Baloon tires on a wide front

Dodgeit · Jul 10, 2011

At the show I saw a JD 70 with what I call baloon tires on the front. Looked different and not in a bad way.

Is it just a matter of bolting implement rims with wide tires on the hub or what needs to be done?

Thanks

GeneMO · Jul 10, 2011

For years we ran implement tires on the front of our 706. The John Deere grinder/mixer had the exact same rims. I just painted over the yellow and switched them out.

Gene

DeltaRed · Jul 10, 2011

'floatation' tires are common and are useful/nessesary for heavy frontend load applications-such as a front loader,and for carryiny the tractor in soft conditions.just get some wide implement rims(with correct bolt pattern)and bolt em on.and besides,they just look cool!

Ray · Jul 10, 2011

There hard on front ends,break spindles and rims have problems.

Bob · Jul 10, 2011

I think you mean to say "the hard use that often goes along with installing such tires is tough on front-end parts"! (loaders, for example.)

Flotation tires, on their own, for average use should actually be EASIER on the spindles, etc. 'cause of not falling in every little hole and rut and bottoming out, jerking on the front-end components.

JMS/.MN · Jul 10, 2011

Main issue with fat tires is do they have enough clearance to body parts. They certainly spread the load, especially help with a fel. Flotation beats getting stuck, so the rears have to push more.

Owen Aaland · Jul 10, 2011

The reason large tires are hard on spindles is because they move the center of ground contact out from directly in line with the axis of the spindle. It means more steering effort is needed because you now have to turn the tires in an arc rather than just pivoting on the ground. More importantly, it moves the center of the load out away from the larger inner bearing. The load is no longer applied directly up through the spindle axis but now is offset and results in a lever affect at the spindle joint. The larger the tire the more offset the load becomes. That is what causes the spindles to break off just inside of the inner bearing.

fixerupper · Jul 10, 2011

Wide implement tires do give more flotation for sure. The tradeoff is they don't bite into the ground as well when you turn. They probably won't damage the steering as long as a loader isn't hung on the tractor.

I put 9.5LX15 implement tires on the front of my 630 Deere when it was a loader tractor, thinking I would get through the soft mud better. They did float better, but they also pushed more mud and I had to lay heavy on the brakes to steer the thing. I had to have the rims dished out to clear the end of the axle, putting even more stress on an already taxed power steering. After sheering the bolts that hold the power steering vane, I took the flotations off and put on 7.50X15 ribbed tractor steer tires. It just made a better acting front end. The wide ones dished out were too much. The 7.50's could be dished in but there wasn't much mud room. I think the factory tires were 6.00X16 and that"s what it was designed for. Jim

Ray · Jul 10, 2011

No,not actually,every inch of a wider rim puts thousands of pounds of force on a spindle and front end.The lug bolts also take a beating and sometimes break off and rims won't take the extra load.There just not designed for the extra weight and stress.I can't tell you how many times i've seen conversions with sloppy steering,
welded bolt holes,two different from rims because one broke and they stuck anything that would fit to get by with.

cadet trooper · Jul 10, 2011

I always thought the diamond fatback steering tires of the late 70s early 80s on like the AC7080 and Case 2590 and bigger Gleaner combines looked awesome but after operating tractors and combines with them not so impressive usually due to a lot of brake use in steering unless the front end had like the 14 front weight option so when we got our new Gleaner L3 for the farm with an eight row cornhead transferred from Michigan it had a set of R-1 single rib steering tires not cool looking to me so we called the dealer and he said try em if you don't like them I'll swap them FOC we did and they were super, they floated in soft ground and bit in at the turns and we had some cowboy operators on the ends. I know with that said it was on a combine with an eight row so weight wasn't an issue but it was a tire I've seen in rice country on the fronts of the likes JD5020s and such it was just a smooth tire with one giant center rib they got my vote! IMHO

VicS · Jul 10, 2011

Our 4040 JD has 10L X 15 Multi rib six hole rims
from the factory the rims are reversed for clearance. It had 8800 hrs. and a hard life.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 10, 2011

I made the mistake of putting flotation tires on my loader tractor. They aren't worth a crap, in mud they slide even with a bale on the loader. Should have bought 3 or 4 rib tires.

northvale · Jul 11, 2011

I have smooth implement tires on front of my JD 4020, came that way. Very nice on the hay fields. I have never plowed or cultivated with it.

pete 23 · Jul 11, 2011

When customers started ordering their tractors with those huge front tires is exactly when we started to see premature front axle failures.
Spindles, tie rods, arms, the works. Hard to explain to people what you just described about front end geometry.

Baloon tires on a wide front

Dodgeit

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GeneMO

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DeltaRed

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Ray

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Bob

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JMS/.MN

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Owen Aaland

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fixerupper

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Ray

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cadet trooper

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VicS

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Anonymous-0

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northvale

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pete 23

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