researchers have established the basis for the large-scale production of high quality rubber with Russian dandelion.

phys.org

 

[nikerret]

About Us | BKT Tires

Solutions for tires for agricultural, construction and industrial vehicles. Applications in earthmoving, port, mining, ATV and gardening sectors.

www.bkt-tires.com

This includes “the tire of the future” project as well as new compounding methods by using rubber obtained from the Russian Dandelion TKS as a renewable alternative to natural rubber.

Taraxacum kok-saghyz - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Natural rubber and the Russian dandelion genome

The world needs rubber. Rubber is crucial for the tires on the cars, trucks and airplanes that propel modern transportation. It is equally important for da

academic.oup.com

Natural rubber from dandelions

Dandelions are modest plants that are an excellent alternative source for a raw material of high demand: natural rubber, the fundamental ingredient in rubber products. Fraunhofer researchers have established the basis for the large-scale production of high quality rubber with Russian dandelion.

phys.org

So, is this good or bad?

 

[IH3444]

Sounds like it is good for Russian, and India. I don't know about wear, aging, or integrity of product. You'll be our test case. Please keep us informed as to your experience with the BKT tires.

 

[nikerret]

Sounds like it is good for Russian, and India. I don't know about wear, aging, or integrity of product. You'll be our test case. Please keep us informed as to your experience with the BKT tires.

I’m not really thrilled about helping Russia, but I’m not sure if that’s worse than China? Six of one, half a dozen of the other?

My preference would be to buy US made, but I didn’t see anything, there, built tougher than the 4-ply I took off.

Oh well, I got them, now. I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated.

 

[nikerret]

As of right now, the BX has 398.7 hours. A lot of the 28.4 hours has been from mowing with the MMM.

I did some commercial mowing, in early August. This area had not been mowed, in several years, since it was graded out. I took the backhoe off, but left the front end loader on, in case I got stuck (happened once and I was able to push out, with the loader) and to help check for things I didn’t want to hit, with the mower.

These tires did well, with forward and reverse grip. The lateral grip wasn’t impressive. Mowing on hills, the front end wanted to swing down the hill. The rounded shouiders just don’t have any bite. All lateral grip is solely done by downward pressure on the tread. This issue was exacerbated by having the front end loader on, but it didn’t struggle to mow up the hills, so I just mowed up and backed down, then mowed up, again.

Here are some pictures of what I mowed:

And a video of the hill on the left side of the first picture:

I have also done some loader work (only around 35 tons of dirt and around 20 tons of various gravel/rock). These tires do loader work well. The same lack of shoulder bite that was against me, mowing, appears to be easier on driveline components, during heavy carrying. On pavement, compacted gravel, and grass the ride feels a little smoother, during turns, even if there may be slightly more roughness, when going straight (only on concrete and pavement), due to the wide gaps between the treads. This slightly rougher rude, going forward is barely discernible, when feeling for it, but on hard surfaces, it is there. On grass, these seem to do less damage than the regular R4’s the tractor came with. Even when going through wet grass, these new tires barely leave any marks. This makes sense, when looking at how much more rubber is on the ground, per tread.