Currently have 8.50 tires on a Maule MX7-180b. Looking to move it up in size. Not looking for extra large but what would be the next couple up sizes up with ribbed tires?

Thanks
Rob

I like these. 29-11:00X10. It may be the only larger size to still have ribs? Bushwheels sells both the tires and rims. I have had these tires on 3 or 4 airplanes with many, many hard surface landings, and they still look good. I wore my first set of 31 inch tires out in two years.

Call Bill at alaskanbushwheel he's got all the good stuff and he will be honest with you about what you need. you can get the same wheels as patrolguy and put 8.50 10s on them, thats a good compromise if you land lots of pavement. The 26in bushwheels are a better choice in my opinion they aren't much bigger than 8.50s and are much better off airport.
I just put 31s on my 170 and couldn't love them more. they are spendy but if you hit one badger hole and bend the gearbox they sudenly look cheep. my verry expensive MT prop is now 30 inches off the ground wich makes me feel better on gravel too. the 31s cost me about 7mph going from 8.00s on a 180hp 170B dont know how much they would slow a maule down but we dont fly taildragers for top speed in my opinion.
As for durability a friend of mine has a 206 on 29-13-6 bushwheels and it has a lot of landings every year, mostly gravel, but they have been on there for 5years and still look good and it is always loaded heavy.

RR wrote:...what would be the next couple up sizes up with ribbed tires?

Thanks
Rob

"ribs" as in grooves? I guess they must be good for something, but it seems their main function is to fling rocks at your struts and tailfeathers.

Thanks Gentlemen...good inputs.

Rob

Since putting 26" LSA type ABW's on my S-7 a couple months ago, I have worked hard to avoid hard surface landings. I can't seem to get away with it at a controlled airport (the tower guys "don't want to go there") but at the various unicom type places I just call out my runway like normal, and then land in the area between the taxiway and the runway. Length or width is not a problem, but it's just challenging enough (hidden obstructions being the big hazard) to keep things interesting, and it definitely saves the tires. Its just enough outside the box to get some funny looks however, but no one seems to mind too much. I play up the avoided wear factor on the ABW's big time if anyone does ask me about it.

I have a cessna 180 which started out on 8.00 X 6 tires. Traded out the 8's for ABW 8.5 X 10s on their 10" wheels which were nice for going to the strips in Utah. Went to Alaska and wished I had just gone with the 29 X 11 X 10s. the 8.5 X 10s gave adequate cushioning for rough strips, but didn't have enough flotation for beach landings without worry, even trying to stick with the dark wet sand. The 29s would have been nicer in the rough stuff too, of course. In going with the 8.5 X 10s instead of the 29s, I was trying to save weight. The figures I got from ABW at the time led me to believe that the tires weight differences were significant. However, only 10# total difference to mount the 29's. I will be buying the brushed 29s next trip to Joseph before next spring travel back up to AK.
On the flip side, I just put 8.5X6s and my Scott tailwheel back on. with a weight savings of almost 50#. The bigger tires are awesome when flying off airport and on the sandy, rough strips in Utah. In the Idaho backcountry, however, the 8s or 8.50s are fine and the weight savings mattered to ME as I started going into the shorter strips and pushing my limits. My late model skywagon with the standard O470 can be a bit of a pig compared to earlier models and I have been trying to trim weight as much as possible. Also, I am putting in about 3,500 miles this week X-C and that 7-10 mph diff makes a decent difference.
Bottom line: The next ribbed tire size up for you from the 8.50X6 is the 8.50X10 and then the 29X11X10 on ABW 10"wheels. ABW and goodyear also make some nice balloon type tires for the 6" wheels. I took some pics of all the sizes mounted up and stacked together - will try to post soon. Seems the 8.5X6 is 21" diameter, the 8.5X10 is 25" diameter and the 29 is 29.

