vinito
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2015
- Messages
- 199
So keeping with the theme of pipe dreams, another thing which has been kind of a nagging thought since I got my little 8A is the tires. Maybe they are appropriate for the power this puts out and something more "loader-looking" would end up helping to tear itself apart. But it sure seems like it would be better with deeper, bigger tread in both dirt and snow scenes.
Of course the wheels that are on it are odd 13" which you can't find anything for. The tires are 24" or so outside diameter. But I found some small loader tires, with 8-1/2" tread width that are 27" outer diameter. They would be for 15" rims so new wheels would be pretty easy to find for about $200 for a set. Unaltered, this machine would sit too high for those, but it looks like I could fairly easily swing the axles up to sit 1-1/2" higher by simply re-drilling the mounting hole pattern and slotting the center thru-hole, or maybe just torch the whole piece out and weld it back in 1-1/2" higher (doing a proper job of it of course).
In my mind, the advantage of this is that the size something that can be purchased when necessary rather than be so difficult to find, and even then it would basically be some automobile snow tires at best. And of course the tread and contact area might translate to better performance and less turf damage. I could be wrong about the turf damage, the traction and maybe it would be hard on the drive system. I don't know.
But here's what I've got and something that could replace it any day of the week:
And here's what I've got on the machine now (P165/80D13):
So if this is a stupid idea, I can take it. The tires hold the machine up for now and only one of them leaks as far as I know (it lasts a bit over a day before it needs air added thus far). I'm just trying to think ahead I guess.
Of course the wheels that are on it are odd 13" which you can't find anything for. The tires are 24" or so outside diameter. But I found some small loader tires, with 8-1/2" tread width that are 27" outer diameter. They would be for 15" rims so new wheels would be pretty easy to find for about $200 for a set. Unaltered, this machine would sit too high for those, but it looks like I could fairly easily swing the axles up to sit 1-1/2" higher by simply re-drilling the mounting hole pattern and slotting the center thru-hole, or maybe just torch the whole piece out and weld it back in 1-1/2" higher (doing a proper job of it of course).
In my mind, the advantage of this is that the size something that can be purchased when necessary rather than be so difficult to find, and even then it would basically be some automobile snow tires at best. And of course the tread and contact area might translate to better performance and less turf damage. I could be wrong about the turf damage, the traction and maybe it would be hard on the drive system. I don't know.
But here's what I've got and something that could replace it any day of the week:
And here's what I've got on the machine now (P165/80D13):
So if this is a stupid idea, I can take it. The tires hold the machine up for now and only one of them leaks as far as I know (it lasts a bit over a day before it needs air added thus far). I'm just trying to think ahead I guess.
