Does anyone have pics of these mounted on their aircraft? Would love to see a comparison photo of these with either 8.50x6 GY or Airhawk 29s. Are they the same size as a typical 8.50x10 treaded tire or are they slightly oversized like the aero classic 8.50x6 smoothies?

Not sure this exactly answers your question but there's lots of pics and relative comparisons:

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge- ... tire-guide

My tires aren't the smooth Dessers, they are the standard 8.50 X 10 treaded tire. But, here is a comparison photo of that tire, mounted on the Airframes Alaska 10 X 10 wheel, next to an inflated and mounted Goodyear 8.50 X 6 tire. As you can see, there is a substantial difference in diameter and width.



The Desser smooth 8.50 X 10 tires cost more than twice as much as these tires do....$475 each last I checked, and they state they are approved on 8.50 X 10 wheels. Doesn't say only, but.....

I really like the 10 x 10 wheel with these tires, it spreads them out for more contact patch.

In any case, I don't know where the numbers came from in that tire reference, but you can see that these are quite a bit larger in diameter than Goodyear 8.50 x 6 tires.

MTV

Zzz wrote:Not sure this exactly answers your question but there's lots of pics and relative comparisons:

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge- ... tire-guide

Thanks for the link. I’m familiar with that but it doesn’t have too much info on 8.50x10.

mtv wrote:My tires aren't the smooth Dessers, they are the standard 8.50 X 10 treaded tire. But, here is a comparison photo of that tire, mounted on the Airframes Alaska 10 X 10 wheel, next to an inflated and mounted Goodyear 8.50 X 6 tire. As you can see, there is a substantial difference in diameter and width.



The Desser smooth 8.50 X 10 tires cost more than twice as much as these tires do....$475 each last I checked, and they state they are approved on 8.50 X 10 wheels. Doesn't say only, but.....

I really like the 10 x 10 wheel with these tires, it spreads them out for more contact patch.

In any case, I don't know where the numbers came from in that tire reference, but you can see that these are quite a bit larger in diameter than Goodyear 8.50 x 6 tires.

MTV

Thank you, this is helpful. I’ve also got the airframes Alaska 10x10, but it’s currently got 29 air hawks on it. I really want to like the air hawks, but it took 3 tires and 700 dollars in labor for them to get it right, and I’m still not totally happy about the situation. On the first set one tire was perfectly balanced, and the other one needed over a pound of weight to balance it. The warranty replacement was worse than the first, and required about a pound and half of weight to balance. The third only needed 5oz of weight, so to me that was acceptable, but the tire still vibrates my plane on takeoff like it’s out of round or something. I’m aware that some of this is because that wheel/tire setup is heavy as hell, but at this point it’s hard for me to trust that it’s normal after having gone through 2 warranty replacements within a few weeks of purchasing them.

Anyway, for now they’re staying on the airplane but I was thinking maybe those aero classic smoothies would be a nice option down the road. I called desser and they said it will work my wheels. It would be nice to save a little weight over those buffed 29s too.

I want to try the 850x10 smooth desser tire but haven’t pulled the trigger yet due to not having 10” wheels. Seems like an unpopular size, not big enough to be a cool kid I’m guessing, but it seems like it would be perfect for me. I’m told it’s about 25” OD so pretty similar to the GY 26” but softer.

Current price is $365 at Desser.

mtv wrote:My tires aren't the smooth Dessers, they are the standard 8.50 X 10 treaded tire......
The Desser smooth 8.50 X 10 tires cost more than twice as much as these tires do....$475 each last I checked, and they state they are approved on 8.50 X 10 wheels.....

I just googled Desser's prices:

850x10 6 ply Airtrac- $332 each
https://shop.desser.com/8.50x10-6-ply-s ... il/323289/

850x10 6 ply Aero Classic smoothie- $365 each.
https://shop.desser.com/8.50x10-6-ply-a ... il/323340/

mtv wrote:....The Desser smooth 8.50 X 10 tires cost more than twice as much as these tires do....$475 each last I checked, and they state they are approved on 8.50 X 10 wheels. Doesn't say only, but.....

STC SA01765SE for the ABI 10x10 wheels approves use of the Airhawk 29x11-10 4 ply & the AirTrac 850-10 6 ply tires.
Doesn't say only, but doesn't seem to include any other tires either.

https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guid ... 1765SE.pdf

The (only?) STC approving the Aero Classic 850-10 & 29-10 tires seems to be held by Seaplanes North,
and apparently approves them in conjunction with Grove 10" wheels & brakes on the C180/185 & PA18.

https://californiaflyer.com/the-faa-has ... ke-system/

I don't know if either STC allows a "mix and match" with the different 10" wheels & tires.

hotrod180 wrote:

mtv wrote:....The Desser smooth 8.50 X 10 tires cost more than twice as much as these tires do....$475 each last I checked, and they state they are approved on 8.50 X 10 wheels. Doesn't say only, but.....

