(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

ATV tires on lawnmower?

Turkeyfoot

Turkeyfoot

Well-known Member
Hi. I've got a 10 year old Cub Cadet lawn tractor with about 500 hours on it. It's time for some new tires. The original turf tires have been plugged many, many times. The slow, hard to find leaks have accumulated and one of the front tires looks like it has a field of pin holes on one side when you put soapy water on it.

I mow around a lot of hedge apple (aka osage orange) that drop tons of thorny branches. Also, I abuse this poor little mower using it in high weeds, grass and thorny locust saplings along my creek. The mower is still strong and well-maintained. I'm considering putting some knobby ATV type tires on the rear to try to combat the thorn issue. I'm interested in hearing thoughts or any suggestions about front and back tires in thorn country. The rear tires are 22 x 9.5 x 12. Thanks.
 
I don't think you will have any better luck with ATV tires over the ones that are on it other then at first they will not have any holes. For places like that putting slime in them will probably work better then anything else
 
If you have thorns you should put some Slime tire sealant in the tires. We do that in bicycle tires in Arizona, there are lots of little
thorns, and slime really reduces flat tires.
 
My Oliver Super 88 had a rear tire that would go flat in a day or so and while I was going to change out the tube I figured I would gamble and put some of the new orange slime in it and see what happened. It has not gone flat since
 
I mow a good size cemetery with a Toro 32 ZTR bought it new in 2019. Now has 203 hrs. The cemetery has a lot of small cactuses. Didn't take long
before I had a flat. I put green Slime tire sealant in all four tires in the fall of 2019. Have not had a flat sense.
 
I'm planning to keep the 12 inch rims and just change to tires with deeper treads. The thorns are thick but only about 3/4 inch long so I'm hoping lugs or deeper tread will do the job.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Seems the
general consensus is for slime. I'll give
it a try. Does it cause problems when you
do go to change the tire?
 
I have ATV on a couple of my Sears Suburbans they work great but I don't the thorn problem you have, one thing about the ATV tire you can get used ones dirt cheap at least did first pair $5.00 seconds they gave me I did slime them and yes when you remove a tire that has been slimed its messy but it works
GB in MN
 
I put small ag tires on my JD 345 when my turfs gave out. They might work for you, as the raised bars might keep the thin part of the tire from hitting the ground. I think mine were Carlisle's, and probably $300 bucks 15 years ago, loaded.

Tim
 
23/10/12 Atv tires to fit your mower. By going to a 10" wide the choice of tires greatly improves.

Some available in 23/10/12 are

ITP Mud Lite II (6 ply)
AMS Sahara (4 ply)
Carlisle AT489
AMS Swamp Fox (6 ply) (great choice if you want a large tractor type tread)
Duro Fuze Di2024 (4 ply)
CST Ambush (4 ply) (good mower tire).

Small tires took a big jump in price this sting. So see them selling for upwards to and above $100 each is common.


====≠================

Soapy water foaming around the sidewall is a good indication of dry rot.

Sliming or FixAFlat in a tire is a big No No. The stuff is corrosive to rims. At my shop I will not try to patch a car or truck tire with it in a tire.
For 9 times out of 10 you can't get a patch to stick that has it in a tire.
I charge you $25 just to clean the garbage off of a rim and tire sensors when installing a new or used tire.


This post was edited by Mule Meat on 07/22/2021 at 07:38 pm.
 
Absolutely!!!!! I have clump grass and heavy clay that cracks open in the summer. My solution is to get a new set of wheels with
the minimum diameter that will fit the spindle (8 on my machines) and then install 2 ply studded snow tires of the correct OD to fit
your machine. I say studded because I do a lot of mowing opf 30* slopes and need the traction for that. Air up to single digit # and
enjoy the traction and the soft ride. I have them on my conventional riders and ZTs. Only drawback, if you are manicuring your
lawn, take it easy in ZT functions as they are designed to grab the turf and they will. If you get stickers in them just install some
liquid sealer.....I like Berryman's.....no need to plug.
 
Used ATV tires and worked good on my pulling cubs until the tires were outlawed. At the time ATV
tires were about half the price of bar tires.
 
Thanks for these additional comments! I'm going to hold off until the summer mowing season is over partly because of sticker shock. I'll just keep inflating my current tires with each use. Then I plan to replace all four this fall. I'm going to measure to make sure I have clearance for 23/10/12. I'm pretty sure I do. With the front tires, I'll probably stick to the turf tires. They worked pretty well for 6 or 7 years with just plugging the thorn holes.

I like those swamp fox tires. Looks like I can get a pair for about $180 at 2wheel.com. I suspect those lugs will stand up to the thorns and probably the last set of rears I'll have to buy for that mower.
 
I am running Slasher ATV tires on my mower. But they are 23/10.5/12. I have not had any problems with them in four years of use. They give good traction especially on soft ground where the side lugs hook up. good side bite, and they do not rip the yard up.
They cost around $75 each when I bought them.

mvphoto79174.jpg
 
I use studded front tires on my conventionals too. Reason being is that on hill sides, running horizontal vs vertical up and down, the
studs will grab the terrain better for improved steering control, especially on early morning mowing and not slide like turfs.
 
(quoted from post at 05:07:24 07/28/21) I use studded front tires on my conventionals too. Reason being is that on hill sides, running horizontal vs vertical up and down, the
studs will grab the terrain better for improved steering control, especially on early morning mowing and not slide like turfs.
Click to expand...


I own and work in a tire shop. I sell and service tires from 4" dolly/hand truck to 30" tractor tires.

I would love to see a photo of a studded mower tire. Especially the front. For you see I also have the tools to install studs in tires and I know that the tire must be designed to accept studs or they can't be inserted.
 
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=atv+studded+snow+tires&t=osx&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-na.ssl-images-
amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71oX4NnuYjL._SL1402_.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

U
Thorny Honey Locust... tractor ..long
Replies
12
Views
1K
IHC pickups
I
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top