How Heavy Are Tractor Tires? | Weight By Size And Fill

Most tractor tires weigh about 40 to 900+ pounds each, and loaded rear tires can climb far past that.

Tractor tire weight swings a lot more than most people expect. A small front tire on a subcompact machine may be light enough for two people to roll by hand. A big rear radial on a row-crop tractor can push toward half a ton before you add fluid, a rim, or cast iron.

That gap matters if you’re ordering replacements, planning freight, setting up a loader tractor, or trying not to wreck your back in the shop. The big catch is this: people often ask about “tractor tire weight” when they really mean one of three different numbers — tire only, mounted wheel, or loaded assembly. Those numbers can be wildly different.

What Changes Tractor Tire Weight So Much

Size is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Wider tires use more rubber. Taller tires use more rubber. A larger rim opening changes the carcass shape and the amount of material inside the tire. Step up from a compact tractor rear to a large row-crop rear, and the weight can jump by hundreds of pounds.

Size And Construction

Construction changes the number too. A radial farm tire often carries more material in the carcass and tread than a smaller bias tire meant for lighter work. Lug depth matters as well. A tire built for heavy draft work or long road runs can feel much denser in the hands than a lighter turf or rib tire of similar outside diameter.

Then there’s the split between front and rear. On most tractors, the rear tires are the heavy hitters. They’re wider, taller, and built to handle more load and traction. Front tires, even on mechanical front-wheel-drive tractors, are usually much easier to move unless you’re dealing with a large high-horsepower machine.

Ballast Can Change The Math Fast

Fluid ballast is where the numbers get serious. A tire that feels manageable when empty can become a monster once it’s filled. That extra mass helps traction and stability, but it also changes transport costs, jack choice, lifting plans, and how you handle repairs.

• Dry tire: just the rubber tire by itself.
• Mounted wheel: tire plus rim, valve, tube if used, and wheel hardware.
• Loaded assembly: mounted wheel plus liquid ballast and any added wheel weight.

If you skip that distinction, you can end up ordering the wrong freight class, underestimating shop labor, or trying to lift far more than you planned for.

Tractor Tire Weight By Size And Job

The table below gives a practical dry-weight range for common tractor tire setups. These are tire-only ranges, not mounted wheels and not fluid-filled assemblies. Brands, tread patterns, ply ratings, and IF/VF construction can move the number up or down, but this gives you a solid starting point.

How Heavy Are Tractor Tires? Typical Dry Ranges

Tractor Tire Type	Typical Dry Weight Per Tire	Common Use
Subcompact front	40–70 lb	Mowing, light loader work, estate tractors
Subcompact rear	70–130 lb	Small diesel compacts with turf or R4 tires
Compact front	60–120 lb	25–50 hp tractors with MFWD
Compact rear	120–250 lb	Compact tractors doing field, grading, or loader work
Utility front	140–300 lb	Livestock, hay, and mixed-farm tractors
Utility rear	250–500 lb	General field work, transport, loader use
Row-crop front	250–450 lb	MFWD row-crop tractors with taller radial fronts
Row-crop rear	500–850 lb	Planting, tillage, spraying, broad-acre field work
High-horsepower front	400–650 lb	Large MFWD and heavy draft setups
High-horsepower rear	700–1,100+ lb	Large row-crop or articulated tractor rears

Those ranges explain why the same question gets so many different answers online. One person is talking about a 26-inch compact rear. Another is talking about a 710-section radial on a big field tractor. Both are right inside their own lane, but the numbers live in different worlds.

If you’re buying used tires, ask for the exact size stamped on the sidewall and whether the quote is for tire only or wheel-and-tire together. That one question clears up a ton of confusion.

Dry Tire, Mounted Wheel, And Loaded Tire Are Three Different Beasts

A bare tire can already be awkward because the weight sits low and the sidewalls flex while you roll it. Add the rim, and it gets denser and harder to control. Add liquid ballast, and the assembly stops acting like a shop item and starts acting like machinery.

