How to Choose Tires for your Backhoe or Skip Loader
When you are choosing tires for your backhoe, you need to keep in mind what you are going to be doing with them. There are different tires for different purposes. The tire you choose will vary depending on whether you are mostly going to be using your backhoe on grass, on hard surfaces, or on soft dirt and mud. Pacific Coast Iron met with the professionals over at Monster Tires, a heavy equipment tire specialty company that provides Tractor Tires, Backhoe Tires, Forklift Tires, Motor, Grader Tires, Skid Steer Tires, Skip Loader Tires, Telehandler Tires, Wheel Loader Tires and much more.
Turf Tires for Backhoes
Turf tires are designed with maximum surface contact area to not tear up your grass. These tires have the least traction of all the tractor and backhoe tires, though they tend to have more traction than regular car tires. Turf tires are most often used for mowing machines, since they have limited usefulness on other surfaces.
R4 Construction Tread Tires
R4 construction tread tires are right in the middle between turf tires and Ag tires. They are really good for all-purpose functionality. They have quite a bit more tread than turf tires, which gives them more traction. The tires themselves are wider, too, which gives more stability. It also spreads out the pressure from the backhoe, which makes it easier on both the tires and the surfaces that they are driving on.
R4 tires are well suited for use on pavement and asphalt because of the way the treads are designed. You get a lot of stability on asphalt without worrying about the tires spinning under your machine however, R4 Tires do not work so well on muddy or wet surfaces. They lack the tread depth that Ag tires have, so they have less traction in such situations.
As the name suggests, R4 Construction Tread Tires are best suited on any construction site, where you will be using them in dry conditions, and where they will be used on hard-packed ground or on asphalt. These are the tires you want for construction jobs.
Ag Tires
“Ag” Tires or “Agriculture” tires are the best tires for farm use or use in deep sloppy mud. They have very deep, very widely spaced treads that are designed to give maximum traction in loose soil and muddy ground. The deep treads work almost like shovel blades, cutting into the dirt and providing stability for driving. Ag Tires are also commonly used for snow work because of the increased traction and stability.
Ag tires have great traction in soft and muddy ground, but they do not provide enough traction for really stable work on asphalt or pavement. These are the tires you want to use when you are clearing out a work site and moving the dirt around to get a flat, hard-packed surface.
Which tires are right for my business?
There are many steps to a construction project, and there are different conditions that your equipment will be working in. In the beginning, you will be tearing up the dirt and moving it around to make a flat work site. You will probably want Ag tires for this, since they will give you traction and tear into the ground. Then you will be driving over hard packed dirt and pavement, which is best for R4 Construction Tread Tires. Finally, when it comes to putting the finishing touches on the project, including landscaping if you do landscaping, your turf tires will let you get the job done without tearing up the ground. The question is, which kinds of tire do YOU need?
Check out MonsterTires.com for the Best Pricing on Heavy Equipment Tires
