Tire pressure for road use

[super99]

I put a new set of BKT 15.5x38 tires on my 1550, they have over 500 road miles on them and seem to be doing OK. I noticed on the last ride that the very outside of the bars still had dust on them and the rest of the lug was clean. I'm running 14psi in them. Would a lower tire pressure make them wear more even?? Most of the road wear I see on tires, the center is worn down and the outside still has good tread on them. I'm wondering if a lower tire pressure would make them wear more even. Will a lower tire pressure make any difference as to loading and hauling the tractor?? Just curious. Thanks, Chris

 

[SVcummins]

Lower it just a little so all the tread is on the road

 

[david from mo]

Back in the tractor cade to Washington times farmers in this area reversed the tires to drive the 1000 miles to Washington DC

 

[buickanddeere]

Given that it is probably an 8500lb tractor . 14psi is on spec
For bias .
For radials , probably 10-12 psi is closer to ideal .

 

[Texasmark]

Rule of thumb for bias I find and works for me is to warm the tire to operating temp and with the tractor on a concrete surface, lower the pressure till the outside of the lug just touches the concrete. I run around 13-14 on my bias, 4 and 6 ply, tractor weight up to around 8k and several at 3-4k in that range and have even wear and not much of that.

On radials, I was watching a UTube video awhile back and this gal in Europe was running a couple hundred or so horses with radials and she pumped them up for the ride to the field on hard surface roads but let them out while working just to pump them back up for the road trip. Course the fields were pretty wet and she was pulling a many, multibottom moldboard. Do not recall the numbers.

 

[showcrop]

If you don't think about it, the off-the-top-of-the-head, answer is to lower the pressure to where the full bar is on the ground. However, the other factor is the amount of weight vs. size of tire. Pretty much all old tractors are running tires a size or three wider than original but the ballast that was on the tractor when it was actually working is no longer there. Pressure will need to be down around 5 psi to get the whole bar on the surface. The key is to go back down in tire size next time tires are purchased, and until then put a portion of the weight back on.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

 

[MSD]

When tractor pulling on dirt of course, we look back after the hook is done and look at the footprint left. If it is cupped down in the middle we have to much air and if it is cupped up in the middle it is to low of pressure.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

Right. And just driving around vs pulling a load makes a big difference too.