One question:

29's or 31's? What is really the difference? Aside from the obvious....

The 180 is getting them

AKT

Yo Quinn,

Most Skywagon guys would agree to not go larger than 29's. Not that you can't. But the 31 sidewall flex with the Cessna gear makes for a sloppy handling plane in x-winds and sidehills. Its fine for lighter planes. Plus seriously, if you truly NEED anything larger, your 180 is going to take a serious beating, even with a big tailwheel. The slight benefit of the largest tire would be the extra width for floatation in soft stuff, an maybe an extra degree or so of wing angle? Even then I don't think it would be worth it.

For most anything off airport ABW 26's are perfect in my opinion,... for the 180. Now the big tailwheel is worth its weight in gold for the 180. GY's, only if you seriously can't afford the ABW's. Dont even try to compare.

Pretty much what I was thinking Rich

Sent you a PM

Its that time!!

aktahoe1 wrote:One question:

29's or 31's? What is really the difference? Aside from the obvious....

The 180 is getting them

AKT

Ever heard anyone say they wish their bushwheels were smaller?

WMA has 31s on theirs as does Paul on UTs, and on and on... If you do the slopping beach thing, the 1" less sidewall of the 29s might be a consideration... I have heard the crosswind thing from someone else and really don't get it? but aren't you sporting Ti gear on that thing? Doubt they are nearly the noodles it left the factory with...

If I didn't have a cub and my 180 was sporting Ti gear the choice would probably be 31s or 35s ....
The only negative to too much bushwheel is speed, and the difference between 29s and 31s is probably not even measurable...

Take care, Rob

I second what Rob said above. I don't fly a 180, but the Stinson has plenty of gear flex/droop. Nate's Stinson has had 31" bushwheels on it for almost 10 years now, and it weighs similar to a 180. Flying habits really dictate how much life you'll get out of them. After flying mine for a few months I don't notice the sidewall flex much over the 8.50's in strong crosswinds (but once again, the 180 might handle differently).

I did a bunch of research prior to buying mine, and the thing that sold me on the 31"s is 1) is that the 26/29's don't have the Kevlar lining, 2) I figured someday I would possibly need the entire 31" to save me from some stupid mistake I made, and 3) they just look cool. For the extra few hundred I figured I'd do it right the first time instead of wanting "just a little more".

My 0.02
Matt

mountainmatt wrote:I second what Rob said above. I don't fly a 180, but the Stinson has plenty of gear flex/droop. Nate's Stinson has had 31" bushwheels on it for almost 10 years now, and it weighs similar to a 180. Flying habits really dictate how much life you'll get out of them. After flying mine for a few months I don't notice the sidewall flex much over the 8.50's in strong crosswinds (but once again, the 180 might handle differently).

I did a bunch of research prior to buying mine, and the thing that sold me on the 31"s is 1) is that the 26/29's don't have the Kevlar lining, 2) I figured someday I would possibly need the entire 31" to save me from some stupid mistake I made, and 3) they just look cool. For the extra few hundred I figured I'd do it right the first time instead of wanting "just a little more".

My 0.02
Matt

Matt I am getting ready to pull the trigger and you just said exactly what I have been thinking! I am going to ping Wup on the subject if he doesn't chime in but 1-3 make sense to me

I have 31s on my 170 with original gear, I too was concerned about crosswinds and almost bought the 29/11/10s instead. Im so glad I didnt, the 31s are easier in a crosswind even at low presure. In fact if you have any landing complaints with bushwheels you have to much air in them! they are suposed to be squishy! Yes they deflect all over the place it looks wonky but does not afect the handeling adversly.

Well Im glad to hear I don't know what I am talking about,..... Wup should stop making the 29's

Its all opinion I guess

At least no one will question if you fly wearing a dress once you have 31's. I wouldn't buy them, no problem landing in all kinds of crazy places with the ABW 26's. But what do I know,......

Your a Homo if you don't get 35's...Spash pilots on crack!.....26's are for pussies!....you want to land up on a ridge in Nevada and run over a refrigerator AND a Methlab? U NEED 35's my friend.........

Rich, I don't question your experience and agree 100% that a most guys don't NEED more than 26"s (or 800s). And any size bushwheel is an upgrade to a "normal" tire. I was 100% set on 26's at first, but after many hours of searching online and more than a few PM's/phone calls to Wup, I went with 31's. I'm glad I did too, but that may not be everyone's cup of tea. Other than talking to a few guys flying 180's on 31's, I have no experience. They seem to love them though.

I don't NEED a plane. I don't NEED 31" bushwheels. But I'm glad I have them.

I'm just trying to save someone the effort I went though with my purchase. The advice is worth as much as you paid for it.

I've got a set of 8.50 smooths.................mini bushwheels. they are sweet... they look lame on the ramp and they don't throw alot of rocks at the tail.......I can slide off the side of a mud runway and bounce OVER rocks with the greatest of eeeezzz. I wish I had bushwheels ......ALOST as much as I had a Kodiak on Amphibs..................

Mountain Matt,Yup,.... exactly,....if I had a Cub/Scout/Husky, I would buy them in a second

Quinn,... buy 31's!!!! And if you land in one piece over a BBQ size rock, ,.... you win buddy!!

Lowrider, you KNOW those 8.50 slicks are ghetto sweet!!! That mud power slide was with MY ABW 26's if I remember correctly,... and you still stopped it in 500' at 6000' MSL! Wait until you spend $3800 rebuilding your horizontal, from all the rock damage! I'll set you up with a gooooood rebuild guy!

oh the fun!