STC SA01765SE for the ABI 10x10 wheels approves use of the Airhawk 29x11-10 4 ply & the AirTrac 850-10 6 ply tires.
Doesn't say only, but doesn't seem to include any other tires either.

https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guid ... 1765SE.pdf

The (only?) STC approving the Aero Classic 850-10 & 29-10 tires seems to be held by Seaplanes North,
and apparently approves them in conjunction with Grove 10" wheels & brakes on the C180/185 & PA18.

https://californiaflyer.com/the-faa-has ... ke-system/

I don't know if either STC allows a "mix and match" with the different 10" wheels & tires.

Yes, I'm aware of all that. Desser specifies "Uses Grove wheels" in the info. I may go with the smooth tire when/if I wear these out, at that price point. They are by definition, 8.50 x 10 tires, so.....

I'm also glad to hear they've brought the price down. Hard to believe they had a $475 price tag on those things when I checked pricing earlier....but, the price of the standard AirTrac 8.50 x 10 tire has also gone up since then.

MTV

mtv wrote: My tires aren't the smooth Dessers, they are the standard 8.50 X 10 treaded tire. But, here is a comparison photo of that tire, mounted on the Airframes Alaska 10 X 10 wheel, next to an inflated and mounted Goodyear 8.50 X 6 tire. As you can see, there is a substantial difference in diameter and width. .....

Those 850x10's look like a great tire for the 180, I'm curious as to the outside diameter of one when mounted.
FWIW 850x6 GY's seems to come in around 22" or a bit more, & 850x6 Airtracs seem to come in at about 21-1/2" or a bit less.

These are about 25 to 26 inches diameter inflated. I’ve been impressed at how much “softer” they feel than the 8.50 x 6 tires. Certainly not Bushwheel soft, but it’s noticeable, especially on my landings.

MTV

Bump….

Anyone have these smooth dessers (8.50x10 or 29s)? Just put my 2nd set of 26” heavy tread bush wheels on. Not happy with how quickly they wear on asphalt/cement.

I had 850x10 Dessers on for a bit. I really like the size. Unfortunately the rubber failed and Desser wouldn’t warranty them. Said I was running them at an “extremely low” air pressure and that they must be inflated according to the TSO. I can’t remember now but I had 20-25 psi in them and the TSO calls out 42psi or something crazy.

I’m on AirHawk 29s now and like them so far. Height is pretty similar but the AirHawks are much wider.

Are the Airhawks buffed? Speed loss with the 29s?

Have Grove 10” wheels and brakes on both my Bearhawk Patrol and Cessna 185. The Bearhawk has smooth desser 31s which have been wearing like iron for 4-5 years now. I just put the desser 8.50-10s on my185 about 8 months ago. So far, so good. No loss of speed that I can tell (had 8.50-6s). They were affordable at $375/tire. Again…so far, so good. I really like the 8.50-10 size for a Skywagon. They’re considerably larger than 8.50-6. For me, it’s perfect.

memayo wrote:Are the Airhawks buffed? Speed loss with the 29s?

Yes, the Airhawks are buffed. I haven’t flown it enough to determine any speed loss. Seems like there is some but not nearly as much as 31” Bushwheels. I’ve had 800x6, 850x6, AKB 31s, 850x10 and now Airhawk 29s on this plane. I couldn’t tell a speed difference between the 800s, 850s and the 850x10s.

I complete agree with mpm. The 850x10 Dessers are a great size; prefect for my use. I really wanted to stay with that size but I couldn’t convince myself to spend another $700 on tires and hope they lasted more than 3 landing this time. Plus, the dude a Desser was such a jackass I couldn’t bring myself to spend money there. However, since mpm is having good luck with his then I’d be very tempted to give them a try if I still was in need of tires.

I have the Aero Classic 29’s on my plane. So far no complaints and I haven’t noticed any wear. They work for me landing on river rocks and soft sand. Lost a couple mph on the the very top end compared to 8.50’s.

Bhawk wrote:I have the Aero Classic 29’s on my plane. So far no complaints and I haven’t noticed any wear. They work for me landing on river rocks and soft sand. Lost a couple mph on the the very top end compared to 8.50’s.

Pics? Which wheels ?

Here’s my 185 with the Desser aero classic 8.50-10s

I went with the AK bushwheels 10 inch wheels. I was on the waiting list for the grove wheels, but they only make them every once in a while and nobody had them in stock. I got sick of waiting so went with the other brand plus I figured if you can’t get the wheels and brakes from Grove how are you going to get parts for them like brake pads. I’ll see if I can get a picture loaded.