Irregular tire wear

[Bruce from Can.]

I have a Kubota M6 141 tractor with a loader. I noticed
the other day that one front tire was wearing off on
one side, while the other front tire was showing even
tire wear. While seated on the tractor, the tire on my
right is wearing unevenly, while the tire on the right is
absolutely even wear pattern.

This picture is of the right front tire, and you can see
how the cleats on the right side of this tire are wearing.

This picture is of the front left tire, and as you can see,
it is wearing evenly across the top of the tire. I called
my dealer, and asked if there was some way to stop
this tire from eating its self up? Can they do an
alignment, or is this a sign of something going wrong
with bearings in the front axle? What could cause this
irregular wear pattern? Dealer told me I must be
driving in and off the pavement on to the gravel while
travelling the road, and thats the problem. I told him
BS!! This tractor has only 2010 hours and spends it
time hooked to the baler, or cutting hay all summer. I
have another Kubota tractor MX 135 , same size
tractor but earlier model, and it hauls the hay and gets
plenty of road work. With nearly 3000 hours, its tires
are wearing evenly. So my driving habits are not the
problem. What is causing the one tire to eat its self up
? I want to get to the bottom of this problem and
correct the issue before this tire is completely trashed.
If the problem is just ignored, it will destroy the next
tire too. So what is causing this irregular tire wear in
one front tire? Any ideas ? Bruce

 

[Mike M]

I would guess the only thing that can be adjusted is the toe in. Check the old tractor and check the new one and see if there is any difference ?

 

[GordoSD]

For starters flip teh front tires right to left to stop thatr bad tire from becoming total scrap.
Then start checking You tube, Google. Bing and Kubots web sites for in fo on tha maodel and camber adjustments. Find a Kubota forum.

 

[DRussell]

Try jacking the right tire up and move it top to bottom and side to side, you might have to use a short bar or 2x4. See if there is any movement where there shouldn't be.

I doubt the problem is your toe in, that should wear both tires.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

One thought that I have is maybe you make more left turns than right turns with this tractor. But I would think this would be on pavement, because I don't think it would wear like that on soil only. I was a truck mechanic, and a lot of semis wore the left front tire before the right one because they made a lot of deliveries turning right into their customer's lot. Over the road trucks did not have this problem. I do know that once a wear pattern is established, even if the root cause is repaired, the wear pattern will continue. The only way to get the maximum life out of the tire would be to swap it to the left. Or reverse it. Is the tire pressure even? Toe in adjustment is another thought. Mark.

 

[olgentdc]

I concur

One thought that I have is maybe you make more left turns than right. I know i have a predominant foot , eye side and my driving habits tend to enjoy left hand turns more than right makes it hard to be conservative. LOL

 

[Bill(Wis)]

Bruce, I googled the following: 'Front wheel alignment of FWA farm tractors?' What I got was entitled: 'How to adjust wheel alignment and avoid wearing out my tractor tyres.' Lots of info but included was the offer to download a complete manual entitled: 'THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF THE TYRE IN COST SAVINGS'. All courtesy of Bridgestone. I tried various ways to send this info to you but nothing seems to work. Also, my experience with Kubota operator's manuals was dismal, at best. I purchased the shop manual for my M6800 and it was about 3 inches thick with tons of info. It was not very expensive but that was 20 years ago.

 

[retired farmer]

Probably out of alignment on that side. Friend had bought two Honda four wheelers and put several thousand miles on them before he gave them to us. I was looking at the front end one day on one of them and checked alignment. Both machines had never been aligned at the factory and were three quarter inch out.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

All you can adjust is toe-in. The steering knuckle is welded to the front axle so caster and camber are fixed.

If toe-in was the problem, BOTH tires would be wearing the same.

Adjusting toe won't make any difference, actually might make it worse, because the tires have to be in certain orientations for the tractor to drive straight. You adjust the toe, that will change the position of "straight" on the steering wheel slightly, and you're back to square one.

With as few hours as it has I doubt your pins and bearings are worn, especially only on one side. The only explanation is the knuckle is welded to the axle housing crooked, and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

We've got a CaseIH Maxxum 2WD that burns the outside edge off of one front tire. It drives perfectly straight if you center the tires and let go of the steering wheel so the alignment isn't off. The right steering knee is crooked and there isn't anything we can do about it except rotate the tires. Swap them side to side, flip them on the rims. First set lasted 22 years without any of that, but the right tire was worn right down to the cords on the outside edge, while the left tire was worn evenly.

 

[M-MAN]

I think you have a camber problem. If your camber isn't adjustable it's made into the hub flange and could have been installed opposite of the way it's supposed to be.

A flat surface and a level to compare both sides should show it.

