# The best style of tires for tractor snow blowing.



## Mdclement (Jan 1, 2016)

I recently purchased a Shoule 92" Inverted snowblower for my Kubota M96S. Love the blower & tractor. The tractor came with "bar-type" agricultural tires & during the first snow storm last week, I had difficulty turning the tractor effectively. The front tires are loaded, but I'm thinking a different tire (tread type) should be used. What's the best for snow and/or ice?


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

I've got the same bar type treads on my tractor. I've always put chains on the rears, but the the fronts. Steering is always an issue; I keep my loader on, so that adds some weight which helps. My blower is a 3 pt. Is your blower on the front? If it is, just lift the blower a bit to put weight on the front tires.

I don't think a different tire will help you at all.


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## newhere (Oct 13, 2009)

Have to put r4 turf tires on it. Then take a razor blade to them and cut them every 1/4" and that tractor will be unstoppable. You can wait 200-400hrs to cut them if you want. They will be real good brand new. 

Or a specialized snow tire with lots of siping.


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## snopushin ford (Feb 20, 2010)

Mdclement;2086190 said:


> I recently purchased a Shoule 92" Inverted snowblower for my Kubota M96S. Love the blower & tractor. The tractor came with "bar-type" agricultural tires & during the first snow storm last week, I had difficulty turning the tractor effectively. The front tires are loaded, but I'm thinking a different tire (tread type) should be used. What's the best for snow and/or ice?


Do you have any suit case weights on the front?


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## Mdclement (Jan 1, 2016)

Not familiar with "suit case" weights, but will look into that. There is no loader at all. For those of you not familiar with "inverted" blowers, they are "pull type" only. I'm planning on installing an 800 lb. capacity Snow-Ex spreader in the front before the next storm. I think the added weight should help, plus it would be nice to have the sand/salt with me in case I need it. I do a lot of sloped driveways.


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

Suit case weights are like square barbell weights that you hang on a bracket on the front of a tractor. You may have to get a bracket for it though. If you're going to be carrying 800lb if salt/sand in front though, that will do the trick for you. Just throw some tube sand bags in there for weight if you don't need to actually be spreading sand ir salt since it probably doesn't weigh much empty. .


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## Mdclement (Jan 1, 2016)

Thanks Seville009.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

http://www.nokianheavytyres.com/tyres/tyre/nokian-tri-2-steel/

Somewhere in there.

I have them on the fronts of one, and my new one I took the OEM tyres off and had the Nokians installed all the way around.

I realize the originals on my older one were bald, but my operator said the difference was comparable to 2WD vs 4WD.

Last year someone said they used them even for haying and they were better than the bar tyres for even that.


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## ry_rock (Jul 21, 2011)

Nokian Tires all the way...if not a turf type tire, makes a HUGE difference


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## skimastr105 (Aug 18, 2009)

Where did you get yours from?



Mark Oomkes;2086610 said:


> http://www.nokianheavytyres.com/tyres/tyre/nokian-tri-2-steel/
> 
> Somewhere in there.
> 
> ...


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Wonderland Tire


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

Nokian Tires are the way to go, the Shule inverted blower is the heaviest on the market, so definitely I would install some kind of weight up front. I also run my tractors without the locks on the brakes. This way I can use the brakes to help me turn.
Please only attempt this once you are familiar with the tractor. The danger in doing this is when you need to brake hard or quickly and you do not press down on both brake pedals it will veer left or right.


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## IMAGE (Oct 21, 2007)

There is another tire that is popular around here. It's the Alliance 550. Looks about identical to the Nokian, but seems to be easier to find and a better price. I haven't had a chance to run a set myself yet, but there are several tractors in town running the Alliance 550's, and they seem to like them.


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## Snowfarmths (Nov 20, 2012)

IMAGE;2103784 said:


> There is another tire that is popular around here. It's the Alliance 550. Looks about identical to the Nokian, but seems to be easier to find and a better price. I haven't had a chance to run a set myself yet, but there are several tractors in town running the Alliance 550's, and they seem to like them.