Weights to the best of my recollection:
3 bolt Cleveland wheel w/disc - ~7#
6 bolt - 8.5#
ABW 10"wheel w/disc - 16.5#
8X6 tire 6ply ~11#
8.5X6 tire 15-16#
8.5X10 tire ~23#
29X11X10 tire ~28#

I never thought of the 26in goodyears they arent ribed but they are tuff and last forever and shouldent be to hard to get a field aproval.
There is also a 9.00 or 9.50x6 but they are heavy and hard to find.

Hi Patrol Guy,
Have you had any shaved 4 ply 29-11x10 Air hawks? That's what we purchased for our project but it's still in the build stage. I'm curious how soft they are, what pressure you run, and if you run tubes. We're using weld micro mini sprint rims and I was hoping we could use that No Tubes tire sealer and run'em tubeless.
Thanks,
Chad.

no, never tired shaved tires, but I love your rims and tubeless idea!!! Those tubes are heavy. I have run the 29's with low pressure while we were making the early movies. But after a friend sheared off a valve core on his Goodyear 26's with low pressure, I pumped them up. They are stiffer in the side walls then the ABW 31's by a good bit. If you don't do the extreme rough stuff, they do well. Give us a report on your tubeless trials.

wirsig: do you know how much the 29x11 4 ply weigh. Pretty fair price on them.

Item: 29/11-10 4 PLY
Description: 29/1100-10 4 PLY STA AIRHAWK
Lighweight Version For Bush Planes. Not For Cropdusters. We Can Also Buff Smooth For Extra Fee. Please contact us.
Unit of Measure: EACH
Item Pricing:
From Quantity To Quantity Unit Price
1 Or Greater 375.00

I think the tire alone was 25 or 28 lbs. The tire, wheel, center hub, and brake rotor weigh in at 30#. The wheel, hub, and rotors are light weight racing stuff so they don't weigh anything.

what I remember about the weights between the treaded 3ply 29x11:00X10's with tubes vs my 31 bushwheel radials when mounted up with brake rotors, etc was 25 total more pounds for the 29's if that helps anyone??

...and after more thinking: I think it was 25# a piece difference, or 50# increase to go from 31's to 29's. My mechanic has it in the log book as just 25 though and said don't worry about it!

Wow!
Where was all the weight coming from? Is there that much difference in the weight of the wheels or is it because the tires still had the tread? (not buffed)
Like I said in my post, my tire and everything, sans tube, weighed 30#, so a 25# gain / ea to go from the 31's to the 29's sure sounds like alot. (or the 31's weigh very, very, little )

Mountain Matt,
where did you get your quote from? I think I purchased mine from Desser.

wirsig wrote:Hi Patrol Guy,
We're using weld micro mini sprint rims and I was hoping we could use that No Tubes tire sealer and run'em tubeless.

You probly could do it...that stuff is awesome!!! Some guys convert their standard mountain bike wheel to tubeless just by putting in a valve stem and adding No Tubes. I have an old xr 500 that needs a new tube and tire but I only ride it maybe once a year so I didn't want to buy a new one just to have it rot away. Stuck some No Tubes in it and 9 mo later it is still holding 40psi.

That price quote was off the Desser website as of yesterday.

The 29X11X10 with ABW 10" wheels weighed 45# on the scale at ABW. The 10" wheels w/ brake rotor (big heavy rotor on sturdy wheel) was 16.5# -- so the 29" wheels w/ tubes would be ~28.5#. Patrol guy is right, the tubes are heavy. On the 8.5X10s I think they were >4# each.

If your going up in tire size.....think about your brakes also. I went from 8.00 X 6 to 29" ABW on my Sportsman and now I barely have any brakes. They heat up quick and you have to stand on them just to get a gradual stop. I guess it is good in one aspect....I don't think I can nose the plane over from over braking I can hold the plane for a 1700rpm run up, but not for a full throttle short field take off. I don't use the brakes much...but I sure would like them to be effective if I have to.
So when the snow melts, I'm going with Grove Double pucks.