what are good tough UTV work tires?

[natmech]

I've got 5 UTV's as work vehicles.  8 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Swampy, woodsy, lots of broken trees.  The stuff that's on there has lots of punctures, slow leaks, etc.  I spend way too much time keeping the tires up.  So I need recommendations for good tough tires that are very puncture resistant, sidewalls too, and have good traction in lots of muddy conditions all year long.  But i can't pay $300/tire.

 

thanks everyone

[Travis]

I cant answer your question directly, however i know some folks out in central texas, AKA, meqsuite  country. they deal with the thorns in tires all of the time. I'll ask them.

 

[kenfain]

Around here, most people use Slime for the occasional mesquite thorn. I use it in the mower tires, but it certainly has its limits. 

Don't know if they'd be tough enough for the swamp. But it looks like tires-n-such has taken over the Essex line of kevlar belted, run flat sidewall mud tread 6 ply tires. They're not cheap though. But they're made to hold up a heavy UTV, even when flat. 

After that, it's probably going to be the expensive, solid tires.

[Doug Thomas]

We used to run an old pickup truck around the deer lease in West Texas and flats were an everyday occurrence. We took all the tires off, went to the John Deer dealer who filled them with some kind of gel solution that maintained some ride quality but for the five years after that, we never had a flat however, they would not balance to the point where we could drive it on the highway.

[natmech]

when i had my K5 in the mountains i ran BFG 33's and they were great.

we're in south louisiana, on a 1000 acre nature/wildflife preserve.  get the occassional hurricane, tornado, frequent storms.  all wooded, trails, sometimes not on trails.  so yeah, lots of debris and wet.  daily checking fences, animals, hauling feed, etc.  course some of the people driving the UTV's either don't know or don't care.  they aren't the ones fixing and paying for them.  but they are the ones with the down time. 

my predecessor had sunf which are only 4 ply.  some are wandas 6ply.  but lots are mud tires with the large V-shape treads and big gaps between.  good for digging in, but not for punctures.  i use slime alot myself, and plugs with rubber cement.  3 gators, a mule and an rtx900. they never leave the property.   these are 10-12 inch rims and 24-26 inch tires.  this is my first time keeping up UTV's. and i don't know these brands.

is it worth it to switch to bias ply?  does that help with reducing sidewall punctures?  definitely looking for a tread pattern with less gappage between, but still need em to dig.  does anyone know a brand/line that does 8-10 ply (yeah I know its not really the ply count these days, and the rubber/compounds make a difference) with these sizes?  i know some people used to really like the Ripsaws.  

$200/tire can probably get authorized.  could maybe go up to $250? but would certainly need good info to back it up.

i'll look at those Essex's.  but that's a good idea for me to ask our heavy equipment dealer if they know what people have found to be good around here.

we put airless wheels on one of our skid steere's and that's been awesome.  but they were damned expensive and it was just one piece of equipment that absolutely needs to work.

 

thanks y'all

[natmech]

anyone every run the Tusk Trilobite HD 8-ply?  

[W B]

Do some research on a product called Flatout. It is available in different formulas on Amazon. I use it in my mowers and have been well pleased. It supposedly is all the military uses on theit equipment, water soluble and not messy llike slime. Its main ingredient is kevlar particles and supposedly can stop a leak in a 1/2" puncture. The sportsman formula is 22 dollars a bottle. This should treat one or maybe two tires. cheap enough to try a test before spending hundreds on tires. I like the product and I am not affiliated with the sale of it. It might also be available in gal containers if you like it.

https://www.amazon.com/FlatOut-Sportsman-Off-Road-Only-32-Ounce-Replacement/dp/B08X6JSXB8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=FZ49C5QIMOQ1&keywords=flat%2Bout&qid=1653102745&sprefix=flat%2Bout%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-2&th=1

[natmech]

thanks WB never seen or heard of it before.  I'll have to ask some military folks I know to ask in the motor pool about it.  I'll give it a go.  Slime and fixaflat have worked some, but defintitely messy and limited.

BTW I found another line of tires, AirLoc Avengers.  Made and sold by a tire shop in Chicago I think statrted by a couple brothers who stock odd and hard to find tires etc, reasonable price.  I grabbed a pair to check them out, 8 ply radial non-directional.  Anyone ever heard of or used them?

[MikeT538]

Most people who want a durable tire look for Kevlar tire. Only problem is that the big Kevlar tire company has a huge contract with John Deere, and they’re trying desperately to make up for lost time on production in order to honor that contract. So much so, that they’ve quit producing UTV tires in order to focus on tractor tires on their production line. So Kevlar tires aren’t going to be focused on until “maybe 2023”. So that leaves the consumer having to find an alternative to Kevlar. With mostly 6ply and 8ply on the market, that hardly solves the issues. There are a few 10ply tires out now that I know of. Personally, I would suggest either System 3 or Frontline. At Mud Nationals this year, I had the opportunity to ride on both and they both performed excellent. Not only are they both radial tires, but are also 10ply as well. They are going to be in the $225+ range per tire, depending on size. Bigger tires are obviously a bit more expensive. Don’t look at them as an accessory, but more as an investment considering the fact that you won’t have to replace them as often. I know Frontline produces a tire called BDC which is 10ply but is an all-terrain tire. The mud alternative is the ACP tire which is also 10ply. System 3 has the XT400 which is a  mud tire, and the XRR 370 which is build more like an all-terrain tire. Both of those are 10ply as well. Hope that helps you buddy

[natmech]

thanks Mike it's always good to know these kinds of things about companies and production as well as getting peoples own experiences with products etc...  I'm going to look into and try several of the things that have come from this discussion and hope that this info helps some others as well.  I will try to post a follow up down the line when I've had some good time to really test and evaluate a few of them.

john deere has also been having strikes and production issues, while making more money then they ever have, and also pissing off farmers who can't fix their own equipment anymore and its costing way too much, but now they're making autonomous farm equipment. ... have i heard this story before?

but yes I am definitely in the mindset of spending more on a good time saves time and money in the long run .... and good tires too