Hey there, looking for any words of wisdom on grader tires and cutting edges. I've got 14.00x24 tires on a cat 120. Right now I've got the typical "tractor tire" type tread,but i see the municiple blades tend to run a tire pattern that looks like somthing I've seen on dump trucks and was wondering if this "road pattern" really lasts longer or has other advantages? Also I've been using a standard 6" cutting edge (7 footer, standard cat part #) I can get a pretty good deal on them (last 4 individual cutting edges I was able to get for about $520.00), and have been getting about 300 miles to a set, does that sound about right? talking to the guys at the county they really like their carbide tips but I havn't really looked into them because the roads I've been doing are forestry roads and pretty rocky which I'm told is hard on the carbide cutting edges. I'm new to this and just trying to avoid wasting time and money when possible, its time for tires, I've got 2 new recaps of the tractor tread and it looks like about 450-500 apiece for the other 4 I need to round out the set (mounted, not installed) is this the way to go or should I look into other options? I priced some radials and they were in the 800-900 range.
Hi Silveroddo, if your getting that much out of normal cutting edges, then I would just continue with that. I've run both types of tires and prefer the radials. They seem to have good traction..especially plowing snow. They seem smoother when roading as well. Another advantage is when you have to wear chains the cross chains stay on top of the tire..opposed to going in between the lugs on that type. I'm not really sure which type will actually last longer though. I guess it just depends on the work that you'll be doing with your grader. I used to use the sandvic blades once in awhile..they are the kind that have the rollers with carbide tips..mainly used them when the roads got really hard to cut with normal blades..it would chew the material up pretty good. This was the only time that I would use them though.
Cuttin to the edge Just my 2 cents but I prefer wider edges as the throw away part is always the same and when you factor in labour for the change.... Well can you smell what Im cookin? Regarding tires its a matter of preference but if you do any amount of snow or ice removal than a dedicated sno tire is a definite plus.
I agree with Diagonal on the edges. I rotate mine a lot. Trying to wear them down uniformly and get the most out of them. At best I will throw away 3-4" of edge material. If I use 6" I am throwing away 50-66%. If I use 8" I am throwing away 38-50%. That's significant to me. But as I said, I'm anal about rotating. If I'm grading extremely hard surfaces, late summer, hard packed gravel, I carry tools and rotate mid-day. For tires, I've ran Radials since 1995. The last time I had a flat tire was 1995. Bias ply 14.00 tires gave me 1000-1200 hours of service before replacement. They would also average three flats per tire in that time. Radials in the 14.00 size would be 50-60% tread at the same amount of service. As I said earlier, I've never had a flat on radials. I now run 17.50" Micheln radials. I'm at 1300 hours now and still have 60-70% tread. No flats. Beyond flats, radials offer a steadier ride with less bounce. They also offer equal traction forward/backward. And again, the flat factor is big to me, especially if you have to hire it fixed. As to Grader4me's comment about chains. I find just the opposite to be true. I have problems with my chains getting down between the lugs on the radials worse than bias ply. I don't think it's quite as bad if you run the snow radials. I'd never go back to bias ply. But then, I'd also never go back to 14.00 either. A township next to me runs a new Deere similar to ours but he runs 14.00 bias ply tires. He tells everyone that will listen that I don't know what I'm doing and can't possibly run at the speeds I run. He's right,,,,, if I ran 14.00 bias ply tires.
Just a conformation on what ovrszd has said, l have always had radials on our grader and have never had a flat tyre through the tread area, did drive a stick through the wall once, hour wise, l got 2200 hours out of a set of double coin tyres which was good because our work involves lots of hard surface work; shoulder grading and gravel road maintenance. Could any one tell me the pro's and con's of running 17.50 tyres compared to14.00 tyres. cheers, mick.
Well..thats what I found so we will just have to disagree.
