How Much Air Pressure Should I Put In My Tractor Tires?

We get asked this question a lot and there really is not a fixed answer. The main considerations are that you do not exceed the 'max pressure' printed on the tire sidewall and that you do not have pressure so low that the tire slips off the bead or the wheel cuts into the tire. 

On my personal Yanmar tractors that are not carrying a heavy load- like my mower tractor, I run as little pressure as possible. This has three benefits. 1)- It makes the ride sooooo much smoother!  2)- It makes the tire much harder to puncture with a thorn or nail, and 3)- It gives the tire a larger footprint for better traction and less ground compaction.  This usually ends up being somewhere around 6-8psi. The tires look relatively 'squishy' at that pressure but the tires stay seated on the wheel and the wheel never bottoms out on the tire sidewall. Your results may vary.  

On my loader tractor I have to run much higher pressure because, when lifting a heavy load, the wheels would smash down into the tire sidewall and damage the tire. Those tires usually end up being in the 20-25psi range. The ride is much rougher but that is just the way it has to be. 

Two important considerations-
1)- if you work on sloped ground then you will likely need to run with a higher PSI to prevent the tire from slipping off the bead on a side angle. This can be a dangerous situation so inflating closer to the max pressure might be a good idea.
2)- If you have very old tires then they will not be as flexible and running low tire pressure could cause the sidewalls to crack. This usually won't cause a leak but is something to consider. 

Experiment around and see what works best for you.  

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