There's not much discussion online about it. I think most people just do what they're told and never think about it.

 

it will dig better with the "v" forward. Farmers will often times run the back tires on their combines backwards so that if they get themselves in a sticky situation they can back out easier with their rear wheels doing the digging in reverse. However, they will run their back tires in reverse on 2wd models to help reduce ruts, as they will help to shovel the dirt back in that the front tires flung out of the rut, and also to save wear on road travel. you will be hard pressed to find a 4wd tractor with the front tires backwards, we just dont do it due to loss of traction, that is, afterall, what a tractor is for.

I tell you all of this as a farmer who just got in from the field where i was driving a 4wd tractor, and earlier in the day i was running my combine in a muddy creek bottom soybean bean field, experiencing the effects (and headaches) of rear mounted tires. They dont help you go forward at all. I have front duals, and reverse mounted rear tires, and in really sticky goey mud, the front tires ball up with mud inbetween the duals and turn into one big slick tire. the back tires being backwards didnt help at all except to back out of being stuck in a place i wouldnt have been stuck otherwise. Most of the time the rear mounted tire doesnt matter, cause we are not in that much mud, but this year has been a bit trying around here...

 

Right, it will dig in better with the V like a spade shovel. So on hardpack, you want to dig in to get traction and on slush, you don't need to dig in... any shape will dig in slush. You need to scoup more. Unless your scoups don't spin fast enough to throw out the contents of the scoup (as in the case of a tractor). On a tractor its not about digging in, but keeping the lugs clear and clean.

Yeah, duals suck. I had duals on a truck and mud would extrude out the rim holes like playdough. Duals won't allow you to dig at all and will only cake up as there is more surface to stick to. Acutally mud racers are compressing tires now and using skinny rims to make their tires thinner. Swamp buggies have been running skinny tires for a long time, but they have lots of ground clearance. They can dig to china and not bottom out lol.

Here are a couple of the links I was reading:

Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractor Club, Inc. - Ag tires on front, installed backwards?&
ag tires backwards? - Garden Tractor Forum - Garden Tractor Talk - Garden Tractor Forums

Here are what the compressed skinny tires look like:


Here is a quad that drives on water. Notice the tires

 

there is a reason you will not find backwards tires on any ag tractor ever. I'm not talking 15 hp garden tractors, i'm talking 250+ hp 4wd articulated farm tractors, or any other conventional styled farm tractor with front wheel assist.
Go here and find one: www.tractorhouse.com That is where probably 75% of all ag tractors in the country are advertised for sale. You probably wont find one
The only purpose it would serve is to back out of being stuck somewhere, but that would be a huge waste of traction, since you want pulling power, not getting un-stuck power. You dont use a tractor for the same things you use an ATV for, so it really is a bad example, the combine is a better example. They are handy, because you are not looking for traction generally, so much as floatation to reduce ruts, and the rare ability to work in a slightly muddy field. However, when you are working in low areas like river and creek bottoms often (like me) you really should have the rear tires facing forward since your going to run into alot more mud, and you need to be able to get through a lot more, as opposed to being able to back out of places and going around, Single rice tires would be a much better option as well, as opposed to the duals. The backwards front tires could be very beneficial on an ATV, as we often use them for recreational purposes, and try to go places that we shouldnt. On yours randy, there wont be much loss of traction with the tires in any direction with those bolts lol, unless you were in some pretty soupy mud. They will also help steer easier i'd imagine. I dont have a 4wd atv to try it on, or i would. Our gator is 4wd, and it has pretty aggressive tires on it. It has CST Anclas, it never gets stuck...ever, not even in 2wd, seriously, ive tried lol. those tires just keep digging. I think i will buy another set when they wear out, an a set for the 4wd atv i hope to buy this winter.
PS, one of the nicest looking 300 Kings ever is for sale locally on craigslist: Suzuki King Quad 300 Fourwheeler but a bit pricey for me

 

Yup, the nice kings sell for about that much. You can either buy one like that or buy one for $600 and put that much into it (plus your labor). So far I have $600 for the quad + $60 to bikebandit for shift *****, oil filter, and intake valve + $37 to ebay for gasket set + $42 to ebay for a clutch + $15 to ebay for a speedometer cable. A long time ago I bought a LT4WD that caught fire for $200. Now I'm using the parts off it, which include an outer tie rod end, regulator, front and rear rack. Poolgod sent me a carb a long time ago. I'm using that carb on the king. A long time ago I found an Arias piston for the 250s on ebay for $50, I'm using that in the king. A bore job will cost $60. And I'm buying a 250s cam for $117 plus shipping. Oh and I'm thinking about replacing the cam chain for $20. I figure I might as well while I have it apart. It seemed kinda stretched.

