Bobcat Tire 10-16.5

[Tom in Mo.]

Sorry if this has been covered. Interested in replacing the tires with solid tires such as McLaren. I know they cost double but are they worth it? Good or Bad? All comments welcome.

 

[foton]

first I do not own them,this is just what I have read. They ride hard, they do have some interesting tread patterns ,they do lower your center of gravity for added stability,and they should not be used with OTT,a friend of mine bobcat s- 185 he is replacing chain case gears ,chains sprockets axle.because he ran his OTT to tight and got a rock between the air filled tires and tracks and broke a bunch of things. including his wallet priced at bobcat at 10.2k so.

 

[mrbb]

they have pro's and con's like any tire, it mostly comes down to what and where the machine is used as to justify solid tires or not
and there are many designs of run flat tires, from foam filled, to solid rubber, or flexible rubber tires
they all have there place in use, op, it again comes down to where you run your machine the most , to maybe justify or not there added costs!

 

[Tlawdogg]

Like mrbb said. Really depends on how & where you are using the machine. My 863 came with a set of Solids. I use it on a working ranch, muddy, sandy in areas. To me it had NO grip. They slid all over, almost stuck bad a few times. I changed to regular tires and it works great for our need. If my machine was at different construction sites, street/ highway the solids would have worked . But just my 2 cents.

 

[Tom in Mo.]

Sorry if this has been covered. Interested in replacing the tires with solid tires such as McLaren. I know they cost double but are they worth it? Good or Bad? All comments welcome.

This machine is retired to use around the farm. Rock driveway, sometimes in the creek and dirt work.

 

[mrbb]

This machine is retired to use around the farm. Rock driveway, sometimes in the creek and dirt work.

if this is all you use machine for, then I highly doubt the benefits of a solid tire will do you any good, and NOT be worth the added costs
there biggest claim to fame IMO is there NO flat, and good for working in area's with lots of hazards to the tire
a GOOD basic tire is all you need!, Id stay away from the cheap stuff and just buy ONE good set of regular air tires and they should last you a LONG time with low hours per yr use!

 

[Tom in Mo.]

mrbb thanks and I agree.

 

[foton]

well it has been awhile since this was started and it is about time I start looking for tires . I am thinking about going down the solid road. Has anyone done this and willing to give some thoughts on what they have purchased. I have a woodlot that I saw from and I was thinking that the extra weight of the tires will help from getting tippy when moving logs around when about maxed out weight wise.

 

[brdgbldr]

well it has been awhile since this was started and it is about time I start looking for tires . I am thinking about going down the solid road. Has anyone done this and willing to give some thoughts on what they have purchased. I have a woodlot that I saw from and I was thinking that the extra weight of the tires will help from getting tippy when moving logs around when about maxed out weight wise.

I had a set of solid tires that I got used at auction. You are correct about the weight of them lowering the machines center of gravity, they weighed over 200 lbs each.

They had an offset wheel that you could flip on the machine ( non-directional tread) to make the tire to tire width of the machine wider which also helped with tipping left and right.

The ride was very rough on hard surfaces. No give at all. A good seat can help with the rough ride. I was never a big fan of the solid tires with holes cut through them for a softer ride. I would think that eventually the holes would get filled with debris and cause problems.

You can also recut the tread on solid tires once it wears down.

 

[WBW]

I do not own a set of solid tires, but have talked to owners who have. They all say the ride is horrible. My thought is unless you are working cleaning up construction or demolition waste where tire punctures are inevitable, stick with normal tires. On my Cat 262C, I have added Liqutube to all my tires, so even if you do get a nail puncture it just seals its self up.

 

[FJRDarksider]

I have a well worn set of gel filled tires and a new set of air filled. The new set is great in the snow but I use the foam filled normally as they add a fair bit of ballast for lifting (lowers the CG nominally) and isn't as bouncy (sounds odd to say but it rides hard obviously). I would estimate the weight of the gel filled at at least 200kg each......I certainly can't budge them off the ground.

 

[foton]

well I pulled the trigger on a set of mclaren solids with the relief holes . I work on my own property so I do not have to go fast to get something done in a hurry normally, so maybe the ride issue wont be so bad. I guess we shall see, I will let yall know how it goes.

 

[foton]

well I put them on yesterday and drove around a little yesterday and did not feel much difference in the ride,today I put on my stump grinder and will grind some stumps down it will be interesting to see how that stiffens up the side to side motion of the torque off the grinder when grinding. Plus the extra weight of the tires on the ground reduces the bounce of grinding. later

 

[foton]

well when I bought them I did not consider the use of the stump grinder, but the tires do make a the skid steer more stable ,making the grinder easier to use, a win. yeah they do ride a just a bit firmer ,but I figure that is a trade off for no flat tires either.

 

[Hiram]

I had a 50' telehandler at work that needed new tires and the company cheaped out on me - wouldn't replace the foam filled tires with new foam filled tires. It made a huge difference in how the machine worked, its lifting capacity and stability. Consequently, when it was time to replace my foam filled tires on my Bobcat, I went the extra and got the foam filled. So far I have not been disappointed. The only downside I have seen is if you are running on turf, you can't soften the tires to leave less impression.