Price Comparison: Airhawk 29-10 vs. Bushwheel

VA Maule · Post by **VA Maule** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 6:38 pm

Come on 14 CRF Part 21 rewrite's implementation.

It can't happen DAMN soon enough!!!!!!!!

BudG · Post by **BudG** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 4:30 pm

Since we're on the subject of tires......
Does anyone know if there are other smooth tires in the 6.50x10" or 8.50x10" tires that will fit the same wheel that a 29-11x10" tire is mounted on".
Also, it's my understanding that I wouldn't be able to put the ABW 35" tire on the same wheel that the 29-11x10 is mounted on, even though it's a 10" wheel....is that true?
Thanks
Bud

maules.com · Post by **maules.com** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 5:52 pm

I believe it takes a different 10" wheel for the 35" ABW

pilot · Post by **pilot** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:25 pm

No expert knowledge, but somewhere in my head the 35" abw's take a 10x6 wheel, and the 29's take a 10x10?

Hottshot · Post by **Hottshot** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:44 pm

pilot wrote:No expert knowledge, but somewhere in my head the 35" abw's take a 10x6 wheel, and the 29's take a 10x10?

You are correct...

Henry Sanger · Post by **Henry Sanger** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:58 pm

Why can you not put the 35 ABW on the 10*10 wheel just asking?

Hottshot · Post by **Hottshot** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:13 pm

Henry Sanger wrote:Why can you not put the 35 ABW on the 10*10 wheel just asking?

the 35 inch tire requires a 10 by 650 wheel 29 1110 tire requires a 10x10 wheel

BudG · Post by **BudG** » Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:52 am

Thanks for squaring me away on that one.
Sooooooo is anyone running the 7's or 8.50 x 10's on the 10 x 10" wheel?
The reason that I ask is: when my 29x11x10' wear out I want to resurrect my 6" wheels with 31" ABW but run a smaller tire in the off season. That way I don't have to buy a new set of wheels to start running the 31" ABW's.
If you are running the wider tire what brand and why.
Right now my set up is, 29x11x10's in the summer and 8.00x6.00 in the off season.
Thanks

Post by **andy** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:12 am

After 8 years of great service, I need to replace my Goodyear 8.50x6.00 tires before traveling to McCall ID and doing some back country flying in August. I was based at an airport with a grass runway for 7 of those 8 years, so I would probably only get about 4 years out of a new set of Goodyear 8.50x6.00 tires at my current airport.

Instead of another set of Goodyear 8.50x6.00 tires I'm thinking about springing for ABI 31" Bushwheels since I already have the Cleveland wheel conversion kit and dual puck brakes. I know that the bushwheels wear faster on pavement than the Goodyears. I'm now based at an airport in NC that has asphalt runways and taxiways.

About how many years can I expect the 31" Bushwheels to last before needing replacement? I know it depends on how much you fly, but I'm hoping to get a rough idea from Maule owners that have had their Bushwheels for a while and are based at an airport with hard surface runway(s).

Wup or Jeremy, can you weigh in on this?

Post by **andy** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:53 am

Forgot to mention that I've done enough research on this forum, BCP forum and SuperCubs.org forum to know the pitfalls to avoid wearing them out prematurely. I already know about: taxi time on a hard surface runway being more of a factor than landings; not to pivot on a hard surface; watch the toe-in; land straight; keep about 12 psi inflation pressure; avoid ozone produced by electric motors and lights; avoid a lot of UV light; pressure changes with temperature.

It sounds like a lot of people with SuperCubs have gotten 3 - 5 years out of Bushwheels at hard surface airports as long as they avoid the pitfalls above. My MX-7-180 is heavier than a SuperCub so it's reasonable to assume more wear on the Bushwheels. I'm interested in Maule owners real-life experience.

Post by **andy** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:35 pm

Jason at Airframes Alaska said the he's seen anything from 200 hours to 1500 hours on a set of bushwheels. He said that a lot of Alaskan operators mount them on a spare set of Cleveland 40-75-D wheels and swap them depending on what type of flying they are going to do. That's a pretty good strategy although it's $1050 (not counting shipping) more. This is getting expensive!!! I may have to go with just a new set of Goodyear 8.50x6.00 tires and save my pennies for the ultimate solution.

captnkirk · Post by **captnkirk** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:37 pm

I think pilot still has a 8.50 mounted on a rim for sale it may take care of halve of your problem. When he listed those airhawks I wanted to buy them but the timing wasn't right for my budget. I think having a set that you can swap as needed maybe the best for us down here. We don't usually need the bush wheels for most of the places we go. I'm trying to have everything set up so when I do make my trip to the great northwest I'll be ready. The bush wheels look cool I just don't want that drag all the time. I know they will look good on your Maule Andy. Have fun with the decision .

pilot · Post by **pilot** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 7:13 pm

Kirk - sold it already. Guy from BCP flew his 90hp super cub over to my place and picked it up.

I'm probably going to do about 50/50 grass vs. pavement, so I have a set of 29-11-10's. I may radius the sharp edges off the grooves so as not to throw rocks as bad (like maybe a 2" radius instead of the sharp edge), or you can shave them. I personally don't like shaving.........

BudG · Post by **BudG** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:01 am

I have been running 29's since @ 2007 on my Bird. They've held up pretty good. I run them in the summer's and go to 8x6's in the off season. I also switch out the tail wheel too. 3200 to chubby.

I run the 29's at @12psi. My speed penalty is about 10-12 mph. I fly off of grass in the summer (mostly) but taxi on pavement a lot. They are buffed so I haven't had a rock slinging issue. I don't brake real hard for fear of shearing off the valve stem. The weight difference is (don't quote me on this) about 15 pounds for the 8's with wheels and about 45 pounds for the 29's. That's a lot of extra "stuff" you could pack .

I have been to high percentage of the named non-paved runways in the NW during the summers and believe that one could use 8's or 8.50' on them with a good margin of safety. So unless you plan on doing some extreme BCntry flying it sounds like you're good to go. Of course you would be giving up the "look" by running 8.5's

If you're interested I have a few YouTube posts under NWFlyer. Enjoy.

I have to chuckle at myself when I fly into a remote strip with my 29's and a 182 slides in on 8's or an RV comes in on 6's. But they're playing the odds.

I have seen a few fellas with 8.50 on 11-10 rims and that seems to be interesting. Width for the gopher holes but diameter for speed I've seen those on some 185's. When my 29's wear out I think I'll give that a try, and put 31" ABW on my 6" wheels. Hmmmmm

It only takes me about an hour to switch out the wheels and it gives me a chance to check everything out and re-grease. :

pilot · Post by **pilot** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:30 pm

The 8.50 is the original bush tire, they have been pretty much everywhere long before off-airport ops got any publicity.

Price Comparison: Airhawk 29-10 vs. Bushwheel

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29-11-10's

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