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radial vs conventional tires

F

Fred Martin

Member
Saw in a post further down the list Brian mentioning about this....and it aroused my curosity. Does radial or conventional tire get more grip if they're evenly weighted/ballasted? Comments from ones who have used and know or have a good opinion....and why. Thanks, ohfred
 
Evenly matched, the radial wind hands down. A larger "footprint" for the radial gives it the edge. The radial puts more available HP to the ground through reduced slippage.
 
Radials have a smoother ride too but for a loader tractor, a lot of people prefer bias ply at least for the front tires. Tractor seems more stable and doesn't rock side to side as much. I know a dairy farmer with 2 similar MFWD loader tractors and he thought he was going to tip over when he got the second tractor with radials. Dave
 
Radials perform better in most situations but not necessarly all situations.
A radial tends to have a lot of flex and squirm... and when you combine this with a hard surface like a gravel road it's entirely possible that a pretty poor bias tire will gain more traction.
You also have to remember that where a radial has a larger footprint relative to most bias tires of the same size... it ALSO has lower ground pressure. Lower ground pressure can equate to less grip in some situations. It's the same as removing ballast...
On the other side, if you take an R1-W like a Michelin Agribib, properly inflated... in soft, wet conditions where that tire will fully bite with it's deep lugs... it'll probably outpull a lot of bias tires by 3-5 to 1 and some other radials by 2-3 to 1.
I pretty much install radials on everything other than one old utility tractor that sees little use anymore. All the rest spend a lot of time on asphalt... and the deep lugs on th radials provide a lot more wear and a lot smoother ride.

Rod
 
Radials seem to have a good bit more traction. I used to have to put the duals on my JD 4430 to pull my big gravity wagons up this one hill. I found a deal on radial tires and since than I don't have to use the dauls. The ride is very much better. The only place I have seen bias out pull the radials is on real hard dirt. The old bias seem to bite and dig better there. The radial seem to just set on top.
 
Radials, hands down, for tillage. Way more efficient. Been using them on three field tractors since they came out in 70s? Had one stuck in mud years ago, with bias duals. Radials were still clean, bias were filled with mud, pulling nothing. Now, farming fewer acres, planter tractor got bias, big one will always get radials. Better, larger footprint, more traction. Cultivator tractor with radials did wallow a bit on the road, just added 2 psi for firmer ride, still get excellent traction, especially in snow. Full-time farming easily justifies the cost- wannabees/parttimers- that"s a different story.
 
OK, what about for tractors mainly used in snow?

I have a 1655 Oliver with older bias on the back that are about 30%. Seems to work ok yet. Mainly used for snow removal, using a rear mounted blower on a gravel drive and tire chains.

When I have to replace these, would you fellows go with radial or bias for this purpose?
 
for dirt work a radial is superior but if it is a tractor used for snow removal a bias gives better grip. my heavy work tractor has radials but the one I use for planting, baling, blowing snow ect. has bias, the tractor this one replaced had Firestone sat radials with 80% tread and were worthless on snow, I now have Gd Yr dura-torques and are much better on the blower and winter grain hauling.
 
when radial farm tires started becomming popular in the 1970's we were told you had to have 500 acres of row crop to justify the added expense. It depends on what you are wanting to do with your tractor. I sold hundreds of them for loader tractors. They work better in the mud than bias. We sold more for the larger hp tractors for heavy work. If you are mostly mowing, bailing, scooping snow, a set of bias will work well. Do you have a local farm tire dealer you can trust, if so go see them.
 
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