Monthly Archives: October 2026

Short answer: we carry Sentry Tire Duramax R1 tractor tires in 6.00-14, 6.00-16 and 7.50-16. All three are 8 ply and all three are tube type, so you need a tube with every tire. Match the size and ply on your current tires, replace them in pairs, and do not reuse old tubes.

Most people know us for solid forklift and skid steer tires. We also carry agricultural tires, and one question we get a lot is about small R1 tractor tires: the 6.00-14, 6.00-16 and 7.50-16 sizes on a lot of compact and utility tractors.

Here is what R1 means, what we carry, why tubes matter, and how to tell when it is time to replace.

What does R1 mean?

R1 is an agricultural tread designation. R1 tires are the traditional farm tread with lugs designed for traction in soil. On our agricultural tire page you will also see R4 industrial treads and I-1 implement ribs. Those are covered in separate posts.

Our R1 tires are listed as tractor tires for agricultural and farm use. The position they go on depends on your tractor.

Short answer: if flats keep parking your skid steer, solid tire and wheel assemblies are the fix. V2D is the general-purpose pick. ND is for stability under heavy loads. OD and O are smooth, for short runs on concrete. V1D is for compact machines. Each one is sized to replace a common pneumatic size and comes on a heavy duty reusable wheel.

If you run a skid steer in demolition, scrap, recycling, transfer stations or any job with sharp debris, you know what flats cost you. One nail or a piece of rebar and the machine sits until someone gets out there with a tire. Do that a few times a month and solid tires stop looking expensive.

We carry a full line of Sentry solid skid steer tire and wheel assemblies in V2D, ND, OD, O and V1D patterns. Here is how the sizing works, what each pattern is built for, and what to check before you switch.

Why solid skid steer tires come on wheels

Every solid skid steer assembly in this part of our catalog is sold as a tire and wheel. The product pages describe

Short answer: SKS1 and SKS5 are chevron, directional treads for dirt, mud and loose ground. SKS3, SKS4 and SKS7 are wide non-directional block treads for concrete, asphalt and constant direction changes. Pick the family first, then the size.

Skid steers are hard on tires. They do not steer like a truck. They turn by skidding, dragging the tires sideways across the ground every time the operator changes direction. Add rock, rebar, demo debris and a full bucket, and it is no surprise skid steer tires wear out as fast as they do.

That is why tread pattern matters so much on a skid steer. On our skid steer pneumatic tire page you will see Sentry Tire Duramax and Forerunner tires labeled SKS1, SKS3, SKS4, SKS5 and SKS7. Here is what separates them, based on what our product pages say about each one.

Two families: chevron and block

Split the SKS lineup into two groups and it gets simple.

• Chevron, directional treads: SKS1 and SKS5.
• Wide non-directional block treads: SKS3, SKS4 and SKS7.

Each group

Short answer: air filled forklift tires still make sense when flats are rare on your site, ride comfort matters, and you want a lower cost per tire. Our pneumatic line is the Sentry Tire Duramax Industrial Lug tube type series, from 4.00-8 up to 12.00-20. Every one of them needs a tube.

We sell a lot of solid tires and we believe in them. But not every machine needs one, and not every budget or job calls for one. Pneumatic forklift tires are still the right choice for plenty of operations.

Here is what the Duramax Industrial Lug is built for, the sizes we carry, how ply rating shows up in the lineup, and what you need to know about tubes. There is also a safety note on mounting near the end. Do not skip it.

What the Duramax Industrial Lug is built for

According to our product pages, the Duramax Industrial Lug tube type tires share these features:

• Part of the Sentry Tire Duramax Series of pneumatic forklift tires.
• Wide block design that enhances tread depth, which the pages tie to excellent

Short answer: you need non-marking tires when a black streak on the floor is a problem you will actually hear about. Food plants, retail floors, clean manufacturing and coated concrete are the usual cases. If the machine lives in a dirt yard, you probably do not need them.

Standard black tires do their job. But they can leave black streaks on concrete, epoxy coated floors and finished surfaces. For some sites that does not matter. For others it is a real issue: a food plant that gets audited, a retail floor customers walk across, a clean manufacturing space, or a new building where the owner just paid for a polished floor.

That is what non-marking tires are for. We carry non-marking options across several categories, from forklift tires to skid steer tire and wheel assemblies to telehandler tires. Here is what non-marking means, where it makes sense, and what we stock.

What non-marking means

A non-marking tire is designed not to leave tire marks on the floor. Our product pages put it simply:

Short answer: read the sidewall, figure out which size format it is, then check rim width. A two-number size like 6.00-9 is width and rim diameter. A three-number size like 21x8-9 is overall diameter, width and rim diameter. A press-on size like 21x8x15 is outside diameter, width and inside diameter. Those are not interchangeable.

Most tire calls we take start the same way. Someone walks out to the lift, looks at the sidewall and reads us a string of numbers. Sometimes it is clean, like 6.00-9. Sometimes it is 21x8-9. Sometimes the tire is so worn they can only make out half of it.

Getting the size right is the most important step in ordering a replacement forklift tire. Get it wrong and the tire will not fit, or it fits but sits wrong on the wheel. Either way the lift is down longer than it needs to be. Here are the size formats you will see on our site, what each one generally means, and how to double check before you order.

Why forklift tire sizes look so different

Forklift tires have

Here is the short answer. K tread is for stability. M tread is for traction. S tread is for wear. S Click is the S tread for click style wheels. O tread is smooth, for the longest wear on short runs. Pick the one that matches where your lift actually works, not where you wish it worked.

When someone calls us for a solid pneumatic forklift tire, the size is usually the easy part. It is molded on the sidewall: 6.00-9, 7.00-12, 21x8-9. The question that holds up the order is the next one. Which tread pattern?

On our Sentry Tire Dureaco solid pneumatic line, the pattern is the letter in the product name. K, M, S, S Click and O. Those letters are not filler. Each one is a different design for a different job. Get it wrong and you will feel it in how the lift handles, and you will see it in how fast the tire wears.

Below is each pattern, what our product pages say it is built for, and a simple way to choose.

What every Dureaco solid pneumatic tire shares

Start with what does not change. Every