34 vs 38 tires

Of course the thing you have to know about me is than I like big wide radial tires. I have always said that the tires make the tractor, if you have good traction, wide tires you reduce ground compaction, can pull harder, and you get stuck less.

The thing you have to think about is if you are changing the width of a given tire, then the overall height of the tire will change too. So if I have a 15.5 x 38 and I go to an 18.4 x 38 I am going to gain overall height on the rear of the tractor by a few inches.

Case in point, I had 16.9 x 38 tires on my 1850 Oliver, I wanted some more width on the tire but wanted to keep the tractor level. I brought the tractor down to a 34 inch rim and wheel center and put on 20.8 x 34 tires and actually raised the tractor up about an inch at the drawbar. Where if I had put 20.8 x 38 tires on it I would have been running down hill all the time and the drawbar would have been too high.

The tallest tires I have on the farm is the 2150's tires, they are 23.1 x 34 on the rear and they are taller than my 20.8 x 38 tires on the 1855. Also the different brands can be different heights. The Titan tires we run are normally taller on the same size tire than the BFG's

So while J Meyer is somewhat correct that the larger rim "normally" means a taller tire, you have to consider the width too.

I can't say I see much difference between the 15.5-38's and the 18.4-34's other than the 34's would hold a little more fluid. They seem to be about the same overall height.

As far as traction, can't say we've ever had problems, but our 1600 won't ever be doing much for pulling. We leave that up to our 1855 and Massey 285.
Donovan from Wisconsin

smaller tires= traction (34's)

larger tires= speed (38's)

You decide what means more to you. I have a 1650 with 16.9-34's, and I like it that way very much- They look very nice, tractor sits level, and I got excellent traction.