We had to put two sets of tires on two JD 6430's this year that we plow with One got Nokian and one Alliance. We farm also and do alot of road driving . The sales pitch was ,great for plowing (they are!) ,smoother ride down the road , and last longer then a regular AG tire. The salesmen said the Tire compound in the Nokian is softer so more traction on hard pack and ice,and a smoother ride. The Alliance tires are a harder compound so a little less traction and a harder ride but he says should last a little longer then the Nokians. To do the tires there was about a $1500 cdn difference between the two tractors. Alliance was less. This will be a good comparison between the two. We will see. Also i should note that the size of the tires were a bit different between the two tractors.The metric conversion of tire sizes made this a bit hard so Nokian didn"t make a size for the rims on one tractor.That is also why the two brands of tires.


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## IMAGE (Oct 21, 2007)

Snowfarmths;2105304 said:


> We had to put two sets of tires on two JD 6430's this year that we plow with One got Nokian and one Alliance. We farm also and do alot of road driving . The sales pitch was ,great for plowing (they are!) ,smoother ride down the road , and last longer then a regular AG tire. The salesmen said the Tire compound in the Nokian is softer so more traction on hard pack and ice,and a smoother ride. The Alliance tires are a harder compound so a little less traction and a harder ride but he says should last a little longer then the Nokians. To do the tires there was about a $1500 cdn difference between the two tractors. Alliance was less. This will be a good comparison between the two. We will see. Also i should note that the size of the tires were a bit different between the two tractors.The metric conversion of tire sizes made this a bit hard so Nokian didn"t make a size for the rims on one tractor.That is also why the two brands of tires.


I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to hearing updates on this comparison over the next few seasons. If you'd like shoot me a text or call and maybe we could keep in touch on how they compare as time goes on, in case we forget to update here because that's very likely ha. 218-205-7198 -Steve


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## excav8ter (Oct 7, 2009)

IMAGE;2106229 said:


> I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to hearing updates on this comparison over the next few seasons. If you'd like shoot me a text or call and maybe we could keep in touch on how they compare as time goes on, in case we forget to update here because that's very likely ha. 218-205-7198 -Steve


I am going to try to get the Alliance tires for our New Holland next year. The R4's are too sketchy going down the road, and if you get on an of camber driveway, or one that is a bit steep, you can forget getting up it with the R4's.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

excav8ter;2106749 said:


> I am going to try to get the Alliance tires for our New Holland next year. The R4's are too sketchy going down the road, and if you get on an of camber driveway, or one that is a bit steep, you can forget getting up it with the R4's.


That's what keeps the night interesting.


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## excav8ter (Oct 7, 2009)

Mark Oomkes;2106754 said:


> That's what keeps the night interesting.


True! But it also slows us down quite a bit. I spent 30 minutes on a driveway this week, that normally takes 12 minutes. It slopes down hill to Lake Michigan and i couldn't get back up to Lakeshore drive. I actually had about 6 drives that took nearly 2.5 times as long as normal.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

excav8ter;2106762 said:


> True! But it also slows us down quite a bit. I spent 30 minutes on a driveway this week, that normally takes 12 minutes. It slopes down hill to Lake Michigan and i couldn't get back up to Lakeshore drive. I actually had about 6 drives that took nearly 2.5 times as long as normal.


That crap iced up something horrible. Even my tractor with Nokians all the way around was having issues.

Mine with R4s was like roller skates on ice. Couldn't go over 3rd gear on a lot of streets.


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## excav8ter (Oct 7, 2009)

I found that same thing. The tractor would just "fishtail" all over the place. Even some of the very moderate slopes gave me fits. I need to get our tire guy to come take a look at the JD 5101 and the New Holland TL100A Deluxe this summer. Maybe we can get a better deal in the summer...


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