Front tire suggestions

Got a set of implement rims 6 hole pattern that are the right pattern and offset for my D17.   I am going to put a set of 9.5L-15 tires on them.   What would you guys suggest, 3 rib, 4 rib, or implement style?   This tractor has a loader on it and 18.4 x 28 on the back.   I primarily use it for cleaning up snow etc. in the winter and lifting, moving stuff around in the summer.   I was thinking about the four rib style, as the implement style might not dig in too much, but when cleaning snow etc. they might slide side to side? too much.   I looked all around on tractorhouse and many of the tractors that have 9.5L-15 tires on the front and have loaders have the three rib style on them.   Have to clean up and paint the rims this weekend and was hoping to get a set to mount on before Monday when I go by my dad's as he has a tire changer.  

On my loader tractor i put new rib tires on new rims and used them for a month or so , then bought new wider rims and flotation tires 11L 15 and sold the others to friend.

Edited by Coke-in-MN - 07 Jan 2011 at 11:00pm

I have been there, tried them all. Most of the time a three rib has only the center rib working unless the ground is really soft or the tire needs air. The implement tire is really tender on hay and grass, but it can take 40 or 50 feet to start a turn when rotary hoeing at 9 or 10 mph. Or that long to correct having drifted over on the row. The four rib is a very good compromise. The ribs are deep enough to catch dirt and steer well (and snow) and you have at least a couple ribs on the ground all the time for better steering. I put 11L16 implement tires on the front of my MF-135 on 8 or 10" wide rims with a sturdy loader while trying to load 6'x 6 round bales. Often I balanced the tractor on the front tires. The beauty of those tires with that load alfalfa stood back up where the front tires ran over it. Then I moved that loader and those tire and rims to my 4020 and found that steering problem while hoeing. So I parked those tires and put on 4 rib 11.00-16 noticeably taller and it steers much better in the field though its harder on the grass when spinning the steering wheel and not moving.


The back tires are 12.4-42 for better crop clearance when spraying.

Gerald J.

Hi Chuck!

I can't say what the D17 will like best, but I built a loader for my little Cub Cadet, and fabricated a heavy-duty steel axle and knuckles (hydraulic steering, of course) for it, and when I did, I turned away from the 'otherwise normal' 4.80-8 and 16-6.50-8 tire size to go to a 20-10-8 tire, and have had no regrets for doing so... simply because those fronts REFUSED to sink in when I had a full bucket.  I've never put narrower on my loader, but know plenty of guys who went with stock axles and knuckles (yikes) with stock tires, and observed that with bucket empty, they were able to pass over soft ground with both front and rear, while the frontend sank in deep with a loaded bucket... and I had no problems either way.

Important to note re. the geometry of front wheels on loader tractors, forklifts, and skid-steers-

When the bucket is really, really heavy, the front axle isn't carrying just it's weight AND the bucket...  it's carrying MOST of the machine... you're holding the bucket, the front of the tractor, and a good chunk of the counterweight... so running substantial meats (and plenty of metal to keep it glued together) is very important.

If you'd like a picture of my D-17 with tri-ribs, I'll snap and post, but I think, for purpose of loader, you should go wider.  Also... make darned sure that the wheels you're using, and the hubs... are all up to the task and-then-some.  When front parts break, with a bucket full of something... well...  it really, really, really sucks.

Some loaders like the MF-236 that was on my MF-135 put the bucket as far in front of the front axle as the rear axle was behind the front axle. The front axle has been broken at least one (not by me) but I found it was easy even with the rear 14.9-24 tires filled with CaCl to get more in the bucket that the weight of the tractor could handle and when I tried to lift the load, the rear wheels came up instead. I put that loader on a bigger tractor and it doesn't have that problem. I also made a dirt bucket with the pivots inside the bucket to move the load closer to the tractor.

Gerald J.