Seems to me the chain issue has more to do with tread pattern than bias or radial tires. For me, I would use a radial for most work, though I was on a blade with radials once doing slope work, and they were not as stable as the bias I had on the other blade. I think it was the specific tire rather than all radials in general, since I have been pleased with the stability of some radials. I agree the bias does not last as long, and they get worse flat spots from sitting, and get more flats, and...
Thanks for the replies, its great to be able to get some other input on this stuff, I hate getting it from the salesman. I'll have to look into the radials a little bit, I had 3 flats this summer and at an average of 150-175 bucks to get them fixed and the down time involved I'm really looking at spending the money and getting rid of a few head aches.
Greetings grader dudes, I agree with most all of the comments that have been posted. Silveroddo, I would seriously look at radials. You can get between 2 and 3 times the treadwear out of radials. I have tried recapped bias tires and they just dont last. The casings will fail before the caps wear out. As far as edges go, I would get about 100 hrs (roughly 500 lane miles) out of a set of 8" edges. I have gone to carbides and love them, although they DO NOT like rocks,IMO. The last carbides I bought were $118/ft.
Better stability on side slopes. Less rutting of gravel roads when doing spring maintenance. Better flotation when working soft ground. Wayyyy better traction. Wayyyy better winter traction when running chains. Longer service, but haven't figured in the cost difference so don't know if that pays out. I've attached three pictures. The first shows the difference in chain crossbar size of my old 14.00 chains versus my current 17.50 chains. the second isn't a great picture but shows the difference in tire size between the two. the third picture shows what I'm talking about as far as the chains setting between the tire lugs. The crossbars that are running at an angle are completely down between the lugs.
OVRSZD, thanks heaps for that info on the tyres, much appreciated, nice pics. mick.
nice pics overszd, in that second pic, are you pushin the cat or is he pullin you?lol
I don't wanna talk about it............. Okay, I'll admit it,,,,,, the CAT pulled me home..... Ice built up on the transmission case and disconnected a shifter solenoid. The computer put it in neutral. Wouldn't move. Bummer. Colder than all get out. I threw a large tarp over the engine assembly and stuck a blast furnace under it and let it run for 8 hours to melt enough ice that I could get at the wiring to fix it. After that embarrassment I built these.
Hmmmm .... ice build up plowing snow? who woulda thunk it! I run a deere so I just figured you were pushing the Cat :bouncegri
Chains? Question about the 17.5 tires....we just went with those on a 140AWD, with intent to eliminate use of chains. Some drivers would not consider running without chains. For most of what goes on around here I get along fine without chains, some of the credit for that goes to better tires, experience helps a bit too I suppose. Wondering if you find the bigger tires reduce need for chains in your situation?
We run Michelin M/S radials and love them. I have yet to put a set of chains on, yes i have gotten stuck, but haveing to back up and hit it again, or the two times my partner had to help not having the extra noise and rougher ride is worth it. We would get apx 2000hrs on the steers, they would have alittle left but would change them out for winter. My rears on my grader have 3200hrs and i guess would say maybe alittle less then half. And personaly i like the 17.5 over the 14. Cutting edges, if i could run them all the time i would pick the rotating carbide tips. I had the opertunity to test out a set of these for our local dealer that there company just came out with their own and loved them. I have also used carbide straight cutting edges and liked them better then reg ones..
Here in Saskatchewan, Canada we run 2 140H Cat's. On them we run 17.5 x 25 tires. We use Michelin Snow Plus. We find them to be very good in snow and on ice. The last set had over 6000 hrs on them before being changed. Mine is a 2007 model and it came with Bridgestone Vtech. Not even 4000 hrs on them and we just changed them to Sno Plus. The Bridgestone tires don't seem to last as long and very poor traction in the snow.
Iam currently pricing tyres for our 12G but can't decide which way to go. We do a lot of pioneering work as well as some maintenance grading for council. We're running a standard 12 ply bias tyre at the moment but as they get down we're getting a lot of flats. I can get , say, a Double Coin radial, or a 24 ply bias tyre with a hard rock lug for about the same money. What's the best option? Cheers, Greg
I was wondering if anybody is running a set of 18x25 tires on the rear and gone to some kind of flaotations on the front tires, i have a 16 and it is so heavy i could use the wider tires on the front but there are no 18x25 radials for sale where i buy tires, i have been thinking about getting 20,5 for the front but they are shorter than the 62 inch tall 18x25s??
