What should I look for in lawn tractor tires?

Question: I have a lawn tractor, and my tires need replacing as the tread is getting quite low. I've never had to buy tires for my tractor before, and not to sure what features I should look for. What should I look for in a lawn tractor tire?

Answer: Before buying any lawn tractor tire, pick one best suited for the type of terrain it will be used on. Since you're looking for replacement tires, you already know what surfaces you drive on. Many people use their lawn mowers only on grass, but I know many exceptions to that rule. Look for tires labeled “golf course approved” as a starting point.

When you're looking at tire tread, you'll see that tires made for use on lawns, by tractors, mowers or golf carts, have high rubber to void ratio. This means that the tread grooves are very small compared to the amount or rubber on the surface. Sometimes lawn tires look like all season passenger car tires in tread pattern. The point of this style of tread pattern is to be gentle on the lawn, while the grooves let the excess water or dew on the lawn channel off. Think about how much damage to a golf course would happen if their golf carts had tires on that chewed up the lawn! Often when you go to buy turf tires you will see them advertised as "Golf course approved". In general, all turf tires are smooth & quiet on pavement, and do fine on gravel.

For lawn tires to get grip with such a mild tread pattern, they need to have a large contact patch with the lawn. You'll probably notice that most lawn tires are very wide, which also helps with weight distribution, so that your machine doesn't sink into damp lawns.

In order to buy new turf tires you'll also need to know your tire size, so that your can get a straight replacement. Changing your tire size complicates things, and I don't recommend it unless you know what you're doing. To find out your tire size, just read the markings on the side wall of the tire.

Author Notes:

David Parker contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.buying-tires.com.