 

[Bill(Wis)]

Kubota does not empoly the 'knuckle' type front axle. They use a bevel gear design which, I believe, is superior to the knuckle design. They also have a standard feature
called 'bi-speed steering' where, when the steering angle exceeds 35 degrees, the front wheels turn approximately twice as fast as the rear wheels giving a smooth turn.
All this being said, his problem could very well be toe in of the right front wheel. The extra fast spinning of that wheel while turning could cause fast wear of the
outside lugs.

 

[Steve@Advance]

I would approach it the same as any 4x4.

First raise the wheels slightly off the ground, reach under with a pry bar and lift while feeling and watching for any movement. Then do the left-right shake for any looseness.

If anything is worn, look at what it would take to tighten it back up.

Then get it on a level concrete surface, drive it forward and stop without rolling back.

Check the camber with a level. I would think it should be straight, 90* to the surface.

Then turn the steering fully lock to lock, count back half the turns, (be sure the steering gear goes lock to lock, not one of the wheels running up against the stop) then check the wheel parallelism to the tractor, and the toe in. Several ways to do it, pull strings from the rear wheels, getting them straight and parallel, measure from the strings to the sides of the front tires. This method gets the wheels straight with the steering centered. Be sure the wheels are running true, a bent wheel will throw the measurements way off!

Not sure what the toe in would be if any. It's not that critical running only off road. Just look for major misalignment.

 

[Dave BN]

The L3010 Kubota that I use to mow the grass at work does that. It has turf tires all around and we had to replace the fronts at about 1000 hours as the right front was wore on the outside. My thought is that with the right discharge mower I'm always turning left, sharply left. It sees very little road travel, almost all driving is on the grass.
I'll bet with the implements your using you are having the same problem.
Dave.

 

[ss55]

When the front axle looses traction and one wheel spins, which tire usually spins first? Maybe try swapping the tires from side to side to even out the wear.

 

[the tractor vet]

Like said below the only thing that is adjustable is toe in . as for caster and camber ?? everything is machined into the axle or it was welded up in a JIG . as how much toe in it correct for your tractor i have no idea , for that ya would need the factory spec.'s . as for caster and camber years back on $x4 pick ups and even bigger trucks they had at one time Shims that could be installed to correct the problems , some went behind the spindle some went in the King pins . and sometimes they even tried bending the axles . Some times this worked and some times it broke the axle , some times placing wedge style shims between the springs and axle mounting points tipping the axles. Tire pressure changes may help some . Loose tie rod end on one side , bent tie rod . And axle that was made just a whisker off new . Something not machined correctly causing the caster camber to be off just a couple degrees. Just one part off can throw the whole works out and not seen by the eye.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 08:20:24 03/29/22) Kubota does not empoly the 'knuckle' type front axle. They use a bevel gear design which, I believe, is superior to the knuckle design. They also have a standard feature
called 'bi-speed steering' where, when the steering angle exceeds 35 degrees, the front wheels turn approximately twice as fast as the rear wheels giving a smooth turn.
All this being said, his problem could very well be toe in of the right front wheel. The extra fast spinning of that wheel while turning could cause fast wear of the
outside lugs.

Regardless of the design of the steering knuckle, caster and camber are still fixed. The only thing that can affect them is worn bearings.

Adjusting the toe won't help. The tractor presumably drives straight now. If you adjust the toe of the right front wheel it will either cause the tractor to pull to the right or push to the left... Until you turn the steering wheel slightly to make it drive straight again. Back to square one.

 

[gab]

That's what I'd try too, I'd think there must some kind of bearing or bushing top and bottom.

 

[730virgil]

silly idea is wheel bent?ad
jack that wheel up put a block on ground turn wheel slowly watch to see if wheel is the same distance from block as yo turn wheel, maybe it is not tighten the same on all nuts.
when I worked for a Ford dealer a customer brought his 9600 tractor in it was amazing how much the wheels would vary as they were turned.
after wheel bolts were loosen then tightend the same the tractor didn't weave all the road

 

[acresgreen]

I am a mechanic at our parks department garage, We have noticed the same problem with our Kubota 5240 loader tractor. Right front outside wear. If looking directly on from the front it appears the RF tire has little more caster than the left. Unfortunately, there are no adjustments for that. All our tractors run turfs, so on this one we swap the fronts from side to side every couple hundred hours. We have 4 Kubota 4wds and this is the only one that does that.

 

[the tractor vet]

The opnly wa to tell is get the ft. axle setting up on stands that you can level then usen tools to check the caster camber with . seams your not the only one with this problem as it maybe a MFG defect and there maybe a way to install offset shim to tilt that side at the spindle and bearing . Here like i said i have never been into one nor even have a book on one as to just how it is made and put together. Over the years you will not be the only one that got something from the factory that was NOT JUST RIGHT.

