[Stonehenge]

I have no patience, and we do a large portion of our work out in the street, which means lots of skidding.

How long do your skidsteer tires usually last?

Ours? Ourse usually last 1 season, or about 250 hours. I'm betting we're on the low end when it comes to longevity of tires.

I'll need to replace the current set before the year is up.

[dan deutekom]

We seem to get about 1000 hours out of a set of tires. Our machine gets mixed use. Loading in yard, excavating, grading and about 50% snowremoval work. The hardest thing on tires is working on pavement. I find snow removal easy on tires because of the lubricating effect of the skiff of snow left behind the bucket.

[Stonehenge]

What brand of tire do you use?

I've used expensive ones and Pacific Rim ones, and they all last about the same amount of time.

I was thinking of trying those Air Boss tires, the ones with no air in them. No flats would be nice...We had 2 blowouts this year.

[diginahole]

I get about the same life from tires as Stonehenge.

I have heard some good things about Michelins new skid steer radials. I have not tried them. read review here

[dan deutekom]

I don't off hand remember the brand of tire. We get them from our local tire shop. Next time I am in the yard I will check what type they are. I do remember that they do not have a name that is familiar to me.

[Stonehenge]

Digin -

That review sounded promising. I'm in the market for new tires now, so I'll have to ask my tire place if they can get those.

[scl]

I'll get about 350 out of the set I have now. I wonder if there's an appreciable difference between the lug models and the flatter model? The second ones are supposed to eliminate the hopping and last longer on pavements while still giving decent traction on turf. Little more expensive though.

[dan deutekom]

You guys seem to get a lot less life out of your tires than we do. My question is when do you consider your tires worn out. We let ours go until they don't hold air. I know you will talk about the lack of traction etc. but we have found that it is only on rare occasions in mud that it really makes a noticeable difference. Working in dry conditions the smoother tire does less damage to turf and on hard surfaces actually has more traction.

[dan deutekom]

Another thing that I have noticed is that the left front tire on our Case 1845C always wears out first. This is our second case and the old one did the same thing.

[diginahole]

I let mine go until they don't hold wind aswell. Errr, actually.... I replace all 4 when the first one lets go and keep the best one for a spare. Never seen anywhere close to 1000 hours on a tire. We do a lot of 180 degreee turns on asphalt. Front tires wear faster than rears because they actually scrub more than rears when turning with an empty bucket. If you really think about it the bucket is probably empty twice as often as it is loaded. I often lift the front tires off the ground when performing sharp turns on asphalt to save a bit of tread.

[scl]

My take on the front left one wearing out is that most people favor turning to their left and causes that tire to skid more than role. If you ride horses you'll notice that most turn better left than right. Same theory. I agree with letting the tires wear out for turf damage purposes, but if you go up and down hils in unimproved lots or when it gets slick, yee haa.

[dan deutekom]

Looked at our skidsteer tires today. They are made by a company called Planet. The logo is the world. Only other thing besides the size and usual warnings on the tire is that they are nylon. I do know that this is the brand we have always used. Don't know who makes them but we get them from our local Firestone tire shop.

[Stonehenge]

I was out at our garages today, and sure enough our left front was worn the most as well. And I think SCL has got it - whenever I back up then turn to go forward, I always turn to the right, making the path longer and 'skiddier' for the left front. Interesting....

[Paul]

We use 2 different size machines, the smaller one's we get 300-400 hrs per set, the larger machines we ge 500-700 hrs per set, when one goes they all get replaced. Tire sizes are 10.00/16 and 14.00/17.

[BJR]

I had a 453 Bobcat for a while. I only ever got 300 hours from a set.