This is where a lot of owners get tripped up. They hear that a rear tractor tire weighs 500 pounds, then find out the mounted, loaded assembly is nowhere near that number. That extra weight is why loader tractors feel steadier with proper ballast and why repair calls on loaded rear tires are slower and more expensive.

John Deere’s ballasting safety page notes that rear ballast helps counterbalance front loads and keeps the tractor’s tires on the ground. That same added mass is great for traction, but it changes how you jack, tow, transport, and service the machine.

• A dry compact rear may be a one-person roll-and-tip job with care.
• A mounted utility rear often needs equipment, not muscle.
• A loaded large rear can add enough mass that shop handling changes completely.

So when you ask a seller or a tire shop about weight, ask in plain words: “Is that the dry tire, the wheel-and-tire, or the loaded assembly?”

Liquid Ballast Can Add Hundreds Of Pounds Per Tire

If a tractor has filled tires, the added weight can dwarf what you expected from the rubber alone. Titan’s liquid weighing chart shows just how steep that jump gets at 75% fill. Smaller metric fronts gain a few hundred pounds. Large rears gain well over a thousand.

The chart below shows the added ballast weight only, not the dry tire weight. In other words, these numbers stack on top of the tire and wheel you already have.

Tire Size	Water Added At 75% Fill	Calcium Chloride Mix Added At 75% Fill
380/85R30	452 lb	587 lb
480/80R38	875 lb	1,134 lb
520/85R42	1,183 lb	1,534 lb
650/65R42	1,364 lb	1,774 lb
710/70R42	1,901 lb	2,467 lb

That’s why a “big rear tractor tire” can mean two wildly different things in the shop. Dry, it may already be a heavy piece. Filled, it can carry enough extra mass to change the whole repair plan.

What To Check Before You Buy, Ship, Or Lift One

If you need a weight number for real work — freight, trailer loading, a tire machine, or loader ballast math — don’t settle for a guess. Get the exact spec chain in order.

Start With The Sidewall Size

Sidewall size is the cleanest starting point. A 12.4-24, a 420/85R28, and a 650/65R42 live in three different weight classes. One glance at the size tells a tire shop far more than “rear tire off my Deere” ever will.

Ask Whether It’s Radial, Bias, Or IF/VF

Construction changes carcass weight and load behavior. Two tires with close outside dimensions may not weigh the same if the casing design is different. That’s one reason sidewall photos help when you’re pricing used take-offs or lining up shipping.

Check Whether Fluid Is Inside

Loaded tires are the ones that surprise people. If the valve leaks fluid, if the seller mentions beet juice or calcium chloride, or if the tire feels far heavier than its size suggests, treat it like a loaded assembly until proven otherwise.

Ask For The Weight State

Use these exact words when you call: dry tire, mounted wheel, or loaded assembly. You’ll get a cleaner answer, faster.

Ask What Comes With It

Rim, center disc, cast weights, and clamps can pile on more mass. A listing that says “pair of rears” may include far more than the rubber itself.

Plan Handling Before The Tire Leaves The Ground

Small tires can be rolled and tipped with care. Big farm tires need equipment, cribbing, and room to move. If you’re anywhere near the upper end of the ranges above, think in terms of jacks, forks, tire dollies, chains, and blocking — not brute force.

What The Numbers Mean In Real Life

If you own a compact tractor, your tires are heavy but still manageable with planning. If you run a utility or row-crop machine, rear tires get heavy enough that “just roll it off” stops being a smart plan. If the tire is loaded, the ballast may weigh more than many people expect from the tire itself.

So, how heavy are tractor tires? In plain terms, many start around 40 pounds, many field rears land in the several-hundred-pound range dry, and fluid-filled large rears can add another thousand pounds or more per tire. Once you know the size and whether it’s loaded, the fuzzy guess turns into a number you can actually work with.