What kind of hard rock lug exactly are you talking about and how much cost vs the other tire???
I have 40 ply old minning tires on this blade and want to get something else not so bad about getting stuck all of the time with the rock tread, we have lots of sand and black gumbo ans these tires are horrid in sand or mud????
I've decided to go with the 24 ply rags. The radials would definitly wear better in clean going, but with the sort of treatment we give them they may not handle it. I hate throwing away tyres with heaps of tread left. Price for both tyres is about the same, 1500 of our pacific pesos, which seems alot compared to what you are paying in the U.S. I'll post a pic when I get them on. Cheers, Greg
Our tire dealers in this area are also telling us that 18-25 are all but impossible to find. We had a set on an old Terex loader that were bad and ended up changing all to 20.5-25.
Thanks so much for posting up, I was thinking i was going nuts or something, thats the same thing i have run into down here and on the web at all of the tire places i could find to call and ask for tire 18x25 in recap or a good used, looks like thats is what i must do as well, i actually have 5 good tires and one ruined, but its cheaper to go to the 2 inch wider and about 5 inch shorter 20,5x25 bias tires in 16 ply L2 i found for about $1000 each vs the 18x25 in 38 plys that are $2500 plus shipping that i found and cant stand anyway due to them slipping on anything where i use the blade 18x25 50 percent used i find for like $1000 to $1250 plus shipping in the E4 38 ply rock tread and very far away, its right there where it does not make sense to buy them vs buying 2 new tires on the front in 20,5x25 16 ply bias that are readily available down here $980each, overnight, this blade has been down for 2 months while i have been trying to sort this out, if i was contracting be titts up, we just have a 1800 acre hunting ranch with 20 miles of roads in a wetland area down in coastal south texas that have to be run out about 2 to 3 times a year due to ruts and wash outs, sometimes we get 100 inches per year sometimes like this year we have had 3 so far so i can wait until i get good tires on this giant blade, I have had to have a 1 1/8 town cable made up and try to watch where i am working with the machine, its so heavy and big and powerful that sometimes while i am blading in sandy loam with a short grass cover running out bar ditches the land will switch to sand in a instant and spin these tires befor i can stop and it burys it to the tandeums, I have a old 76 Mack winch truck with a Tulsa 70 winch and rolling tailboard that i usually have to tie with heavy chains and double snatch blocks to get the maintianer unstuck when i get stuck in the blowsand break thrus and the mud sticks ocassionally, i try to avoid the known spots of sticking but sometimes just backing up gets me buried as these rock lug tires do not pull in reverse and it just trenches down and its a walkout to the old Mack, thats why i am really wanting to start replacing the mine high ply radials with L2 grader type tires eventually, i know the fronts wont make much difference but i can afford to buy a complete set right now but can afford a pair for the front, I am going to ask as well when i do get this 20,5 wide tire selection figured out and start mounting them on the rear drive wheels should i reverse one pair or tires to help me with backing out in mud and sand vs the normal all pulling tread the same way?? I have had some old ranch hands on a ranch next to use tell me this over andover that when they still had a maintainer on their ranch they ran the tires in a set like this so they could back up and pull both ways instead of the normal pulling one direction, it makes sense to me and i am going to try it i figure, whathappens down here is the hunters come down for a month only in rental cars usually and we need the road to be pothole free and draining so i am forced to run the blade earlier than i would on a normal job where could wait a extra week to let it dry out so as not to get stuck, whats crazy about this jbsite is it can have one end muddy and the other end is dryed up getting stuck in hot dry suagar blow sand so its always dangerous to work, the blade is so much heavier than