Tires for A

[Suitera]

What size rear tires should I get for a John deere A 1945-1947 tractor 11.2x38? Im trying to stick with keeping the tractor stock and bring it back to its original form! All recommendations would be helpful!

 

[r.w.b.]

both our 52 and 49 A's came out on 13.6x38.the rims have 3 ledges narrower rims taper to the bead seat ring from the center of the rim where it clamps to the wheel and 11.2x38 are for them

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

My '51 originally had 13.6-38. When they wore out my father-in-law replaced them with 14.9s but it's really more tire than it needs. Kind of puffy looking on 11 inch rims.

 

[David G]

I would put 13.6 x 38 on them.

 

[old popper]

I put 13.6 38 on my '48 A

 

[buckeye al]

Mee too!

 

[Leroy]

11.2 is undersize as that is replacement size for the 10 that was standard on a B. Your A would have had 11 that now is 12.4 and the newer A's also had that on when new. That said the newer pressed steel frame can handle the 12-13.6 just fine as long as they are the gas burner, you go to the all fuel model with the 2 stick tranny and they are too much tire makes ground speed way to fast if you are wanting power to pull load, The single stick pressed steel frame has a lower gear tranny so even tho the tractor has only 2/3 the power of a gas you will not notice the difference in power as much. Your tractor has the same power all fuel engine as the pressed steel frame models and has the high speed tranny like the 2 stick pressed steel frame models so given the lower power and the higher speeds of the tranney if you want to do any pulling stick to factory size of the 11-12.4 size, Now if you are only wanting to run the roads for tractor drives then the 12-13.6 would be good for that, just don't want to put them on and go out and hook to a plow and go to work as you probably would be plowing in low-first gear instead of second as should be. Going the one size over from the 11-12.4 to the up size 12-13.6 will increase your road speed probably about 2 mile per hour so for tractor drive that could be good, not so for heavy working it.

 

[Leroy]

Old Popper has the tranny for the high road speed with his size, not for the pulling heavy loads.

 

[D beatty]

Years ago dad put 14.9X38s on theJD A with power block. That was a nice riding and pulling set up.

 

[James Howell]

"Easy", our 1946 Model A, has 13.6 x 38 rear tires which are larger than the original 11 x 38 tires from the factory.

Hope this helps.

 

[rick deere]

buy a book and put what it calls for, once you have your old tires off measure your rim wideth the new tires will tell you what size rim they call for on the side of new tires. I like the correct size on mime.

 

[Brendon-KS]

The speed difference wouldn't be quite that much. According to Firestone's specs a 13.6-38 tire is less than 5% larger in diameter than a 12.4-38 of the same style - 61.5" vs. 59.0". Speed is proportional to tire diameter so it would also be increased by the same percentage.

 

[Leroy]

Are those Firestone Field & Road that are smaller in height than the 45* Firestone were or the goodyear or Titan? And I don't think you are pulling a plow with that tractor, nothing heavier than a hay rake.

 

[Leroy]

Are you sure about that? It could not have come with that size new as that size was not avaible till years later, those tractors came with 11 that later became 12.4

 

[Steve_S]

I put the original size of 12.4 on my all fuel AN. It just looks right. Bigger looks more modern to me. Remember, original 11.2 is the same as today's 12.4.

 

[Brendon-KS]

"original 11.2 is the same as today's 12.4"

This statement is not correct - the old 11 is today's 12.4. 11.2 is the modern designation for the
old 10 size.

 

[Steve_S]

Of course, brain fade. Was thinking 11-38 but typing 11.2. When I got my A it still had one original tire and one replacement. Both were 11-38. But the replacement was far smaller than the original, causing the whole machine to lean to one side! Whoever replaced that tire didn't realize the sizing had changed, and apparently didn't care because it had a lot of miles of it.