Tread direction

[Ole Gal]

As I read through this forum, I noticed several pictures of graders with the tread on the tires oriented front on one side and back on the other side. My grader has the same thing but I thought it may have been a mistake. Now that I have seen other graders with the same thing I wonder if someone can explain why they would be installed that way. Would it be equal traction in forward and in reverse? But I would not have much need for traction in reverse.

 

[Nige]

If those are rear tyres and the photo is taken from the back facing forward, the one on the left of your photo is correct, the one on the right has the tread pattern reversed.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . A correctly mounted tyre slipping under load can (in the right sort of mud) leave curled up 'worms' or extrusions either side of the wheel track . . . that is to say it is 'self cleaning'.

I was always told drive tyres are mounted thus and steer or drag tyres the other way about.

Cheers.

 

[Delmer]

Exactly, unless getting unstuck (backwards) is more important than going forward. Combine tires are typically mounted backwards (like the right tire if that's the rear view)

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Gotcha Delmer I didn't know that about combines . . . makes sense.

Cheers.

 

[Shimmy1]

They put tires on grain carts backwards too. Supposedly they pull easier.

 

[Ole Gal]

Thanks for the info. I was just curious since I have seen several pics of graders with tire tread in opposite directions, whether there was a good reason for doing this. So to give the previous owners the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they had a muddy or uphill situation in which they needed good traction in reverse as well as forward. When I get new tires (these have dry rot), I will have both installed in forward position.

 

[Ole Gal]

Yes, we are looking at rear of the grader in my avatar. I do see now that it does appear to be a front windshield and the front of a tractor! Interesting how they put these graders together.

 

[mitch504]

They put tires on grain carts backwards too. Supposedly they pull easier.

A lot of tires have 2 arrows on them; one for powered tires, and the opposite way for unpowered tires. It works kinda like a ratchet, the powered way grips the ground and pushes the machine forward, the other way, the ground grips the tire and keeps it rolling, as opposed to sliding and digging in, or pushing up a pile in front of it.

I run them that way on my spreader trucks, and it makes a big difference:

 

[The Learner]

i have been told why a bloke mounted them backwards

1 they dont have much traction when they are "backwards" so if i get bogged like that i just stop hit reverse and back out using maximum traction to get out instead of using maximum traction to get bogged and having "no" way out

2 at high road speed (30-40km/h) they run smoother on the road with less vibration because of the way the tread contacts the ground during rotation
i drove "sister" machines with tyres each way and i would say it was noticeable

 

[John C.]

I've always mounted grader tires with the chevrons going forward on drive tires. The front tires of a standard drive machine I've always mounted the chevrons facing towards the rear of the machine. Radials for snow and such seem to me to have the direction arrows molded into the sidewalls.

 

[Ole Gal]

John C. , chevron is a new word for me so I looked it up.
I need a bit of advice from someone. How important would it be to use strictly grader tires on My 402 Galion? For example, the tires presently on my grader have lobes on the end of the chevron, or is a straight uniform chevron equally as good? My main use for the grader is maintaining a dirt road on a tree farm. The land has rolling hills and the road passes over ravines (I wait for them to dry before grading) and some fairly steep grades. I was doing some ditching and got the blade 4-5 inches deep on the toe to nothing on the heel and this caused the grader to spin the tires. I really am not aware how much dirt my grader should be expected to move, but the engine has never bogged down. The governor keeps the RPMs and the wheels spin, so I am under the impression that more traction would be good as long as I do not bog the engine down. I am really in no hurry and I do not try to dig real deep. I am just trying to get Ole Gal in excellant working condition. Thanks for your advice or what you are thinking.

 

[Ole Gal]

The exhaust hit a low hanging limb! Fortunately, it bent the exhaust pipe into a perfect 90 degree angle! Ha!

 

[Ole Gal]

A lot of tires have 2 arrows on them; one for powered tires, and the opposite way for unpowered tires. It works kinda like a ratchet, the powered way grips the ground and pushes the machine forward, the other way, the ground grips the tire and keeps it rolling, as opposed to sliding and digging in, or pushing up a pile in front of it.

I run them that way on my spreader trucks, and it makes a big difference:
View attachment 129796

So Mitch, I assume that the front tires on your spreader truck are not pulling the truck, just steering. I see similar tires on spreader trucks around here but I never really looked at the direction of the tread. The local lime/fertilizer company uses a terragator for spreading, one big tire in the front and two large ones in the rear. I will check out his tire orientation when I go by his place.

 

[mitch504]

Yeah, only the rear axle pulls.

I started out with all 4 wheels the same way. I actually got the idea of turning the front wheels around from seeing them on graders that way. I looked at the tires on one of my 2 motorgraders and it had the powered/unpowered wheel arrows.

In short, I have tried them both ways, and it makes a massive difference. With them turned like the rears, when you get in mud, they'll stop turning and pile mud in front of them, which sticks you. With them reversed, they keep turning. It works with those big tires, and my "little" 15-22.5 dry weather tires.

As to your question, you might get a little better traction with ag tires, but the first thing I'd do is turn that backward tire around, it really does matter. After I did that, I'd look at putting some weight on the rear.

I think that the main advantage of the R-4 (grader/loader) tire over the ag tread is it probably has better traction in reverse, and a little less in forward.

 

[Nige]

After turning that RH tyre it may also pay you to mess around with pressures to see if it makes any difference to traction.

 

[Ole Gal]

I think I read either on the tire or this forum that normal tire pressure is around 15 psi. Would this be correct and good for traction?

 

[DPete]

Directional tires on drive axles are mounted tread forward to self clean, free rolling tires where the ground is turning the wheel are backwards

 

[Nige]

I think I read either on the tire or this forum that normal tire pressure is around 15 psi. Would this be correct and good for traction?

I don't think you can actually give a number for "normal", as what works with one brand of tyre on one machine might not work with another brand of the same size tyre on another machine. IMO it's all down to the flex in the tyre carcass, a tyre with a "rigid" sidewall could need far less pressure than one with a relaitvely soft sidewall (think bias ply versus radial maybe). A tyre that doesn't flex right will spin at the least provocation rather than grip. I would imagine your tyres are bias ply, correct..?

 

[cuttin edge]

Our 940 Volvo came with the front tires on the correct way. One of the owners thought they were on backwards, and got the boys in the shop to flip them around. Now she slides instead of turning in sandy material or mud. First trip to the tire shop will fix that.