Getting new tires would love suggestions

Hi guys I have a 743 and I am looking to replace the tires. The ones on it are worn out. I put aside some cash to put tires on it and now I am having a hard time deciding which tires to buy. I currently have 10x16.5 has anyone ever upgraded to 12" wide tires do they fit? I use the bobcat less then 50 hours a year just around the house. Its light use mostly moving things with the forks and such. Never run it on pavement or sharp rocks. I got a price on some Galaxy XD2010 tires 10x16.5 from a warehouse I do business with and the tires were 130 each ($520 set) Then I went on ebay and found a set of Solitek SKS400 tires for $535 and I like the look of the tread pattern better on these. There are some other brands on ebay around the same price. Does anyone have any advice or experience with either of these tires? Thanks Steve in NH.

The 10x16.5 are the optional wide tires for the 743. The standard tires were 7.00-15.
My only suggestion on tire brands is to try and stay away from tires made in China. Almost every tire I've had that was made there will not hold air for more than a month and wore very fast.

OldMachinist said:

The 10x16.5 are the optional wide tires for the 743. The standard tires were 7.00-15.
My only suggestion on tire brands is to try and stay away from tires made in China. Almost every tire I've had that was made there will not hold air for more than a month and wore very fast.

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solideal lifemaster, best my far. they last forever and grip like a bastard.

If you go to 12's you need the super float tires that have the height profile of the 10" tire but have 12" tread width. You need rims too because the 12's take a wider rim. What happens when people add 12x16.5 (have to change rims)to a machine with 10x16.5 tires is the ride height changes and when the boom is fully lowered, the bucket doesn't make contact with the ground unless you tilt the front to make it make contact. That puts you at a constant dig angle and makes the machine more difficult to fine grade. If you're using forks it probably won't show up as much but you'll have to tilt your forks to make the tips touch the ground and the back of the forks will be about 1" off the ground. As for tires, I like the Carlisle Guard Dog HD. If I'm on a budget I get Fourrunner (Chinese made Firestone I've been told) they seem pretty durable. Some of the really cheap Chinese tires get cuts from stones and have less tread than the higher dollar tires which reduces overall life. It sounds like for what you do and the hours of use you could put about whatever you want on the machine and get several years of life out of them.