New TIre help for newb

[Geomill]

Hello all.  I'm new to this forum and need some help.  I have a small rough terrain mowing service in Florida which I use rubber tire ag tractor....I can't keep tires full of air it much more than an hour at a time with all the pointy stumps and antler sheds in the areas that we mow.  I need forestry tires and I'm confused about what is out there.  my tractor has 18.4r34 back tires currently.  there are firestones that are 10 ply, primex are 16, a friend of mine who owns supertrack manufacturing swears by Nokian, there is bkt and trellborg are expensive as hell.  steel vs amarid?  numbers of plys? I don't know where to start and ~$4000 for 2 new tires is going to be a big investment so I want to make thebest choice, that's why I'm seeking advice here from the experts with experience.  I don't needfronts yet, they don't get flat to often.  any places in FL or GA that have decent deals would be a plus if anyone has favorite dealers.  please help out.


thanks,
Brett

[Tom]

Welcome to the forum, Geomill.  It's been awhile since I bought a tractor tire, but the best thing I've used to keep off of stumps was a Front End Loader.  It will detect the sharp fat-lighter stumps before the front tires even find them if you lower it close to the ground.  There are some people locally that can offer an education, assuming that you are close to J-ville, Fl.   One is Ricky Taylor of Taylor logging in Folkston.   I know of a couple of other logging companies around who you could talk to if you send me a PM.  They could maybe tell you about some decent tires.

I 'spect you'll get some good info from the loggers on this board too.  Give them enough time to find the question. 

[madmari]

You could have your current tires filled with a material that fills the tire, expands and results in a puncture-proof tire. Junk yard loaders, scrap yards and landfills all use it. I looked into it here- farm tire sevice will do a huge tire for about $700. The cost is by the pound of material used.
  I've seen these filled tires with steel rods sticking out of them without any concern.

[Geomill]

Tom, I keep a loader on the front to do this already, the problem is that the stubs are small enough I push them over without knowing.  the tires I have are total junk, they are goodyear radials, I could run a blunt broom handle thru the sidewall with a runnning start.  Antler sheds get me 40% of the time, the loader doesn't find them either.  I looked into foam filled like madmari suggested, but the extra 1100lbs per tire is too much; 2200lbs extra on my trailer puts me over weight for my 3500 silverado.  Best deal I have at the moment is 16 ply primex logstompers at $1675 ea  I think they are the steel belted as opposed to aramid.

[jdonovan]

It really sounds like you need to foam those tires.

It will make them 100% flat proof for the life of the tire.

[Bobus2003]

I cant for the life of me remember where i got my Skidder tires, but I got a New Pair of 18.4-26's for $1500

[Geomill]

Just got a great deal on a fluke phone call.  Found a pair of new primex logstompers for $1350 each.  That's a great price from what I've found.  Anybody run these tires?

[chevytaHOE5674]

At work we ran some primex tires on a pettibone fork lift. All of them developed large bubbles (baseball to volleyball size) in the sidewalls and soon after they went PoP. Only reason we ran them is firestones were unavailable at the time we needed new tires. Needless to say they all got replaced with firestones. 

[Geomill]

ouch, not a good review.  firestones are only 10 ply vs primex steel 16 ply....are firestone tires reaaly better even 10 vs 16 ply?

[mad murdock]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Geomill.  I have only ever ran and seen Firestone forestry "logger special" tires in the woods in my day.  No experience with Primex.  If they carry any type of warranty, I would consider, as the price seems good, but from what chevyTAHOE5674 said, I would not fiddle around with them if they are "as is", no warranty.  that would be a lot of crow to eat if they didn't work out.