New Rear Tires: BKT vs Firestone

I am being quoted about 150 more for Firestone over BKT for 18.4 by 34 on my Allis.  Opinions and especially experience wanted here, are Firestones worth the extra here???

for 150 yes

Edited by NomoreJohnDeere - 02 Oct 2019 at 6:11pm

For the little difference, I'd get the real thing

One thing to check on the Firestones is the tread bar width.  They make a thin barred tire that is thinner than the regular tires and thus cheaper.  If it is the wider barred Firestone, then I would go with the Firestone.  You know the cheap Firestones when you see them in the flesh, I have a friend that has them on a tractor of his.  They seem to work fine, but you know they aren't going to wear nearly as long.  Another friend has the BKT tires on a 7810 Deere of his and they seem to be a good tire for the money.  My preference is for the Firestone though.

I have BKT's on the rear of my B and WC. Decent tire at a fair price. No complaints.

I have a Deere 4020 with the Firestone 23 degree non radial tires. They have been on for close to 20 years and for the first 10 it was my big tractor. They are now worn smooth. Talked to my tire dealer about new ones and his reply was you are not going to like them. They changed something and even though they look the same you are only going to get half the wear out of the next set. Not sure what I am going to buy but need something before spring. Tom

I've had BKTs on one of my WD45s for over10 years I'm happy with them. I stopped buying after the wilderness tire fiasco. I had three tires seperate on one touch in three months. Firestone wouldn't replace any of them claimed offroad tires aren't warranties. I contacted Firestone and informed them I'd never put a Firestone on again. By the time they did a recall on all wilderness tires I had replaced with Goodyears. I haven't put on a Firestone since. The farm I work at puts mostly firestones on the tractors they are neither bbetter or worse than any other tire. The Goodyear tracks seem to last longer.

Any ideas on how long it takes a tire to "toughen up" ? Seems to me that new tires are prone to punctures ? Thanks

AC in SC. We would get in semi loads of Firestones in Jan/Feb. We would try to let them set outside for 3 months. This did the trick for Firestone. If we got in Titan/Armstrong, BKT, Alliance, Carlisle, etc we try'd to let them set a minimum of 6 months. You have to watch some of the cheaper brands. If they set outside too long, the sunlight will cause the inner liner to get brittle and crack in many spots. Then your tube will go to pieces.

You may be right Jay . I do know that I took a brand new tractor where I'd had the old D 15 many times . Poked a hole in the new rear tire very soon . Thanks