Tire Selection Turf tyres for Yanmar AF120 - odd size?

[pumasong]

Hi folks,

I'm a long time lurker on the site but this is my first post, I've found lots of good info on here so I'm hopeful someone will have an idea how I can proceed with my new (old) Yanmar import tractor.

Currently the tractor has the following ag tyres:

Front - 6-12
Rear - 8.3-22

I would like to fit turf tyres as mostly it is being used on grass, and the ag tires are too aggressive. I've had a look but in the UK where I'm based I can't find any rims/tyres that would fit. I've also spoken to Aaron at Hoye Tractors and they don't have any turf rims/tyres that have a similar ratio to the originals.

Basically I'm looking for ideas. I know I shouldn't deviate too much from the originals but not sure how much impact it would have given I'm using the thing on grass the whole time and never asphalt. I guess long story short I'm trying to work out if I'm wasting my time looking for turf tyres for this tractor!

Thanks in advance

George

 

[284 International]

I don't know what your budget is; that obviously will affect what options are open to you. Being in the UK means vastly higher shipping for the products ordered from the US. Having said that, I'm sure there are comparable things to what I'm going to show you available there.

You could probably get away with mounting something like this 22x9.5-1 Carlisle Turf Trac R/S Lawn Tractor Tire (4 Ply) onto your current front wheels, and then just run the generic mid-size tractor turf tire. 13.6-16 BKT LG36 Lawn Tractor Tire (4 Ply) You would need to get new rear wheels for that. I would suspect that your AF120 would match one of the other models, even if from a different brand. You could, in the worst case, buy a set of adapter plates that would adapt your tractor pattern to the wheels. You might need that anyway if the backspacing is incorrect on the machine. There is a decent chance your AF120 would accept 16" wheels from a Toyota 4x4 (And other vehicles with equivalent lug patterns. This http://www.roadkillcustoms.com/wheel-bolt-pattern-cross-reference/ is a handy link with cross-references once you can measure the wheels.

If you have no problems spending more money but want to make it perfect, these guysHEY WHEEL HOME-WHEELS, RIMS, AIRCRAFT TIRES FOR AG USE will make custom wheels for whatever you want.

If you post this in the Yanmar forum you might have more luck; though this portion casts a broader net, the AF120 is going to be unfamiliar to the overwhelming majority of members in this section. Good luck, let us know what you discover!

 

[pumasong]

Thanks for the info, really helpful. On budget it depends if my wife finds out or not! :laughing:

Ideally I don't want to spend thousands and if possible reuse the existing rims, as at the moment I don't see much need for the additional traction the ag tyres will give. I found some at a company called Yenibiz (unfortunately I can't link to it as I have too few posts) - they are listed as "KIT TURF TYRES 12 -22". The price is €663 which is about $780 - seems OK I think for a set of 4?

I contacted this company and they said the set above should fit the standard rims, and they said that the wide fronts (those in the link above) are the most similar to the ag tyres on there at the moment. I figure this is a no-brainer given that I can keep the same rims but interested to hear thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[PILOON]

I have a similar situation but with different tractor brand.
Most major tire manufacturers have a web site that has all their tire specs.
You should be able to match up car/truck tires to your required specs.
Start with diameter and then convert to rolling distance to get a match, for 22 inch you would be in the truck tire category I presume.
Good luck.

 

[LouNY]

Your 8.3-22s look to be 37" in diameter.
Trying to use the same rim limits the tire selection a bit.
This site has light truck tires that would work if you have enough room for the width,
those tires are recommended for a wider rim but for low speed tractor use they would be fine,
they are not cheap tires by any means.
37X12.5R22 Tires

 

[pumasong]

Thanks for the info everyone, I've had a read and as far as I can see the local supplier in Belgium that I mentioned before still seems to be the most cost-effective way of getting turf tyres for the tractor, especially as I won't have to buy new rims too.

I still can't post links but hopefully after this one I'll have 3 posts. So here goes!

 

[pumasong]

Here's a link to the tyres I found in Belgium which shouldn't cost too much to ship here as they are quite near:

Kit turf tyres 12 -22"

At €663 (about $780) it seems by far the cheapest way of getting 4x turf tyres on the machine.

 

[pumasong]

Hi all,

I've been thinking some more about this and am wondering whether I'm making life difficult trying to use the same rims - also if I keep the current ones I have the option to switch to ag tyres if the ground is really soft.

If I want to buy turf rims + tyres, I assume I can just work out the ratio of circumferences that I currently have, and stick to that? Hopefully that will make it easier to source tyres too.

 

[jhonygee]

I think turf rims + tyres :thumbsup:

 

[pumasong]

Hi all,

Sorry for the radio silence, still not done anything with this. I've been doing some research today and would be grateful for thoughts.

I think turf rims + tyres

Given the current swamp that my land has turned into, I think I agree! I will need turf tyres for summer and ag for winter.

As mentioned before, the standard rims are 6.00-12 / 8.3-22 which from my calculations gives a rolling circumference ratio of approx 1.52. I've been looking at alternatives and I can see that the Kubota BX2710 takes 13.6-16 / 24x8.50-14 which I think gives a ratio of about 1.57.

Assuming I can get these to fit, is this likely to be OK, or is that 5% likely to cause me problems? It will be MUCH easier for me to source Kubota rims than Yanmar, and the tyres are more widely available too.

I've also found another set that have a ratio of about 1.47 - the question I have is, how much of a problem is that 5% difference? I have fixed 4wd so can't run in 2wd.