Do I really need duals?

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
Evening
I've got a flat tyre on one of the duals (again), got to take it off, strap it onto a trailer, take it in to the tyre man, pay some hard earned $$$ to have it fixed......or do I?

The tractor came with these duals on it and I've left them on, assuming they'd be providing extra traction....or something along those lines. I at least figured the last owner put them on for some practical reason, I've since found out that the last owner just liked to one up the neighbour.

All this machine does it mow grass with a mounted mower and spread fertiliser with a trailed spreader (admittedly on some pretty challenging and steep ground). It doesn't spend its days playing in the dirt, nor does it work in wet ground, so floatation isn't needed.

I've always found the traction to be relatively poor, the rear wheels are very quick to spin and make a mess of the grass but don't seem to really dig in and get traction. The worst bit is how much grass gets dug up when doing a tight turn, just from the wheels scuffing.

Should I just pull the duals off and sell them? Change the inner wheels around a bit to widen the track out to where the duals are? 4 tyres is always going to be less trouble and cheaper to run than 6. Or am I being silly and are they doing more than they appear to be doing?

How will it affect the ride quality? I've always found this tractor to be very bumpy, no matter what the tyre pressures are. Could I expect more cushioning and therefore a better ride if I run just the inner tyres?

I should really just pull them off and try it, but I'd rather sit here from my warm and dry armchair and ask the internet.

1 - Copy.jpg


Inner tyre is new, 520/70R38 (Alliance), good tread, full of water. Outer tyre is 12.4R46, seen better days, no water.
 
Last edited:

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
On the hill you tend to slide if you have duals, on singles being narrower you tend to catch and tip.

loose the water out of the inners and you’d have a better ride.

what tyre pressures are you running on the inner and outer tyres?

At the moment the inners are at about 12 psi, duals at about 15. Normally run them a bit higher but it's been so wet and greasy, I needed the extra traction for spreading.

Ride is noticeably better on the Alliance tyres than the Pirellis that came off it.
 

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
Looks like I'll be best to bite the bullet and fix them up then. Sidewalls are in pretty bad shape, courtesy of the last owner, the dealer put dog turds in the holes which lasted about a day before losing pressure, and then they came out and put boots and tubes in which have lasted about a year.

Must be time for new tyres.
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
Sounds expensive now but surely better in the long run… why not get rid of both wheels and tyres and run 1 tyre that’s wider? Like a 710?
 

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
Sounds expensive now but surely better in the long run
My money is made in the cowshed, not on the tractor seat. There comes a point where it's more economical to get rid of the "big" equipment and leave it to the contractor. Seems to be two steps forward, one step back at this stage.

Shouldn't Inner be higher pressure
No idea, I just add or remove air until they "look" right.
 
What part of the country are you in? I hate duals for most things except when I'm going somewhere hairy. They are awkward, uncomfortable and not sure do they grip climbing up the steep stuff any better that a decent singles.
 

Gerbert

Member
Location
Dutch biblebelt
A wider hight equivalent for a 520/70r38 will be a 600/65r38 and a 650/60r38.
You might be able to fit the 600 on the same rim but a 650 will likely need a wider rim.
A 710/60r34 might do the job but are a bit on the low side.
 

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
What part of the country are you in? I hate duals for most things except when I'm going somewhere hairy. They are awkward, uncomfortable and not sure do they grip climbing up the steep stuff any better that a decent singles.

Northern King Country. If I'm motivated enough tomorrow, I'll pull the duals off and go climb some mountains to get the feel of it.
 

Richard Devon

Member
Mixed Farmer
This is what I use for really steep fields........it was 6 star cage-wheels with flat steel welded to the leading side of the round cross-tubes, the tightening mechanism was cut out and welded in to 38" stocks dual wheel rims.........they DO grip, up, down, across the side......no bother :)

Cage-wheels-1.jpg



Cage-wheels-2.jpg
 

Tomr10

Member
This is what I use for really steep fields........it was 6 star cage-wheels with flat steel welded to the leading side of the round cross-tubes, the tightening mechanism was cut out and welded in to 38" stocks dual wheel rims.........they DO grip, up, down, across the side......no bother :)

Cage-wheels-1.jpg



Cage-wheels-2.jpg
Needs a bit more air in it
 

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
So this morning I woke up in a good mood (it doesn't happen often) and made the most of it by getting the tyre man out to fix it. Looks like something's poked through the tyre & tube while I was out mowing (can't wait to run over it again one day), patch on the tube and boot on the tyre sidewall where the previous issue was and all is well in my little world again.

Crisis averted.

Leave the wheel on knock the tyre off the rim and mend the puncture yourself. :)
Yes, I've been meaning to get myself geared up to do tractor tyres but haven't quite got there yet. There was a bead breaker slide hammer thing and a set of levers at a local clearing sale which I missed out on, would've been a nice little package.

Those tyre technicians make the job look so easy, I'm sure there would be some pretty exciting expletives (and possibly the odd tool) flying around if I was trying to dismount a tractor bead.
 

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