the old 14 e i had for years i am still getting used to the break thru feel from the front tires due to the 55,000 weight of this blade, thansk to all for posting, all ihave to do now is make sure the 20,5x25 will fit on my 18x25 wheels and not lower the machine to much, truthfully, a couple of the 18x25 radials are so low tread the new 20'5x25 will be the same height or very close, i am worried about the 20,5 clearing the chain drive boxes in the back but will know by taking one fo the extra front 20,5x25 i will prob buy now and test fit it to the rear to run it a bit to see if it willhit, i know it is shorter and can not be run over 15 minutes due to the mismacth in tire heights but need a test run before i end up with 4 ties i can not run due to hitting or something, i may be borrowing trobule i dotn know, just need to run this by the grader gang guys to see if my head is thinking right!! Thansks so much, the 18x25 rock lug 36 plys are 63 inches new, the 20,5x25 bias 16 ply bias are 58 inches so it should work, we will see, i going to look at some cat 16 pictures with floats on it to see if they used the same wheel as i have and just put the wider tires on it vs getting new wheels wider than stock, 2 inchs wider should fit on my stock cat 16 wheels i figure, thanka again for the ideas!!! Has anybody installed 20,5's where 18x25 were before and did you have to get new wheels or have interference issuses?? What tire did you go to, a bias or radial type and what lug type and where did you buy it and how much did it cost and in what ply?? I have 5 piece wheels on the 16 and i am just not sure, are all of the new bias ply offered now tub type or can i run them tublelss like the 18x25 that are on there now??
the 20.5 should fit on 18-25 rims. The rims may be a little narrower than what a standard 20.5 rim is, but should work. We havent had any problems with the 20.5's on the terex. We went to bias tires just because the loader does not get used much and the tires will probably dry rot before the tread is wore up. As far as the cat 16.....?. I have no clue if it will work or not. sorry not much help today but that is the way it goes, Some days chicken, some day feathers.
Thats what i have been finding, the blade is so old nobody knows what to update it to since the 18x25 selections is tiny and plus i wanted better tires anyways tread wise, i am thinking about going to buy 1 20,5x25 and try to get it mounted, problem is where i am at the wetbacks tire worms down here dont understand what a 5 piece wheel is and how to change it and get new o rings and clean up the wheel/oring groove etc with a wire wheel and paint/prime it, these tires are glued on with years of rust and rubber sticked to the wheel so they are going to have to have the correct hydra pump assisted bead breaker and the oring installer as well, will prob have to load the wheels up myself and take them in to San Tone Texas to get the OTR dealer to dismount them and mount the 20,5x25s in case they cant get them on i can pay for the attempt and get a refund or adjustment on the tires and try to hunt up some 18x25 used somewhere online to escape this tire problem, prob is in Tyres International in rock and dirt they have the 20,5x25's 16 ply L2 grader tires for $870 plus $100 shipping to me, the dealer has a same tire for $1400, gees its crazy out there nowdays, you have to know how to do everybodys job, check for price and specs, order the correct tire for the dealer, make sure they have the correct bead breaker and oring installer, omg, i will get it done some day soon!!! Its so sad that nobody in this country seems to know what the work is about, wants to do it, has the correct tools and is price competive anymore, bet in china the whole village would chew rubber trees and retread it right there to newlol Just kidding, I am just so far away the mileage for the real tire truck guy is almost 1/2 the price of a tire alas, lots of the guys i called would not sell used wheels due to liab insurance not covering them, omg !!!!
No doubt the tire is stuck to the rim. One can spend all day trying to get it off the rim......or one can let the air out and drive it around the yard.lol Anyway, good luck getting the tire changed. let us know if there is any interference with the chaincase.
