Ag Tire Width Preference 10.5 or 8.5 ???

[leeave96 496]

Going to fit a set of ag tires and have rims for either 23x8.5x12 or 23x10.5x12.

 

Duty - Farm chores pulling trailers, mowing, pushing snow and moldboard plowing.

 

Recommendations?

 

Thanks!

[ebinmaine 77,004]

30 minutes ago, leeave96 said:

Duty - Farm chores pulling trailers, mowing,

 

IMHO.... it won't matter for FUNCTION. We've tried a bunch of different tires & tractors & setups over the years.  They all work fine - given the correct set up. 

 

So go for looks. 

Personally I prefer a wider tire for two reasons. 

1. I like the aesthetics. To me, a wider tire looks better.  

 

2. The FUNCTIONAL part... a wider tire can hold more fluid. More fluid is more weight is more traction. 

 

 

30 minutes ago, leeave96 said:

 

pushing snow

 

My experience shows me that you NEED to separate the chore list here by way of proper preparation.  

For snow ❄️ an AG tires is not the best choice. Functional. But not ideal because the chains will set down in between the tire bars.  

 

 

30 minutes ago, leeave96 said:

 

and moldboard plowing.

 

This I've never done. Perhaps @Pullstart @Achto or @WHX?? can answer.  

 

 

 

[AlexR 2,454]

For moldboard ploughing a narrower tire will ultimately work better, because you aren't looking for floatation you want traction. 

Something to remember though is if you are getting Deestone ags or BKT ags you will actually want to get the 10.5 size because the tires are not actually 10.5" wide they are more like 8.5-9" real width. 

But if I was getting Carlisle Tru Powers I would get a 8.5" width tire as it runs fairly true to size. I believe the OTR Lawn Tracs are the same way. 

 

I have had decent luck pushing snow with ags without chains, and again the narrower size should do better. But like Ebinmaine said a AG tire is not the best choice. If you only ever push 2-3 inches of snow on fairly flat ground you can probably get away with it. More then that you will really struggle to push. 

 

Farm duties absolutely either size will be fine. Mowing I mean probably not the ideal tire for it, if you don't have a pristine lawn and don't care about having one it will work, I have done it myself. 

[ebinmaine 77,004]

2 hours ago, AlexR said:

BKT

 

Here's a copy of the post from Let's Talk Tires. 

 

They do run a little smaller than the listed size but remember that's PRE inflation. 

Mounting and filling them with air or fluid will increase the size a bit. 

I don’t know how much. Just something to keep in mind.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AlexR 2,454]

True, but I don't think inflation would increase tread width, especially contact patch area. If anything I would think it would reduce it. Inflation would increase height and sidewall width (depending on rim size)

I can experiment on my BKT's, I will be mounting them as soon as it warms up enough to get the rims painted. 

 

I don't know if it's true for everyone but on my tractor the tires are fluid filled and probably only a couple psi worked great for moldboard ploughing. 

[rick 267]

I have no problems with my Carlisle 8.50 wide ags, but all I use them for is ploughing the garden.  Otherwise, when I need traction I use turf tires, chains and WH plastic covered weights.

[ebinmaine 77,004]

22 minutes ago, AlexR said:

True, but I don't think inflation would increase tread width, especially contact patch area. If anything I would think it would reduce it. Inflation would increase height and sidewall width (depending on rim size)

 

 

I can see the logic here. Rim Width would definitely be the determining factor for final tread width.