My friend just bought his for $700 and its missing the front rack and brake master cylinder. It has no brakes at all! Luckily I have that from the donor quad or else he'd have to pay $80 for a master cylinder and who knows for a rack. And he's having carb trouble. We have a rule.... it doesn't matter what you buy a quad for, you're going to have $1500 in it before you're done lol.

The funny thing about those bolts is I have zero traction on pavement. I have to be real careful backing out of the garage...it will light the tires up fairly easy. I have to barely touch the gas to not tear up the garage floor. I should probably use 4x4 to get out of the garage lol

When I get time, I'm going to make a V out of wood and put weights on top, then pull with rope and see which is harder to pull. I was thinking last night if you put a plow in the ground that's shaped like a V with the point pointing forward and then compare how hard it is to pull to the same shape reversed.... seems like the plow shape would be easier to pull thru the ground than having it reversed. Boats are shaped like that for getting thru the water. Planes are shaped like that for going thru air. I'll see if there is a difference with a simple wooden setup.

Honestly, I just put my front tires on like that after I did the bolts just to see. If I hadn't done the bolts, I would have left them the other way. I don't have a problem with traction except when I high-center and switching tries around isn't going to cure that lol. I wish I could select just front wheel drive so I can use the front tires like a milling machine to mill down the tops of steep hills so I don't high-center. Currently, by the time the front wheels mill off the top edge, the backs have dug deep holes. The only solution I've found so far is to turn the quad around the other way and use the back wheels to knock the top off, then lock in 4x4 and back up the hill.

I'll have some questions for you about my garden next spring

 

Tomgodair, this is for you lol

Popped the top on the 300 to find plenty of goop. I figure I'm the 1st one to open it up, but hard to believe suzuki would put that much on it.



And I noticed the cam had an "A" on it. The LT4WD cam had a D, the 230s had an E, and I think the 250s had a G or something. I'm surprised to see the LT4WD cam is more aggressive than the 300 king cam. Its hard to see in the pics, but the exhaust duration on the 300 cam is much less than the LT4WD cam and the 230 cam looks like an aftermarket cam with its long durations lol

230 cam on left and 300 cam on right

 

The reason I changed cams is that I made this muffler then found that the cam was closing the exhaust valve too fast for the improved flow to do anything. The 230 cam made a big difference. Can't wait to see what the 250 cam does.

 

my 230s that will be getting a frame up restore over the winter. been very good to me so far

 

hey, wanna make me a muffler for my 230? your good at it! I just got in from riding all afternoon. There are some pretty wicked trails around here, a couple friends and i didnt have anything to do, so we went riding and stopped in the bar for a beer or 2 before coming home. The little suzi kept pace and went through some pretty tough trails, hanging in nicely with the 850 Sportsman and 800 RZR i was riding with. The only prob i had was getting high centered in some mud holes on the trail where all the bigger 4x4's had dug too deep of ruts over the years. Easy enough to pick the 230 up though and shift it sideways out of the ruts. never had to get pulled anywhere. I did have some other probs though. Somehow i got a hole in the left side engine case right by the sprocket, i dont know how that could have happened without the chain coming off and hitting it. I discovered that fairly early and came home, filled the hole with JB, and kept on riding. It seems to be leaking quite a bit of oil still from somewhere, so i'm gonna have some more work to do there. Also, while on the way home from the bar my muffler fell off, and was subsequently run over by the RZR, its bent up pretty good. I think its an old cobra. Its definately not stock. I am not paying for a new one though, so i'll have to figure out a way to bend it back straight or make something new. it ran pretty good all day though, tore up the trails like a champ.

if anyone has a spare muffler laying around let me know!

 

i got my whole dg rcm exhaust from ebay for 92 shipped brand new so not bad at all for a new pipe. your chain could have skipped a tooth on the front sprocket and hit the case but went right back on. hard to say. mine is jb welded also but over the winter im taking it off and having it welded up. mine is leaking pretty good now so i think an actual weld is better than the jb weld since i will have a white frame next year. anybody around here going to the silver lake sand dunes for memorial weekend?