Tyre air pressures

[Mith]

May i ask if anyone can help me
i would like to know the minimum pressure i can run turf tyres in the followind situations
1. regular mowing with RFM
2. MMM
3. bush hogging
4. towing
5. grong engaging equipment (plough, ripper)
i would like to run at a minimum pressure for max traction but dont want tobreak sidewalls ect
(this is witout loader ect, tractor only, small CUT)

thanks in advance

 

[kozak]

I would leave inflated to maximum recommended pressure. Would not be worth the added tire wear or potential for a flat for the amount of additional traction you will get. If you want more traction why not add some additional weight. That's what I just recently did. I have turf tires & man what a difference it made.

My two cents worth.

 

[Mith]

thanks for the input, sounds like ill have to get the compressor out and pump them back up /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
thanks

 

[RalphVa]

Think I read in here somewhere that some folks experimented with lower pressures. Think the limit is somewhere around 8-10 psi that you run the risk of the tire not having enough pressure to adhere properly to the rim and will either rotate of blow out at the rim.

Think I'd stick with the recommended pressures, generally probably in the vicinity of 18-22 psi. Think it's as low as 14 psi on my Gravely, but it's 18 psi on the JD.

Ralph

 

[Mith]

regular tyre pressures for lawn tractor are 14 front 10 rear
i had mine down at 3 because of the mud but after whats been said here im going up to the recommended pressures thanks

 

[RobertN]

Here is what you do...

Put the implement on the tractor, and prepare as you would to do the particular task.

Pull the tractor out on to the dry driveway. Spray a little water right in front of the the tires.

Drive forward a few feet and stop. Now, look at the tire print left behind. You should see the print of the entire width, of the main tread portion of the tire. If you see mostly the middle of the tread, you have too much air. If you see parts of the side tread, you are under inflated.

Adjust as necessary and repeat untill you see the patch from that main part of the tread.

Note that pressure, for that particular implement load. Repeat for other implements as needed.

Tire pressures on the sidewall are for max load. The R4's I have on my little Kubota would handle a tractor and implement weight about three times what mine is. If I run the recomended pressure, I am using the widdle 6" section of my 12" wide tire.

I did this with the Jeep I used to have too(it was a '70 CJ5 that weighed about 2700lbs). Although the tire showed a 32psi pressure on the sidewall, I never ran more than 20psi. When I first got tires, and they were set at 32psi by the tire shop, you could hardly hold the thing on the road. The 12.50 tires were riding on the center portion of the tread. The 32 psi was probably great if the tires were used on a heavier pickup truck.

 

[frank_f15]

NEVER HEARD IT DESCRIBED THAT WAY. but it does sound logical, but i wonder how many want to keep changing tire pressure everytime they change implements. plus how much does ambient air temp raise or lower the pressure? up here in the norteast we can go to 90 in summer and down to 0 during the winter.

 

[_RaT_]

If you look at some of the tire or tyre manufactuer's websites like Michelin, Goodyear etc, they address the issue of inflation. Michelin seems to stress the importance of running your tires at the minimum pressure and still do the job. Compaction being the big issue. Your top speed and load will have more to do with it then anything. I run my rears at about 14 PSI even though the manual calls for 20 or 24 PSI. Even with R4's, my traction in non mud conditions is excellent. My fronts get the recommended psi because I have the loader going full tilt these days.

 

[Mith]

Robert thanks for the info, ill try that tomorrow maybe
Are tyres more liable to puncture at high or low pressure?
If i set the tyres right with the brush hog up then wont they be wrong when im mowing with it down?
If with a heavy trailer i can see the sidewall bulge at the bottom is this a bad sign?
thanks all for answering my novice questions /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
hey im new to this compact tractor malarky and im learining /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
thanks for the great site

 

[normde2001]

I believe we are talking about a lawn/garden tractor, and if so, I would not think it would be heavy enough for tire pressure to make any difference in traction.