 

[550Doug]

I had a similar problem with a car tire a few years ago, so this may or may not apply to your situation.
I had to replace a blown right front tire while in Florida one winter so I went to a small local repair shop that I had one previous dealing with, and was satisfied with the service. I returned north and about 6 or 8 months later I noticed abnormal wear on the outside of that new tire. After checking various issues with alignment, I finally had to replace the tire. The dealer who replaced the tire informed me that the abnormal wear was possibly caused by sitting on an outside rack in the sun for a long time, and it was likely at the end of the rack where one side catches more UV damage. I remembered that the small shop in Florida always had an outside rack of tires on display, so that explanation fit perfectly.
There was no problem with the replacement tire.

 

[JK-NY]

I have a John Deere mfwd tractor approx. 55 hp with a loader. The loader is usually left on .This is my only mfwd tractor. It has been used for the 21 years That I have owned it to run my square baler with wagons pulled behind it. The RF tire shows a lot more wear than the LF , I attribute this to the many fairly sharp turns to the right while baling comparred to how often turns are made to the left. There is nothing worn or loose in this tractors front end and it is not run with the front end engaged unless necessary ,( not very often when baling.)

 

[IaLeo]

Is that wear evenly all around the tire? This a way-out question, maybe the tire was not constructed evenly in its carcass.?? When driving straight ahead pulling a slightly off center load does the steering compensate by being slightly turned, like side winds do to cars? Would think both front tires would show that if true.
Good puzzle, and expensive too! Leo

 

[IaLeo]

I recall seeing your baler pickup is on the right and think you turn right alot in the dry field and the inside of turn wheel may not be angling enough to roll without skidding or slipping a bit more than the outside-of-turn wheel. Observe a sharp turn in dirt to see if that wheel track scuffs a bit.

Also a variation in rubber curing during casting might make for less abrasion resistance....just reaching for reasons. Are the u joints in the front wheels a smooth constant-velocity type to avoid u-joint pulsing? And as has been mentioned camber in a sharp turn would definitely load the outer half of a wide tire.

I only dealt with "hop" issues on 4WD many years ago, and very little of that problem. Leo

 

[IaLeo]

I recall seeing your baler pickup is on the right and think you turn right alot in the dry field and the inside of turn wheel may not be angling enough to roll without skidding or slipping a bit more than the outside-of-turn wheel. Observe a sharp turn in dirt to see if that wheel track scuffs a bit.

Also a variation in rubber curing during casting might make for less abrasion resistance....just reaching for reasons. Are the u joints in the front wheels a smooth constant-velocity type to avoid u-joint pulsing? And as has been mentioned camber in a sharp turn would definitely load the outer half of a wide tire.

I only dealt with "hop" issues on 4WD many years ago, and very little of that problem. Leo

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Only baler I use is a round baler, which follows directly
behind the tractor. I believe I turn equally to the right
as to the left. The wear is the same constant pattern all
the way around the tire.

 

[centash]

I know what's doing it......when you have a passenger in the cab.....and we've seen the pictures.....you scrunch over so far to the right that the tractor is unevenly loaded....hence the extra wear!

LOL Have a good day, Bruce.

Ben

 

[Tx Jim]

Many yrs back I was taught when diagnosing problems to check the easiest things to repair first which in this case would be tire pressures & next would be tire "toe in". I also suggest to reverse the rotation direction of that tire

 

[rick n ohio]

My neighbor stopped one day a couple years ago on his Newholland 6610 4 wheel drive tractor we were just shooting the breeze when I noticed the right front tire was worn alot more than the left one he said it's a common thing to happen on any 4 wheel drive tractor whether that is true I honestly don't know

 

[Dieseltech]

I've noticed the same thing on the IH 560 diesel tractor during the summer tractor ride season, the right front has more wear on it than the left front does.

 

[Down under farmer]

Pavement will do odd things to tires with the the changes in road camber and traffic wheel marks. We have a tractor when it was main farming tractor it wore last set of rear tyres ires bald level. Now it's down graded to spray and hay tractor. No heavy draft work lots of road work it wearing them like your front tire insides near flat outside is still good. Dout those tires have 2000hrs on them but lots of road work

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Gosh !! Ill bet your right Ben, I never thought of that , lol

 

[hd6gtom]

Are those actual fwd tires or they rear tractor tires put on the front axle? Rear tractor tires are not designed to be run on the fwd. They will wear out a whole lot quicker than fwd tires.

 

[Bill(Wis)]

Bruce: I think this fellow had a similar problem and came up with a rather unique solution. (;>))

 

[Bruce from Can.]

But my wife isnt even close to being a large enough counter weight, lol

 

[fdt860]

I have a Deere 4050 manual and it said to put tires backward for loader use. I have also seen this done on tractors doing lots of roading.