I already drove the blade around but only got one side to break loose from twisting and breaking flat on one sidelol Whats crazy was the idiot poser that came out to allegely dismount the tire, he thought it was like a tractor tire with no rings or oring, its a 5 piece wheel with oring to seal the bead, he suggested taking removing the wheel with a bead removal tool, so he went back to town to borrow one, anyway he came back with one for a tractor, a manual set up, it would not work as it does not push the bead enuff, its stroke was too short the the 18x25 tire!! It takes one made for the actual job, omg, i could just see this idiot trying to take wheel apart and reassemble it, i told him it needed a new oring and a ring safetly lock that was missing, his suggestion was to call the dealer, I told him the dealer is you!! Anyways he gave up with no chargelol I been measuring the 20,5 and looks like i will get one mounted and try it on the rear to see how the clearance issue is, whats crazy is trying to figure out if a newer 16g with 23,5 x25's had what width wheel and what offset??? I am going up to San Antone Tex this morning and try to see if Holt Cat has a new 16 in the yard to spy on, actually while looking thru the cat 16 parts book i find the machine had 24 inch wheels on the front and 25 inchers on the rear from the factory, so the saga continues, found 4 or 5 more used tire dealers last night to call and beg for tires today when i get home, still up in the air if i will just get to good used at $1250 each at 50 percent 18x25's mining tires or new dirt L2 type bias 16 plys 20,5x25's at $1000 each new, I just wish i new if they would work or the rear drives without hitting and also if they will fit on my 18x25 wheel, the book says the 18x25 tire needs a 13 inch wide wheel, the book says the 20,5x25 tire needs a 17 inch wide wheel, question is can a person make a 20,5 fit on the narrower wheel n be ok??? 4 inch difference could lead to hell on earth trying to get the rings back on without a tire press of some kind to get room for the rings to fit on the beadlol
Looking at the 16 (49G prefix) and 16G (93U prefix) the rims for 18.00x25 bias tyres have different offset in relation to the centre disc. See the photos below. On the left is your 16 rim, in the centre is an 18.00x25 rim for 16G, and on the right a 19.5" rim for a 16G wide base tyre (23.5R25). Unless the illustrations are lying a 16G rim of any type will not fit on to your machine and give the correct offset. I am working with a friend in the OTR tyre business to see if the 20.5R25 tyre will fit on the 13" wide rim you have, or if he can offer you any other suggestions.
We changed out our old tyres yesterday, new ones have 0 hrs at the moment. I saw them before they were mounted, seem to be almost bulletproof in construction. I don't anticipate any traction problems in the conditions we operate under, but time will tell. I've had our old tyres with "leg o mutton" tread, bury themselves in double quick time in sand and mud as well. Sorry, phone pics aren't the best quality. Cheers, Greg
2 things, i have never seen a john deere pull a cat, and i have seen a cat pull a john deere 4 times now..... and also Queenslander, those tyres are pretty good, i had those on a 140h tier and got great wear, though when the tread gets low you will find you may get a flat or 2. and before trimming i had to race up the road to try and settle them down a bit. but overall not bad
Wow, how kool and what a real blade you have with that ripper 100 ton hyda jack to change out the tandems, i had a flashback when i saw those pictures of the your cat blade with the ripper holding up the rears so could get the tires off, I remember seeing a pipeliner come thru with a 14 and ripper n a spare tire hanging off of the rears just like yours once, the operator has installed a motor driven air compressor that you turned a knurled handle to push it agaisnt the fan belt to make air pressure, he had a complete tire repair kit and hose in a extra tool box on th eblade so he did not have to have downtime due to a flat tire runiing out the pipeline right of way, he was paid by the mile by the general contractor and had 3 Cat old 14'e working on the 50 mile line that was thru some bad heavy brush with lots of stump, he was following behind 4 d8 cat 36 direct dirves with angle dozers that were tree knocking and stacking the 150 right of way, gees those guys were a real crew, one cat had a long long tow cable wrapped on the winch plus what ever was on the drum and they had a 2 ton 4x4 service truck following them the whole time with cb raido and huge 150 cfm air compresore to blow off dust and leaves so no fire from all of the brush they were working in, the eagle ford ol play is near us and lots of pipleines going in right now but it is nto the same with the quality of work any more, they start late and end early, you dont see the 24hr shifts like you used to see when catskiners were everywhere, now its kids playing video games and texting while operating HE!!lol
hi texan have you tried already to put th 20.5 on your 18.00's how did it end...if so how was it do the fit widely...di you haveny trouble on the back with the tandem? thanks
Don't waste your time on dealer Cat cutting edges. For the most part you would prefer a cheaper metal such as a carbon blade to be cost effective. However if you want to make them last longer and spend the money use a bernil edge. I believe I am spelling that right. There is a company in Canada that is pretty good at providing a quality edge. They are valley blade. Cheaper carbon edge would be from bucyrus or black cat.
