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My tractor needed new tires so I went to the local tire dealer to see what they had. They had an off-brand 4 ply tractor tire for $525@, or a name brand (Firestone) 8 ply for $800. I didn't like either of those two choices. My salesman saw that neither of his proposals was getting me excited when he came up with another idea...a backhoe tire with 12 ply for $625 each. That's what I went with.
The tractor in question is a Massey 362 2wd that was my dad's. He owned and operated an apple orchard and when he past away in 2007, I inherited the tractor. I really like it because it sits low to the ground and is stable on hills. I can pull an 8' bush hog with it. If it was hydrostatic drive I'd sell my other tractor and use it all the time. Hydro's have spoiled me.
This summer, the rear tire on the left side, started losing air. It was badly weather cracked, and I knew my days of patching it and getting by were numbered. When it quit holding air I decided it was time for a change. The problem was, I have no way to haul it. In order to get it to the tire store, I'd have to pay someone to come get it and take it there and then pay them again to bring it back, or...
The local tire store is 2.1 miles away, so I could drive it up there. Half of that distance is a county road, but the rest is past a Super WalMart, Lowe's, Arby's, Wendy's, etc., a heavily travelled area. I headed out on a Sunday morning, hoping to avoid a lot of traffic, but we're at the time of year in the Ozarks when tourism is in full swing. Leaves are turning and a lot of people are in the area to see the fall colors. There was more traffic than I had hoped there would be.
I fueled up the tractor, mounted a beacon on the roll bar (available here: asktractormike...) and headed to town. I took my time and let traffic go around me, and about 20 minutes or so later, I was pulling into the parking lot at Economy Tire. The following week, they drained the fluid out of the old tires and took them off, then put the new tires on and pumped the fluid back in. I paid them on Thursday of last week, then picked up the tractor early this past Sunday morning. Everything went perfectly.
Questions for you...was I dumb to put backhoe tires on my tractor and should I have "roaded" it to the tire store? I'm sure I'll get some opinions, please put in the comments below.
In the end, I'm very happy with my new tires and am considering getting a 12' batwing cutter to go on the back of the tractor now that I'm not afraid to use it. It's really the perfect tractor for hills, I just wish it was hydrostatic drive.
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