YATT: Yet Another Tire Thread
 

Well spring is coming and I'm ready to get some new shoes on the Super. I'm looking for the best/cheapest place to order my tires from. I know for the front I want to go with some 5 rib tires:

http://www.millertire.com/products/l...d-5-rib-4-ply/

But for the rear, I'm going between the Carlisle Tru Powers:

http://www.millertire.com/products/l...ru-power-4ply/

Or these bad boys. Technically, they are marketed towards ATV/UTV owners but they come in 26-12-12 so they should fit fine. I attached a picture I found with these tires on another brand/size garden tractor, but it proves the point; they work, and seem to work just fine. The stated tread depth is 1.06" so that should give me plenty of grass cutting grab :biggrin2:

http://www.mud-throwers.com/inc/sdetail/3324

Anywho, beyond what tire I choose, what's the best place to order them from? I know Miller Tire is a good site but I totaled up what it'd cost to order all 4 tires from them and it came to $130 in shipping. Ouch :bigeyes: On the other hand, if I order those Kenda Executioner Tires, they cost $12.50 less and ship free (which saves me about $100 vs Miller Tire) so that saves me a decent chunk there. What do you guys think? :bigthink:

Amazon has very good prices and free shipping - the Tru Power tires are $110, no shipping charges.

Well I think that takes care of that! $110 plus free shipping, I don't think there's a cheaper place to get em. Thanks for the heads up!

Now if only they carried the Vredestein V61's, that'd make it a one stop shop. Guess two orders are in...order :biggrin2:

Summit Racing also has Tru-Powers and free shipping but they are $115.97
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/crr-523361

V61's it's Miller.

So there's two sites with a cheaper tire price than Miller Tires AND free shipping. Wonder why Miller doesn't find a way to do the free shipping :bigthink:

My guess is that Miller does not do the kind of volume that the free shippers do and they probably pay more to buy the tires in the first place.

Did you notice the max. load capacity for the Tru-Powers versus those Kenda ATV tires?

1780lbs @ 20psi 4 ply
vs
495lbs @ ? psi 6 ply

I did and that seemed kinda odd to me. The Kenda tires are 6 ply so it shouldn't lead to that kind of a difference. And if you go the manufacturers site for the Kenda tires, they rate them at 520lbs :bigthink:

I think it's also a matter of construction, not only of ply count. I think 2100lbs total load for an 4x4 ATV is more than enough, because the weight and traction is equally distributed. Whereas on a tractor all the traction is on the rear wheels and it may also have wheel weights, implements and may be pulling ground engaging equipment putting more load on the 2 rear tires. I'm not sure what the exact weight limit is on a cat 0 3pt but must be at least 500 pounds, so that has to be accounted for as well.

At least that's my guess.

I think the difference comes from ATV tires being softer rubber, a 6 ply ATV tire is still softer than a 4 ply tractor tire. Even at the lower rating it would still be fine but I would go for the tru powers anyway.