What size tires with 200 hp

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Running a 200 hp tractor in the 7500 8500 lbs class im trying to decide between 18.4x38 or 20.8x38 both would be firestone 151's with 30% tread. What would be the better tire...
 
You know where I stand, bigger is better. Unless the 20.8's are tall enough to mess up your gear ratios. Could be the other way also. If say you have enough power to pull 3rd but not 4th with the 18.4's, maybe you could still pull 3rd with the 20.8's
 
bigger is better only in your imagination,lbs per sq. inch is what hooks,and speed??????????????? Is 200 real,imagined or wanted,is it enough to go 14-16 mph? Different tracks,conditions dictate more than some hypothetical situation.
 
778899 have you won any big pulls with littler than the max allowable tire size? If you have won 4 or 5 National pulls I will shut-up and never mention it again. Vic
 
Vic -

He may not have, but I have...

Bigger is NOT ALWAYS better. It definitely depends on track conditions. As stated previously, matching your ground pressure to the "ideal" ground pressure of the track is where the win resides!

I agree with the philosphy of doing whatever it takes to get most out of your tractor. However, I prefer running 4th gear with slightly smaller tires than running 3rd gear with slightly bigger tires. In MOST cases, the momentum will override the marginally higher traction...

Regards,

Goldsburg
 
I can justify the bigger is better tire dispute IF you are in a mph class,In non speed limit classes ground speed and HP are king,If my tractor is 2mph faster than yours with like HP even if I am running a smaller tire 9 out of 10 times I win..As long as I don't screw the physics up..I have beat countless tractors with my 18.4x34 VS their 18.4x38 why???? I had more groundspeed running a gear higher.In MPH class I agree I would want 18.4x38s on my 77...AND I have also been beat by a tractor with 14.9 or 15.5 tires...groundspeed!
 
I tried to run 20.8-42's on my B farmall that makes a little over 200 but rules only allow 18.4-38's so I think I will put on 30.5-32's and go run NTPA
 
I agree with Vic I will take the big tires any time. And yes I have been beat with tractors with smaller tires but if you go to big pulls with big horse power tractors what they running? They cant all be wrong.
 
To Vic,my history and winning record all over the country,in many classes speaks for itself,for almost thirty yrs. Smaller tires win many times over the largest allowed,mostly in smaller weight divisions.Most on here are small time antique pullers,BIG POWER,BIG POCKET BOOKS are a whole different story,when you have 200-three thousand hp,it takes as big as you are allowed,but not for some putt - putt.Every dog has it's day.Every tire and every tractor can and has won on a given day and track.
 
bigger tires will win 70% of the time would be my geuse go bigger our wait for the right track to win 30% of the time
 
Are they cut or uncut? What kind of tracks do you run on? Sandy, Maybe the Bigger ones. Good Biting tracks probably the smaller ones. You see you can't just get on and ask a simple question and expect a simple answer. 200 HP is not a lot HP to be running 20.8 tires especially when you do not state whether or not you are pulling an open class tractor or a MPH tractor. Not trying to be rude but there is a lot of factors that decide the answer to your question that have not been stated and that the others are not even taking in to consideration. In other words talk to people who you think will help you that you know personally but here is an example of what you get when you don't know, answer after answer that don't tell you anything. Experience is the best educator unless you are blessed with friends like I have had, Ken Foland, Art Forrest, and Randy Babbitt and others but even then you have to watch out, they are ornery you know.

Jim
 
As a very general rule it is probably correct. But there are a boat load of conditions under which it isn't correct. There is no perfect tire size, brand, tread, cut, rim width, tire pressure, etc. Anyone that tells you a particular tire size, etc. is the best is forgetting to tell you the conditions it didn't work or don't want to remember the times when they were beat by tires bigger, smaller, wider, narrower, shorter, taller. I've seen many of the exceptions happen over the years I've pulled.
 
Goldsburg,I do have and am glad others see it as it actually is,small trumps large many times.So many different scenarios in all motor sports,driver choices,track reading ability all matter more than tire size.Power does no good if it isn't hooked up,speed is hard to control with out proper balance,ect.Larger tires alone hurt more guys in my classes than helps them,granted,sometimes,larger is better.
 
you'd be suprised what 4 turbo's do for a B Farmall, I also have a NOS bottle for the tough spots, I did finally have to go to ARP for the head studs.
 

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