[AT] High cost of tractor tires

[James Peck]

I can remember my father selling a set of large diameter steel rear wheels from a scrapped engine driven towed orchard sprayer to an Amish farmer whose land touched ours but lived on a road 90 degrees from ours. I am guessing the buyer bought bearings to adapt the wheel hubs to his axles.

I can remember my Farmall C owning 8th grade Ohio history teacher mentioning that the use of ball and roller bearings on horse drawn equipment had increased the loads that could be pulled.

The MH GP my grandfather had bought in the 1930's was gone by my childhood. My father mentioned how the horse team that preceded it worked better for orchard spraying since the horses would follow verbal commands to start and stop while the human walked and used a spray gun on a hose. 

I never got any info if the MH GP was on steel or rubber. I did know a man who had owned the MH dealership who had worked on it in the 40's. I have previously mentioned that dealership lost its franchise after the single Massey Ferguson product line came about.

[Spencer Yost] Massey Harris GP was one 4wd that was available on steel.

[ James Peck]  Has anyone seen a 4wd tractor on steel
 
 [Steve W.] One way to get a set of tires around here is to visit the Amish folks who are looking to buy a tractor. They cannot use rubber tires so they will be pulling the tires and rims off. I bought a nearly new set for the TE20 a few years back for the price of 200 bucks and swapping on the steel wheels they already had. The worst part of the deal was that I had to drive the tractor back to the farm on steel....
 
[Greg Hass ] The high cost of tires has caused many older, but good tractors, to be  parked. About 6 years ago our neighbor had a 4 wheel drive Versatile  tractor with a little over 300 hp. Cummins engine. It was an older  one, probably over thirty years old. It did not have all the bells and  whistles, but he said it was good reliable power. One problem; it  worked great for spring tillage but come fall the tires were so worn  that in wetter ground they would spin. He said he priced new tires;  couldn't find used, and they were over $18,000. I'm guessing this may  have been tires and duals as he never ran singles. He said this was  more than the tractor was worth so during the winter he bought a newer  and a little bigger Versatile and was going to keep the old one for a  backup. Sadly, before he could carry out his plan, he died at age 59.  His two sons took over the farm that spring and sold the tractor with  the bad tires and just use the newer one with good tires  and bought a  used front wheel assist to do some of the lighter work.