Hi everyone ,just wondering what you guys thoughts were about 9.5L x15 and 11.5 Lx15 tires for a flexicoil 5000 drill were ? What kind and where best pricing is to be found .I think it had good year on it and they don't seem to last the stubble raises heck with them .Thanks for the input .
Drill tires
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You're right, the Good Years just don't like stubble, or rocks, or sticks, or sun...
When my drill had those size tires on it I would try to put on a tire with a higher ply or load rating, it seemed to help with longevity, for sure on the mainframe tires where they are on the road.
Another thought though, many of the newer 'no-till' drills are going to a tread tire similar to those spec'd on lawn mowers, I think this is to help with stubble abrasion. Is there an option to use your rims with a different style tire, without affecting setup of your drill significantly?
When my drill had those size tires on it I would try to put on a tire with a higher ply or load rating, it seemed to help with longevity, for sure on the mainframe tires where they are on the road.
Another thought though, many of the newer 'no-till' drills are going to a tread tire similar to those spec'd on lawn mowers, I think this is to help with stubble abrasion. Is there an option to use your rims with a different style tire, without affecting setup of your drill significantly?
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A question I'm always pondering is why do they have ribs on implement tires. I've replaced a lot of drill tires in 15 + years of direct seeding, almost always from stubble wear and always between ribs. I'm sure the rubber is formed smooth then ground out to make the ribs. So why do this? I think the stubble would flow to the sides better and cause less damage with a smooth surface.
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x2 on the drill application.
The main reason may be that on a fixed axle, the ribs would help it track better, (trailer applications). Since a lot of these tires are mounted where they can rotate 360' on a drill it doesn't matter.
Firestone has a radial replacement for the 9.5-15 and 11L15 in an IF technology. I think there is actually still a rebate on them, which makes them around the same money as a bias tire.
They are pretty impressive little implement tires, will reduce compaction significantly if that's important to you.
They are pretty impressive little implement tires, will reduce compaction significantly if that's important to you.
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Last tires we bought for air drill came from Tire Rama in Havre for the main frame. That was 2 years ago when the exchange was much better and their prices were way lower than in Canada. We also went for the "hi-speed hi-way" grade tires. I would rather have good tires on her as I would hate to see what happens if you had it go down on a road and you would have to replace with the wings up!
I too have found the Firestone a good tire, the Titan tire's are good but not quite as good as the Firestone and the ones from India and China in some cases have not gone a season.
So only the better quality ones on our seeder. the downtime soon out weighs the extra cost of the tire.
So only the better quality ones on our seeder. the downtime soon out weighs the extra cost of the tire.
I don't bother buying the standard 9.5 or 11L -15 SL tires anymore. I have been getting the highway rated implement tires which have more load capacity, and with the flatter profile have a little better displacement. 2 yrs ago I put the Galaxy knobby tires on the wing casters of the drill. Its an odd number 31 x ? x 15. It has better stubble wear but the main reason I switched is to have more flotation than a 11L -15 and will fit the same rim. If getting those get the heavier ply. I see JD is using them on their new drills. As CDN mentioned Firestone come out with a new IF tire. Thinks its called Definition ???. Its supposed to have good specs, has a very flat profile and improved flotation for reduced compaction. Supposed to be cheaper than a highway rated 11L-15LT tire. It looks more like a truck tire than a implement tire. If I remember right I think the Firestone guys said it was made at their truck tire plant.
Went to firestones factory in Des Moines Iowa in Jan and they talked about the new radial implement tires and showed the foot print compared to a bias tire and wow what a difference! I just order 4 for the front of my drill and they were cheaper than the FI highway service and have as good load rating and better speed rating and larger footprint. By the way they are call Destination Farm.
The new Firestone radial implement is part of the Destination Implement line, they all incorporate Firestones IF AD2 technology.
We've been really pushing to get a 12.5-15 replacement in the market, and I believe it will be happening this year now.
I find it very impressive that the 11L15 replacement in the Destination radial (IF280/70R15) carries the same load as a highway special, at lower pressure, and it's actually cheaper.
Add the fact that it will be a longer lasting tire due to the flat radial footprint, and shouldn't suffer from the typical failings of bias construction such as air migration in the chord body, and you've got a bit of a winner in my opinion.
They have some VF technology tires as well in this new lineup, we can now put a VF445/65R22.5 on to replace the old super single truck tires on wagons and in some cases drop the pressures by more than half, which really pays dividends for guys trying to minimize compaction.
Gets me excited thinking about it
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Are the Firestone the same height as a Goodyear FI tire of same size? When we were looking for new tires on our drill the Firestone guy told us the bias Firestone was a different height then the Goodyear so we would need to replace all to keep drill level. Told us to just get the good years
Going off the data books the 11L15 Firestone FI shows 30.6" overall Diameter, the IF280/70R15 shows 30.50", and the Goodyear Highway special shows 31.1".
Based on the information in the data books the Goodyear will raise the axle 0.255" over the Firestone IF. But then again the static loaded radius on the IF280/70R15 is listed as 13.8", and 13.7" on the goodyear, so real world differences may not be as drastic if those numbers are correct
A Bias tire generally won't have a very flat footprint, so the overall diameter will be the largest in the centre of the tread area, whereas the radial will be more consistent across the tread face.
***EDIT*** couple other things worth mentioning, the firestone IF280/70R15 has a flat plate (how much tread touches the ground) of 78 square inches, vs 66 on the goodyear, and the IF Firestone carries 3960lbs @ 52psi with a D (65km/h) speed rating. The goodyear carries 3960lbs @ 90psi at what they call "intermittent highway speeds", so probably short trips of max 80km/h I would have to assume.
If you're changing all of the tires I would be willing to bet the Firestone IF would be a much better tire option, and cheaper overall than the 12ply FI bias tires from Firestone or Goodyear.
How about airplane tires?I have pair to put on a liquid fertilizer cart that came mounted on new wheels and were still much cheaper than the implement tire was alone.They started advertizing out of Texas and now have a store in California,cannot remember the name.There were a lot of airplane tires used in the 50's on farm stuff even front combine tires.Then they were hard to get,until this outfit started pushing them in the 90's again.
Airplane tires "work" but aren't exactly ideal in my opinion. Depending on the size they typically aren't designed to fit on one piece implement wheels, in a lot of cases I see the beads being cut down so they are pliable and able to be mounted onto existing wheels. (which causes a lot of tube chafing from my dealings with them)
They are also very heavy ply tires, and require higher air pressures. They are some of the worst tires you can run for compaction.
I realize this thread is a few years old. I am in need of new tires on air drill. I see Goodyear has an 11L-15 implement tire that is completely smooth. Has anyone tried these on the wings of their air drills? Wondering how they stand up to stubble. Any updates on the Firestone Destination IF tires as far as stubble resistance.
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The firestone radial implement tires have been great so far. I need to buy more and was hoping for a sale. Let me knowf you find a good price on some.
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