Tractor tires and FEL work

[bearcat]

Weights or fill tires? I’ll be getting my new tractor this week and have been researching this topic. Seems to be very Ford vs Chevy. Most of what I’ll be doing is clearing with a grapple bucket. I hate to have the shredder hanging off the back all the time. I wasn’t getting a box blade at first, but now I’ve changed my mind. For light duty FEL work, if I had weights/filled tires would I still need the box blade in there?
Thanks


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[Jack Terpack]

Three basic things I learned and recommend. Get the tires filled and put teeth on the bucket of the FEL. Both are necessary if you even think your going to have to do any pushing or digging with the FEL. Learn to check the tire pressure often. The tractor will ride and perform so much better when the tires are properly inflated. And they WILL leak down making the ride a little bouncy.

 

[j-bird]

I have a smaller machine so maybe my experiences will differ from those with larger equipment. Having weight in/on your tires will help you more with ground engaging equipment (plows in particular or pushing heavy snow or pulling heavy objects). The weight will help you get more traction. For FEL work the weight off the rear of the tractor helps act as a counter balance and will help shift that load further to the larger tires and more of the tractor vs the smaller and lighter front end. I heavy load in a FEL and a light rear end makes your front axle the pivot point for all that weight....and in many cases it's not designed to be. I have seen some tractors have lift capacities that will nearly lift the rear tires off the ground....and that's not good. It also makes controlling that weight in the loader much more difficult.

If your moving heavy stuff or trying to dig - typically the more weight the better. There is a reason they make wheel weights, front end suitcase weights, liquid ballast for inside tires and even ballast boxes....power is worthless without traction. But don't pull it up into the yard!!!! You'll be fixing ruts for a good while and the wife will NOT be happy!

 

[Mennoniteman]

A tractor with a full time FEL should never need weights on the front. I have the rear tires filled on one tractor and rear wheel weights on the other, and I think I prefer the wheel weights. The liquid filled tires have a different bounce to them than the air filled ones, another thing, having the tires filled slowed the tractor's top road speed down by 5 mph which was a negative for me. It seems kind of crazy to me when you think about the design parameters of tractors, the industry keeps engineering them lighter and lighter in ratio to the horsepower, and then advising farmers to put weights on them to get better traction, all the while promoting less soil compaction. I figured this weight to power into the equation when I bought my current big tractor and bought the next size bigger frame with the lower hp engine option, which gives good traction to hp ratio with the smallest size rear wheel weight, which I didn't think I needed but came with the package.