Would Beaver 35s work on a C185? I know the sidewall would be super strong, not sure about side loading. And yes I know it would have to be field approved. Does it take a different wheel than the ABW 10in cub wheel?

Not really sure why you would want to run em that large... 29's seem to be the perfect for the 180/185

Call Airframes Inc. and ask them. They are heavy.

No such thing as too big. . Share your findings!

My experience has been that there are a few instances where you'd like to have 35's on a 180/185.

Having said that, I don't even like what they do for my cub much. Love having them when it's an absolute must, (like 1% of the time) pretty much can't stand them the rest of the time.

Unfortunately our experience on a 180 was that beaver 35's were so stiff and heavy that the trade was not worth the rolling radius gained. Cub 35's on a lightish 180 are a dream, but as soon as you get it heavy they start to bag out too much on the side hills and turns. Doubtful you'd ever get one to roll off or dip enough to get a wing tip, but it's just not a grand ride. I suspect that your experience will be the same unless your 185 is a tank, and then nothing is going to make it a very fun ride.

The biggest determining factor as to whether they will make sense to you, is the mission. If it is just a joy ride... doubtful. If it is a revenue maker that sees rock piles, it'll probably do, but your just going to shift the weak link farther up the gear. Probably need to reassess aircraft selection.

Take care, Rob

Rob wrote: Cub 35's on a lightish 180 are a dream, but as soon as you get it heavy they start to bag out too much on the side hills and turns. Doubtful you'd ever get one to roll off or dip enough to get a wing tip, but it's just not a grand ride.

I have heard others flying 185's on large wheels say exactly what you've said. 29's seem to be the best mix in their opinion too.

Battson wrote:

Rob wrote: Cub 35's on a lightish 180 are a dream, but as soon as you get it heavy they start to bag out too much on the side hills and turns. Doubtful you'd ever get one to roll off or dip enough to get a wing tip, but it's just not a grand ride.

I have heard others flying 185's on large wheels say exactly what you've said. 29's seem to be the best mix in their opinion too.

In talking with the guys at AA, most orders for 180/185s are 31s.

I thought you couldn't put a 185 on 31's? Something about the 29's could handle the higher weights but the 31's can't.

You could be right renegade. I guess I only asked about 180s. The say most guys using their planes for pleasure are running on 31s and commercial guys about half 31s half 29s.

I think the 31's have a 1500lb/ tire load rating. On the higher GW 180/185's they need the 29's which have a higher weight rating.

Bushweels:
31's are rated at 1500 lbs/tire
29's are rated at 1800 lbs/tire

On a 180, you don't run into gross weight issue with 31's until you get into the later models (post 64' I believe) with a Kenmore 3190 up gross kit.
However on 185's, gross weight starts at 3200lbs, hence 29's.

As far as flying 180's on big tries goes, Ive only flown 29's and they are really really awesome.

Rob wrote:My experience has been that there are a few instances where you'd like to have 35's on a 180/185.

Having said that, I don't even like what they do for my cub much. Love having them when it's an absolute must, (like 1% of the time) pretty much can't stand them the rest of the time.

Unfortunately our experience on a 180 was that beaver 35's were so stiff and heavy that the trade was not worth the rolling radius gained. Cub 35's on a lightish 180 are a dream, but as soon as you get it heavy they start to bag out too much on the side hills and turns. Doubtful you'd ever get one to roll off or dip enough to get a wing tip, but it's just not a grand ride. I suspect that your experience will be the same unless your 185 is a tank, and then nothing is going to make it a very fun ride.

The biggest determining factor as to whether they will make sense to you, is the mission. If it is just a joy ride... doubtful. If it is a revenue maker that sees rock piles, it'll probably do, but your just going to shift the weak link farther up the gear. Probably need to reassess aircraft selection.

Take care, Rob

That's kind of what I was thinking was that they were going to be too stiff to be effective. Looks like I'm going to go with 31s.