OT--What tire to buy for my lawn/garden tractor

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Reeltor

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Since we have such a wide wealth of experience here I thought I'd ask.
I have a Toro/WheelHorse lawn/garden mower with a 36" rear tine tiller attachment. I bought this new in 1996, and now the tread is about gone on the turf tires that came with the tractor. When tilling the (worn out) turf tires have a hard time driving in the soft soil.
I see three choices:
1. Do I replace them with AG type "bar" tires?
2. keep using the worn tires and buy tire chains for the rear tires when tilling?
3. buy new turf type tires now and add chains if needed?

The size tire is 23 x 8.50-12; I don't know if other sizes will fit.

Recommendations?

thanks Mike
 
Mike, I think you first need to identify what you will use the tractor for in addition to roto-tilling. Ag tires will help with traction somewhat in soft soil, but will not be a magic bullet. They do have a drawback: when they spin, they dig a hole FAST, getting you stuck even quicker. They also can be very hard on your lawn if you also use the tractor for mowing and then make tight turns. If you purchase replacement turf tires I think you will find that they will bite much better with the new and deeper tread.

You mention using chains for roto-tilling. I don't know all of the details of your situation, but I would tend to think that something is not right if you have to use chains to be able to pull a tiller through a garden. I've got a tractor with a one bottom plow and I don't need chains or anything to pull it, and roto-tillers don't rely on being pulled to get the hard part of the job done. It almost sounds to me like you are trying to travel too fast with the tiller, but I don't know for certain.
 
Ag type bar tread tires have good grip but are hard on turf especially if the ground is soft or wet, just my from experience.
 
terrywerm said:
Mike, I think you first need to identify what you will use the tractor for in addition to roto-tilling. Ag tires will help with traction somewhat in soft soil, but will not be a magic bullet. They do have a drawback: when they spin, they dig a hole FAST, getting you stuck even quicker. They also can be very hard on your lawn if you also use the tractor for mowing and then make tight turns. If you purchase replacement turf tires I think you will find that they will bite much better with the new and deeper tread.

You mention using chains for roto-tilling. I don't know all of the details of your situation, but I would tend to think that something is not right if you have to use chains to be able to pull a tiller through a garden. I've got a tractor with a one bottom plow and I don't need chains or anything to pull it, and roto-tillers don't rely on being pulled to get the hard part of the job done. It almost sounds to me like you are trying to travel too fast with the tiller, but I don't know for certain.
Click to expand...

Terry,
I don't own any tire chains for this little garden tractor. For years the turf tires did fine when tilling but now that it is time to replace them, I was wondering what I should buy. I need to rephrase my issue. Being in Georgia we have mostly red clay, for the past 3 years I have been tilling in compost (yard waste/wood chips and leaves from the local city) in an effort to improve my vegetable garden. When turning (with the tiller raised) in the soft recently tilled dirt getting lined up to make another run the rear tires may spin especially when I'm on a slight hill.
I need to replace the tires, they are worn out after using them for only 21 years!
I do use this to mow my lawn (well mostly weeds LOL) so your comment on the drawbacks of the AG tire is exactly what I need to hear.

Thanks,
 
You are most welcome, Mike. The compost should help to loosen up that clay quite a bit. Adding some sand may help it loosen up as well, but composted organic is probably the best. It takes a lot of it to really see the improvement, but it's worth it. From the sound of what you are saying, I would be willing to bet that a new set of turf tires would take care of most of your problem. Soft soils rely on deep tread to give you traction more so than a big blocky tread or ag bars.
 
For tractor mounted tillers, wheel weights are often used on small rigs, but if it worked when the tread was good, it should work with new ones. If they are tube type, keep your old tubes, as the newer made in china stuff is awful, and you'll be adding air every time you use it. I tend to use equipment tires until they die a natural death, so if the chains work with the tiller, I would use them on the old tires. Mike
 
Ok your in my line of work now. Been doing small engines for over forty years. If I were you I'd get the original style tires if they worked ok for the past why change. But you could pick up extra rims and get the ag tires . Weights won't help in clay , just bury the wheel quicker. Chains will help but will cut your lawn up worse then ag tires. You can leave a little air out to keep the tire wider on the ground. The 23 x 850 x 12 ,, diameter x bore x width. Do yourself a favor get the four ply not two . A bit more money but well worth it to make the next twenty years.
 
If you do get ag tires they have directional rotation. I've seen lots of so called high end repair shops mount them backwards or one each way. The point of the v is forward , the top of v is made to dig in for reverse if you get stuck.
 
Thank you for all the responses. Northern Tool has Kenda 4 ply on sale at $56 each, this looks to be the best price around. Anyone have any experience with Kenda brand tires?
 
Had them on my duel sport bike , they were great
 
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