13.6-38 vs. 14.9-38

CarGuy · Oct 11, 2011

For a tractor weighing around 4,000 lbs and not weighting up for other classes, which one of these will get more bite on hard to average tracks? Also, how much will it hurt to put 13.6-38's on a 10 inch wide rim? I'm trying to find an old set of Firestone Field and Roads for one of these setups.

Thanks

VicS · Oct 11, 2011

Bigger is most always better. If you want to win
always use the rim width it says to on the tire or
one Not over one inch bigger.

Andrew Z · Oct 11, 2011

Not a problem at all, ran a set of 13.6's on 10" for years, worked well.

Andrew

north puller · Oct 11, 2011

If your tractor will handle the extra speed, I would say 9 times out of 10 the taller skinnier 14.9 will do better. 14.9 also put a few more sq inches on the ground.

CarGuy · Oct 11, 2011

When you say taller skinnier, do you mean the 14.9 isn't as wide as the 13.6? I knew they were taller...

Also, I've seen a few lighter tractors not do well when they had too big of a tire. Wasn't sure if having too much lug on the ground reduced the ground pressure enough that it didn't get a good bite, as far as the bigger is better comment goes.

Thanks again guys!

north puller · Oct 11, 2011

Sorry. I like 14.9 over 15.5's. But at that weight, I have seen many 13.6's do well too. I think either could work well. Personally I would stick with either a field and road or a super all traction 2. The 23 deg seems to work well on most tracks too.

Andrew Z · Oct 12, 2011

The 14.9 has a larger footprint then the 13.6 and also the 15.5. The 13.6 and the 15.5 have the same overall diamater too, the 15.5 being wider then the 13.6.

Andrew

mshultz · Oct 12, 2011

Personally I think it depends a lot on the track conditions and the sled chain length/height. I've seen "pizza cutter" 11.2 x 38 tires do really well against 13.6 x 38 tires on something like a Farmall H if the track is super hard or the chain doesn't create much draft.

Think about it in this context - Your end objective is traction - getting ahold of the ground to pull the sled the furthest. I think sometimes a tire too large spreads the weight out over to much area, and you don't get enough pounds of weight per square inch of tire to get them to get ahold of the track - they just sit on top and spin. Where as a smaller tire has less surface area so there is more weight on each square inch - and sometimes those fewer square inches actually getting traction into the track is more effective than a larger tire sitting on top of the track spinning away.

This theory changes drastically if you have no pace and a drop pan sled where momentum is king.

Good luck.

CarGuy · Oct 12, 2011

Thanks again guys! Looks like I'm leaning towards the 13.6 on my existing 10" rim, unless I can find a good deal on a 14.9 and rim somewhere.... Field and Roads probably aren't being given away anymore I imagine

13.6-38 vs. 14.9-38

CarGuy

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VicS

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Andrew Z

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north puller

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CarGuy

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north puller

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Andrew Z

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mshultz

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