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Radial tires

Canadian_digger

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Oct 31, 2007
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811
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Ontario
Just bought my first set of Michlin radial tires for my backhoe. Do you run the same psi as bias ply tires? Was running around 30psi before.
 

mrbb

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Jun 30, 2015
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187
Location
NE pa
I would suggest following what the tire spec's on the side wall tell you
and you can fine tune from there pending what your doing IF you like
 

clintm

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charlotte nc
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trucking,concrete recycling,grading, demolition
the best thing is to look at them. radials normally you want the sidewalls to bulge out a little but not to much and pay attention the tracks it leaves on the ground.
 

Nige

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G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
Radial tyres generally require slighlty higher inflation pressures than bias ply. Just be careful using the pressures on the sidewall. They are usually the maximum pressure to which the tyre can be safely inflated, not the recommended inflation pressure for a particular application.

What machine do you have and what size are the tyres..?
 

Nige

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G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
Radial tires bulge out on the sidewall more than bias ply tires. Go by the pressure recommended on the sidewall.
Before doing that see my post #4 above and ensure that the pressure marked on the sidewall is the manufacturer's recommended inflation pressure and NOT the maximum permitted inflation pressure for the particular tyre. Because machine weights and tyre applications for the same size tyre can vary dramatically it's very unusual to find a recommended inflation pressure marked on the sidewall in my experience.
 
Last edited:

kshansen

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Central New York, USA
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Before doing that see my post #4 above and ensure that the pressure marked on the sidewall is the manufacturer's recommended inflation pressure and NOT the maximum permitted inflation pressure for the particular tyre. Because machine weights and tyre applications for the same size tyre can vary dramatically it's very unusual to find a recommended inflation pressure marked on the sidewall in my experience.

Seems I recall at least one tire that had the minimum inflation pressure on it or maybe it was in a spec. sheet some where. I have had good luck contacting both Michelin and Bridgestone directly to get their recomendations on pressure, at least for the more common applications.
 

mrbb

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Jun 30, 2015
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Location
NE pa
I have seen many tires that read MAX and MIN pressures on there side walls
liek I said in the earlier post, use the side wall info and work off that, unless loaded to the max, max pressure is never the best suggestion, star a little lower and go from there, ad in what your machine weights and what your doing with it and on WHAT type of ground your working on
 

old-iron-habit

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Nov 22, 2012
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Moose Lake, MN
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Retired Cons't. Supt./Hospitals
One thing to remember is that with radials, if inflation PSI does not match weight, over inflation often results pushing the softer sidewalls out even more and making them look like they are under inflated. Poor wear patterns will result with over inflation as the tread will have less pressure in the center of the tread because it is trying to cup.
 

Jan Namibia

Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Messages
12
Location
Windhoek
Have OEM Michelin tyres on a new 315 SK JD. Front recommended pressure in owner manual is 54psi/3.7 Bar - which sounds a lot to me. Size = 340/80-18 or 12.8/80-18. But maximum sidewall pressure states 35psi/250kPa/2.5 Bar (for both front and rear tyres) Which prsessure to use please? Thanks !!
 

franklin2

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Aug 6, 2016
Messages
309
Location
Virginia
Never go over the max rated sidewall pressure in any application. If your owners manual is that much different than the actual tires installed on the tractor, then someone must have installed a lower rated tire on it with less plys. I would not put 54psi in a tire that had a max rating of 35psi on the sidewall.
 

Tinkerer

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May 21, 2009
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The shore of the illinois river USA
35 psi should give satisfactory performance. The only time I would increase it would be if a normally loaded front bucket caused the front tires to distort when turning. On concrete and asphalt surfaces the distortion can be quite severe if you are going very fast.
 

HandLogger

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Oct 21, 2007
Messages
108
Location
Berkshires
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Forest Land Management
I would never exceed the max pressure, which, as previously mentioned in this thread, is usually molded into the sidewall of your tires. The exact pressure, however, is going to depend greatly on how the machine is used. When we run our radials over extremely uneven roads, for example, we tend to lower the pressure accordingly. When we use the loader section to move dense grade road base, on the other hand, we tend to raise the pressure.
 
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