Queenslander, I would be interested in hearing how your new tyres are going and what you think of them. How do they compare with the old ones for traction? RnR.
G'Day RnR, We've done about 400 hrs on the new tyres and so far they've performed really well. No flats and no noticeable lack of traction. They seem to be wearing much better as well, just a few cuts and scratches from rocks etc. For our sort of work I think they are a much better choice than radials. At the moment, we are maintenance grading for council on roads through timbered country that haven't had drains or batters done for nearly ten years. Plenty of tyre damaging regrowth to shift. Cheers, Greg
The reason I asked, Queenslander, was that we had rock lug tyres on a Komatsu GD625 grader and they were not very good at all for traction, good tough tyres for rocks, which we do a lot of, but not traction. We fitted Michelin non directional radials and they were a lot better. The other thing which I think affected the traction, was that this grader had been fitted with 17.5 x 24 tyres and while you would have thought it would improve traction, it seemed to have less ground pressure with the larger tyre area, which created more wheel slippage, adding more weight may have helped. Our Champion 720, on 14 x 24 tyres has a lot more traction. RnR.
The problem with our 12G, in most instances, is that it tends to run out of power before traction becomes much of an issue. This was the case on the first job with these tyres, cutting fire breaks through thick buffel grass in brigalow country,a job probably unique to Queensland. Good traction but very heavy going. Might be a different story with say, a 140, similar weight but more HP. Cheers, Greg
Rock lugs ? Radials ? What for out there in the outback ? look it's a fine line out there. Some of those sticks that flick up after your blade has gone over them are sun dried have been siting there for christ knows how long and there just like driving over a steel knife. Rock lugs will cut down on the punctures but you won't get any traction. there not designed to work in sand and out back materials. Radials ? yeah right as I said those sticks will go strait trough them. It's part of the hazzard of the outback. and believe me I know. Stick with the standards your going to get a flat whether you like it or not. and there cheaper to replace after you get your 600 th puncture. She's rough out there stick with it.
G'day CatGrader, to answer your queries, rock lugs, the grader came with rock lugs fitted to it when we bought it. Radials, they give far more traction in soft conditions, because they tend to wrap themselves around the ground, especially in sand, which we have quite a lot of here. Outback, I am not in the outback, I am in South Australia and a lot of our grading work is grading rocks ahead of a roller, building farm roads. Sticks are not a problem here, but I am well aware of the problems caused by sticks in the north, the likes of Lancewood in the Territory. RnR.
Guys, There is a handy MG tire guide created by Caterpillar. It covers the different tread patters, radial vs. bias, load factors and available MG tire selections. There are many difference tires choices in both radial and bias - and they all have difference characteristics. Some bias have more side wall stiffness than radials which may be preferred in some applications while in other applications maximum sidewall deflection is desired. I tried to upload the booklet but was restricted by file size. If you would like the Tire Application Guide drop me an email. Thanks
"ovrszd" I have had the same thing happen with the ice build up and the tranny going into limp mode. Dealer came out and put some sort of braces around the solenoids on the back of the transmission it was supposed to be a factory update. This was on a 2005 D if yours is newer it might already have them. At any rate these still did not do the trick. Ended up taking the belly pan off so as not to give the ice anywhere to build up from. That seemed to do the trick have'nt had a problem since. 2yrs. On another note. I know what you mean when the tire chains drop inside the lugs. Its like you don't even have chains on. If you rebuild your tire chains yourself you might want to try this. On each cross bar or every other one instead of a single cross bar put two bars. It works better to have the next size bigger link that hooks to the side chain but it can be done with what comes standard. Now even if one drops down there is no room for the other so it stays where it is supposed to. Works good!!!! They are just a lot heavier when it comes to putting them on.
