Craig C - have you seen the Hamm's Bear around?
Mike F - hey Oregon City, that would be getting closer for certain.
Amy - glad to hear you're catching on. I was hoping more of the other guys would respond to your question on tires but I didn't want to see you make a mistake or not realize something so here goes. Although it has been all good info so far, I'd like to ask "what type of surface will you be running on?" Will you be on concrete/asphalt/blacktop or gravel/stone/dirt? The Ags certainly are nice, have their advantages, give you that "dig in" effect on soil, and give your tractor that "tough" look, but they are pricey. Turf tires are smoother, and I think ride easier, and likely more economical. For all around use meaning spring/summer/fall/winter I believe Turf are the best. For winter I do recommend addition of chains and weights. You don't always know what you're going to encounter or how much, so it's nice to have the chains and weight just in case. You don't mention if you have 2-link or 4-link cross sections on your chains, which also makes a difference. Give us a little more info and we can advise further. And by the way, of all the tractors I restored (20+) I never bought a new set of rear tires (several fronts but no rears). To me there were always alot of used ones around that were in decent shape, not dry rotted/sun checked, and usually priced at about 1/2 of new or less.
(under edit) And a few more things. You can't really depend on the manufacturer's size markings on the tires. These tires are not subject to the Fed. sizing standards, etc. I've seen Goodyear side by side, marked the same size, same style, that were different in height by more than 1 inch. I would recommend getting a pair at the same time to help avoid this. In my experience as much as I liked Goodyear they tended to be undersized (marked 23 but measured closer to 21 and 1/2) and Carlisle tended to be very close to actual marked sizes. This size will have an effect on whether your chains will refit as well.
