grant

September 21, 2006

yep, my point exactly. that's not trailriding. that's mudding (well, except the snow....but I assure you, the trails up here look alot like that in the winter)

grant...ever driven a car with swampers on it, ON the road? definately not designed with street handling in mind.

Yes. Swampers were designed to be safe and DOT legal. Swampers are also quite a bit quieter on the street. DOT tires have their place. Ice, and rocks primarily. There is no tire or vehicle that will be the best. The giant hunting rigs up here aren't very good for every day trail riding. Little tiny rigs aren't as good for rural hunting.

Tractor tires really don't require wheel spin for forward motion in most cases. When they do, they still load up but require less RPM to clean.

I can tell you that hauling tires to the trail head and swaping over is VERY annoying. I haul 600lbs of tires behind my tracker just to have fun. But I also have a decent set of DOT tires too. Its not like I don't like DOT tires...

Here is the lineup that the Alaskan's use on hunting rigs:

You guys can probably fit the first two tires (31x15.5-15). The third is a 35x14 swamper.

LEFT TO RIGHT:

31x15.5-15 - .75" tread - $175 - Goodyear Terra Tire, mounted on wide rim

31x15.5-15 - .75" tread - $202 - Goodyear Traction Tire, mounted on narrower than factory specified rim

35x14.5-15 - ??? - SS TSL, 1/8" tread remaining, just for scale...

11.2-16 (35.5x11.8-16) - 1 3/8" tread - $148 - Goodyear DynaTorque II (small version of far right)

18.4-16.1 (44.8x20.1-16.1) - 1.6" tread - $499 - Firestone Traction Field and Roadmeasures 42" with no air, bias ply... Same as the good year Traction Sure Grip

18.4-16.1 (45x18-16.1) - 1.6" tread - $230 FOB - "American Farmer Apple", air pressure has a lot to do with final height on this one, radial ply

18.4-16.1 (44.7x18.6-16.1) - 1.6" tread - $399 - Titan Hi-Traction Lug R-1

19.5-24 (50.6x18-24) - 1.2" tread - $350 - Chinese R-4 Bias Industrial Tractor Tire

19.5x24 (50.6x19-24) - 1.2" tread - $350 - Chinese R-4 Radial Industrial Tractor Tire

16.9x24 (52.7x17-24) - 1.6" tread - $304 - Goodyear DynaTorque II

And here is a 44" tire loaded up

September 20, 2006

Having lugs far apart helps the tire in stickey mud. Tractor tires have even more void between lugs than the ATV tire. If anything, it increases traction.

You can get away with a narrower tire if it has a better tread pattern and/or deeper tread. The swamper is a street tire with street handling in mind during manufacturing and design. They will load up before a tractor tire will.

I saw a 2wd subaru in here with some tractor tires on the front. There are a few goodyear tractor tires that will fit subarus. Many of them are going to be listed as high flotation front tires. There aren't many for 14" rims that I am aware of, but PLENTY for 15". I have a set of 31x15.5-15 Goodyear Xterra tires that work great. But they're on a Geo Tracker.

regardless of the tread pattern, 10" wide tire vs 8.5" wide, that's the difference between digging through to solid ground and stuck up in the muck.

not to mention 26" tall vs 29"...there's an 1.5" of pure ground clearance.

and then, the lugs are too far apart, with the weight of a car on them, they won't push enough material to maintain any momentum.....

sounds like 3 times to me

but then, that's mostly speculation.....I say go for it, and tell us for sure how it all works out.

July 1, 2006

They "run" on the road, but they are not DOT approved. Plus they would wear out quickly.

I run 235/75R15 tires and tow the terra tires on a subaru trailer behind me. The terra tires are 31.5" tall and 15" wide. They are for a 15" rim.

They are the smallest tractor tire I've ever seen used on vehicles. There are some smaller ones that a subaru might handle, but I've never priced them out. I have collected a bunch of tires and put together a picture:

All of these tire images are to scale.