I rerouted my solenoid wiring and extended the metal shield that was already there. Also built and added side covers. Didn't have problems after that. Good idea on the chains. I saw a neighboring township put crossbars on every side link which helped a lot. Like you said though, you ain't gonna grab those chains and throw them on top of the tire!!!
To answer your question,I would not waste the time putting a 20.5 on the narrower wheel.You will have a hard time getting the wheel assembly back together without a boom to press it together.Besides,and most significant,the 20.5 will not perform well,because the beads will be too close together-preventing a proper contact patch(tire footprint),which will greatly reduce traction and hours of service.Yes,they can be mounted on the narrower wheel.No,you won't be ok.In order to get the shoulder lugs on the ground you'd have to under-inflate them,which is a no-no.As far as radial vs. bias-that's a no brain-er.RADIALS are king.PERIOD!(Unless you're in sharp rocks tearing them up,in which case it's cheaper to tear up rags)The main thing with radials(as with any tire in any application) is proper inflation.You want to run 30-35psi in radials on a grader.If it's got no squat,you've got too much air in them.Had one county gut argue with me,said his grader got too squirrely on him going 40mph on asphalt roads unless he had 50psi in the tires.Well,in the first place the machine is not made to run 40mph down the highway,even though it'll do it.Second of all,you won't have even half the contact patch you should with that much air in them.Got all pissed off at me 'cuz I refused to put more air in them.:BangheadTough titty,I told him.I do my job right.:cool2Anyway,if you want to maximize your tires performance,from traction provided to impact break/flat resistance to hours of service,keep the proper air pressures in them.If anyone wants a good 14.00-24 bias,I recommend the 16 ply Firestones.Otherwise,Michelin all the way.The wide base tires(17.5,20.5,23.5) offer all the advantages that have been reported on here-better traction,floatation,etc.,etc.With the Cat 16,I recommend the 23.5R25.You'll definitely need new wheels,but you'll probably never have to buy tires again,providing no one tears one of them up.The 23.5-25 replaced the 18.00-25 on the 16's, and the 20.5-25 replaced the 16.00-24 on the 14.Best of luck to you. The old tireman.
Hey tireman. I found that the more pressure you put into a radial the quicker you bounce lol :drinkup
:thumbsup:iagree
we run two old graders on our cattle station, doing fence lines, fire breaks, and roads,running 1400x24.we put solids on the front four years ago now(foam filled 24 ply rock lug bias ply) we had heaps of flats before that, almost daily. since then maybe a couple a year! i would recommend them to anyone doing bush work in stake country, they are expensive to buy but cheap to run! i am a firm believer in rag tyres on trucks, and light vehicles, we get no time out of radials due to sidewall punctures, but we have had a dream run out of radials on the grader, we got some worn casings of a contractor, and theyve been great, the only tyres weve changed in the last 2 years were rags. my point is that i have changed my tune on this, and will look for more radials in the future. thinking back a lot of the flats on rags were straight through the tread, the steel seems to resist this better. Goodwin
New to this site...great site. I've got an old AC grader with 13 x 24's on it and I should really replace them all. Man, I wasn't prepared for the price! Thing is I only use this old girl for maintaining my mile-long road and helping with neighbors so I've got no working budget for tires, especially on a grader I paid a thousand bucks for a few years ago. I'll quit whining and ask my questions: 1-what do you guys think about the tires I see on ebay (they're in the 450 - 550 range with free shipping)? I'm wondering about the quality and my road is gravel and some big chucks of rock now and then. 2-Any ideas as to where I might find used tires out here in the Pacific N.W.? thanks for any assistance. ~martin
Stay away from the e-bay garbage.Check with some different commercial tire dealers.I used to work for Puget Sound Tire,back in the early 90's,but they sold out to GCR later in the decade.Not sure where you are,exactly,but look for a Les Schwab or Sam's.NorthWest Retreaders used to cap a lot of those tires,and that's an avenue I'd recommend for you.Get yourself some 16 ply retreaded casings and you should have no troubles.Always remember,cheap tires are cheap for a reason.Good luck to you.Let me know how your search turns out.