Splashpilot wrote:Well Im glad to hear I don't know what I am talking about,..... Wup should stop making the 29's

Its all opinion I guess

At least no one will question if you fly wearing a dress once you have 31's. I wouldn't buy them, no problem landing in all kinds of crazy places with the ABW 26's. But what do I know,......

low rider wrote:Your a Homo if you don't get 35's...Spash pilots on crack!.....26's are for pussies!....you want to land up on a ridge in Nevada and run over a refrigerator AND a Methlab? U NEED 35's my friend.........

Wowwwweeeee.......

This place is funnier than shit.... God help a guy for having an opinion outside of the 'good ole boys'....

Rich, no one questioned your knowledge or skill level, nor did anyone question vails sexuality ... But while you're on it, have you flown your 180 on 31s 29s and 26s? because as I offered to Kevin, (fly before you buy) you could most certainly come down here and fly all three within the same day The Bwheel STC covers all 3 sizes on the 180, so for the cost of the STC you could even be 'legal' while doing it

(that is the route I took in deciding what tire I would prefer on my 180, what a novel concept it is to find the truth, rather than rely on internet hearsay....)

I have no doubt you guys know what you are doing, therefore it must be Paul Claus, Kelly Bay, Gary Greene, and all the rest who really depend on these things that are cluless

Why is it always the guy who has never tried a particular piece of equipment is always the first to bag on it?

As pointed most of us need none of these, we buy them for the extra margin of help they give us when the pea gravel we spotted turns out to be boulders... At your skill levels you guys probably manage just fine 7.00s, a dip stick like me could use all the help he can get...

Since Alaska airlines gets me where I'm going faster than any C180 is going to go, the speed loss of the 1-2 extra inches is a moot point... And with a fairly well 'massaged' engine on the nose,she still runs as quick as a 470 powered little wheeler....


Carry on...
Yours Clueless, Rob

You're all arguing about tire size... is there something underlying here that I'm missing? Some sort of homoerotic undertone finally surfacing as the memory of 7th grade PE shower time bullying flashbacks hit?

I flew a Scout with Bushwheels on it once...and to tell the truth I have no idea what size they were, just...bigger. My penis felt larger almost immediately.

mountainmatt wrote:Rich, I don't question your experience and agree 100% that a most guys don't NEED more than 26"s (or 800s). And any size bushwheel is an upgrade to a "normal" tire. I was 100% set on 26's at first, but after many hours of searching online and more than a few PM's/phone calls to Wup, I went with 31's. I'm glad I did too, but that may not be everyone's cup of tea. Other than talking to a few guys flying 180's on 31's, I have no experience. They seem to love them though.

I don't NEED a plane. I don't NEED 31" bushwheels. But I'm glad I have them.

I'm just trying to save someone the effort I went though with my purchase. The advice is worth as much as you paid for it.

Flying is a dream, owning an Airplane is a dream and for me I have had the Green Hornet 5 years and I did not need any of the modifications I made to her and the list is long but I love her and I spoil her when ever I am able and that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Zane wrote:You're all arguing about tire size... is there something underlying here that I'm missing? Some sort of homoerotic undertone finally surfacing as the memory of 7th grade PE shower time bullying flashbacks hit?

I flew a Scout with Bushwheels on it once...and to tell the truth I have no idea what size they were, just...bigger. My penis felt larger almost immediately.

Careful Dr Freud or the administrator is likely to put this in Psych Air! :

Occasionally I put my 31's on the 180. If I pull the power back and don't try to go fast they don't make any noticeable difference in speed, on the other hand, if I push it at low altitude, the speed loss could be as much as 8 knots.......

Oh how I love this site!

ABW says that the 31 inch tire is hands down there very best most popular tire. I dont need two airplanes but....

I dont need bushwheels...(yes i do)

I think its the 31's just for the sake of having Vail and Rich wishing they had them when I land at the methlab and they cannot.

On serious note, I did not know about the kevlar in the 31's and not in the others. I had heard about rubbing from the 31's so was considering the 29's. My 180 has beefed up 185 legs on her. She needs the big tires for certain. Sort of like going to the "shoe show" and seeing one of the girls come out with small heels on her feet. For some reason the big stiletto's just look good on them.

Now back to Vail...he was made fun of in the shower Zane during PE class...

Thanks for the feedback gang! Wish i could come down and try the tires WUP but will just drop in at some point on the 31's I bet.

AKT

Hey Rob,

It was all tongue in cheek sarcasm that is hard to convey on the web. I never felt you or anyone questioned my experience. Even if you did, I don't have thin skin, so it doesn't bother me at all. Its all good.

But honestly, yes I have flown a 57 180 for a few hours on ABW 31's and though it was really cool, it was overkill in my opinion because 99.9% of the time most pilots would not put a Skywagon in places that TRULY utilized them. The 26's are a significant improvement over any other option. But I am a practical kinda guy so that is how I make my decisions. Not bagging on anyone, but as you said, if you haven't tried it you don't know. 31's on a Cub don't perform the same on 3100# Skywagon. Why 26's when you could have 31's? We could go round and round on that forever, but on another airplane the decision would be different.

Quinner might be the one guy who would actually NEED the extra few inches of a 31 over a 29. I was just giving practical advice with some humorous sarcasm. If you saw me in person you probably would be laughing your ass off in the conversation between Kevin, Mike V and myself.

I think we are all going to Idaho next week and meet up with our good friend Wagonwrench (Dave). You should try to make it!

Rich