Lawn Mower Tires Are NOT All Alike
There are many major brands of lawn mower tires such as Carlisle, Titan, Goodyear, Kenda, Cheng Shin. These are the big players in the industry. Then there’s a long list of private brand tires. Private brand tires are generally made for marketing companies that go to a tire manufacturer and ask them to make lawn mower tires with their unique name and sometimes to unique specifications. Some mower equipment manufacturers such as Toro do the same thing. So many players and so many brands often causes a lot of confusion in the aftermarket.
For this article, let’s talk about tire sizing. You would think that a tire with the same size marked on the sidewall would have the same physical size measurements, such as height and width. A popular size such as a 16x650x8 should be 16″ tall and 6.5″ wide. You should be able to replace a 16x650x8 Carlisle with a 16x650x8 Kenda, right? Wrong!
If you put the two tire brands side by side, one of them would probably be a half inch taller than the other.
Why? Good question…but no easy answer.
That example should give a landscaper a queezy feeling in his gut when his machine is down and he has to stop in and buy a new tire without knowing what brand tire is on his machine. I don’t think the homeowner would appreciate the “new” angle cut on his lawn. I don’t think the landscaper would appreciate having to over steer his machine, all day long, in order to mow a straight line.
Ok, understood…match the tire brand and eliminate this problem, right? Not so fast. A brand such as Carlisle makes a 16x650x8 in 4 or 5 turf treads, and if you put all these tires side by side you would think there has to be a mistake. All of them may have slightly different heights and widths!
Confused by now? You wouldn’t be alone. Many tire dealers and equipment dealers run into this problem daily. Their customer is in a rush and needs a tire now and doesn’t have all the needed information to ask for the same tire. The dealer calls us with the tire size needed, but when we ask for more information they don’t have it. The tire gets delivered and mounted and it’s not the same as the tire on the other side of the machine.
Education is answer and it should flow down through the sales funnel. A good distributor should always ask questions and inform their dealer network, and the dealers should spread the word to the retail market.
That’s why it’s important to have a knowledgeable supplier on your side. Having a tire expert a phone call away can keep the headaches away. Here’s your expert hotline: 1-800-225-9513 or go to our website www.kenjones.com.
Have a great week!
Brian
PS. Please send us your comments. We would love to hear from you!