Hey Goodwin, gotta have steel mate no doubt about it. We did a fibre optic job from SA up into the Territory in 2010 and punctures from that spikey wood up there drove us nuts. In desperation we put solids, cost alot of money for the product on the backhoe and wished we did same for the Cat 163h grader it would have been cheap! I just couldnt believe how hard and sharp that timber was up there, just like sharks teeth. Hate to think what would happen if you came off your motor bike onto some of it! If you saw a piece of this timber, you made sure when you were turning round or working anywhere that you did not run over any of it if you could avoid it; puncture guaranteed!
Just remembered. We used to use Bandag caps on 1400 x 24 Michelin or Bridgestone cases years ago. Stopped a lot of punctures for sure working in shot rock with 140g. Not much grip for wet conditions and materials but almost eliminated puctures unless thru the bead or sidewall which was rare.
Fast forward nearly four years and 2500 hrs. and we have worn these tyres out without a single flat. May not wear as well as a radial, but miles ahead on downtime for the bush work we do with this machine. We once put our newer grader ,with 17.5 radials,in the bush and staked a tyre within half a day. Four new ones the same going on the drive. Cheers, Greg
Greg Thanks for the update on the tires. It looks like you got your money's worth out of them. I didn't see where you said what brand they were. I put some Birla (sp?) tires on my 14G a little over a year ago. They have about the same tread pattern, and are heavy, I think 24 ply, in 20.5x25. They were priced right, and have ate tons of rock with no flats and vever little chunking.
Jerry, They're made by BKT, an Indian company manufacturing mainly off highway tyres. 24 Kevlar plies, bead to bead. Greg PS. I see Birla tyres are also made in India
Hi Silveroddo tyres we use 14.00 and 17.5 the 1400 s in rail ballast and softer clay for better traction and turning running y67 yokohamas and 17.5s Double Coins on roadworks bigger track less tyre marks good in sand to but still harder to steer/turn Cutting edges 6inch x5/8 high carbon found are best end up throwing less away 8 inch are a pain in the bum heavier and often find youl get hung up trying to load on a float for transport have a look at Sharq edges and Sandvic 2000 we use these with good results
Queenslander are they Goodyears rock tyres ran them on a 12g in rail ballast great tyre never a flat
Tires and Cutting Edges This is such a great question. I know this is an old post but it is very important, as you all know. Cutting edges can play an important role in the life of your tires, and when solely comparing cutting edges to tire wear life there is one huge factor. Down pressure. The thickness and edge shape (rounded, bull nose, etc) will play a major part in how much down pressure you have to apply when you run into areas of road that need to be cut and properly mixed to get a good solid pack. It is very similar to a shovel when thinking about it a thin shovel requires little force to go into the ground, a thicker shovel will require much more force to do the same amount of work and will wear the other parts of the shovel faster. Same idea can be transferred to motor grader, the thicker your edge the more down pressure you are going to need and the faster your tires will wear. I understand the elements affect wear life as well, but I wanted to just focus on tires with cutting edges. If you really want your tires to last do not just focus on your edge wear life, a carbide will last a long time but you do pay for it upfront, it is fragile if you hit a rock, if you wear the steel on the back side the carbide can start to slide out, and they are thick and rounded not ideal for cutting. They will require a lot of down pressure and that means high RPM's, and added stress to your tires, circle, and other parts of your machine. Curious to see what everyone thinks of my thoughts here.