Chevron (bar/tractor) tread too abusive to grass. Have to swap. :-/

[Jinzo Ningen]

Well gang, after almost a whole summer with the 930D I confess that I am in LOVE with this machine!:licking: It has surpassed all of my expectations. I can mow practically wide open (10-12mph) and still get an amazingly manicured cut. Fuel consumption is noticeably less - even with another 9 ponies under the hood, compared to my '97 GH721D. The air seat is the bee's knees and with a gel/memory foam cushion on top of it, it's like floating on a cloud (well, almost). And being able to lift the deck all the way up to sharpen or replace blades is a feature I didn't know I needed until I had it. What a time & toil saver!!! In fact, the ONLY thing I have issues with is the aggressive tread of the tires it came with. These bar lug meats provide great traction - too great. At first I chalked my sod-ripping mishaps to being a newbie with a bigger machine, but I've gotten settled in and comfortable with the mower and the tires are just too lethal to my poor lawn. LOL.

What's on it must be replacements, as OTR brand 22 MAG are not the stock tires for GH, at least I don't think. I wanted something somewhere in between the traction of a tractor lug & the gentleness of a turf tire. I've been shopping for a few months and finally found one I hope will fit the bill. Oddly enough, from the same company: OTR. The model is the 38 Special. It's similar to the Carlisle All-Trail, which I use my John Deere GT235. I bought a set of those for my old GH 721D but they were surprisingly narrower than I hoped for and the profile was much too round; not enough tire making actual ground contact. These copycat skins from OTR are slightly more aggressive but more importantly, they are supposed to be a flat profile tire (at least they're listed as such the company's online literature). I am hopeful that these will be gentler on my lawn while still providing the traction I need when I get into loose sod & squishy lawns - and hillside mowing.

I ordered a set of new rims from my local dealer and the tires were ordered this afternoon. I will report back when I get them mated and have had them on the rig for a mowing session or two. (fingers crossed!)

 

[Jinzo Ningen]

The tires showed up and are mounted now. I expect to put them on this weekend for what may well be my last mow of the season, at least if the upcoming weather.com forecast for the weeks ahead is to be believed.:laughing:

Initial impressions of the tires was 100% positive. They look absolutely badass. The carcass and molding details are all very sharp and they seem very well made. And as I had hoped, these are true flat-profile tires, NOT rounded. The dimensions are 22x12x10, an inch wider than most every other tire I found during my web-scouring. There appears to be enough space between the edge of the tire and the wheel motor hose(s) to accommodate that extra half inch, but if there's any rubbing it won't be much and I will compensate by putting a thick washer (or two) on the mounting bolts/behind the wheels, to give me safe wiggle room. These are BEEFY, heavy-duty tires, rated @ 6-ply, so IF they don't tear up my lawn and I keep them, I would expect these to last me the rest of my life; (weather rotting not permitting). They are rated to 15PSI/max but I have aired them down to 8PSI in the hopes that the lower pressure will help offset the firm ride these stiff tires will almost assuredly provide. Another positive thing I can speak happily about is that they were shipped like they were molded. Unlike a lot of Chinese/foreign product that come machine-flattened (to maximize the quantity that can be shipped at a time), these 38 Specials were not. The company is Rome, Georgia-based so I am assuming the tires are molded there as well, although I have seen a video on YouTube where a guy discusses these tires and his came compressed, so I'm not 100% positive about their point of origin (there's no "made in..." info molded on the tires). I ordered mine from Outdoortire.com and they were the cheapest place I could find (once you factored in shipping) and I still weaseled the guy into giving me an online coupon for an additional $10 off, so I got the tires shipped to me for $94/ea.:thumbsup:


I priced new rims online and then checked my dealer. Ended up getting a pair of new GH/OEM wheels for $70/ea., far cheaper than anyplace I looked online. The owner tried to ring them up at retail ($86/ea.) but I had a quote and they were cool enough to honor the quoted price. Whoop! They charged $10/per tire to mount. The results look pretty spiffy, as you can see.

 

[Jinzo Ningen]

1) Cool but sunny weather. 2) Got out of work on time. 3) Couldn't wait. :laughing: Installed 'em and did a complete cut of the entire property. Methinks these tires are keepers! Yes, they're aggressive compared to 'traditional' turf tires, but they're much more forgiving than the tractor lug tires that came on my 'Hopper. Don't get me wrong, I can still peel a length of sod or swivel out a divot, but with these new shoes it takes an effort to make a mess rather than an effort NOT to. It looks like a highschool kid scraped his cleats on the grass when I get little zippy making turns now, instead of looking like Lou Ferrigno was trying to shovel out sand traps all over my yard. :tongue:

My fears about tire fitment on the tractor were groundless. They fit just fine. Plenty of room, in fact. Worries about a rough ride with a 6-ply skin were also moot. I could detect no measurable difference in the quality of the ride; no more or less bouncy or rough than with the 4-ply tires that it came with. These actually feel more confidence-inspiring while mowing. Given the wider size, bigger contact patch and the larger amount of actual tread versus open space that's on the ground, that makes sense. They definitely do stick out further than the old chevrons, but they don't look odd. Far from it. Very... um, macho(?) looking stance on the mower now.




With that said, these are NOT a tire I'd want on a machine I was mowing commercially with. Too much risk of sod damage to a customer's yard, especially if it's some Richie Rich's fancy-pants manicured, estate-type lawn. But for private use out in the country where you need more traction than turf tires offer? I can whole-heartedly recommend these OTR 38 Specials. (BTW... for guys looking for a more mild-mannered turf tire that still offers a degree of traction in rougher conditions, I see where OTR sells this unit:https://otrwheel.com/product/otr-zero-t-ii/ )