Desser Tundra tire survey

**airlina** · 04-30-2018, 04:03 PM

Been thinking about the switch to the Desser 8.50 Tundra tires but looking for some wear info from you users out there. How about a format like this: percentage of pavement to turf and hours of use on tire. I run 75% turf/25% pavement. I hear the horror stories of how fast the alaska bushwheels wear if you land on pavement and want to see if the Dessers are following the same kind of wear pattern. Thanks Bruce N199CL

**offroute** · 04-30-2018, 05:05 PM

Flight training with mine. Mostly pavement with lots of landings. Five-hundred hours on my first set of Dessers. I switch back and forth between the Dessers and 26" bushwheels when needed.

**PapuaPilot** · 04-30-2018, 09:06 PM

I have about 140 hours on mine and do about 75% of my landings on pavement with no discernible wear.

**airlina** · 05-01-2018, 04:26 PM

Thanks Fred and Phil, so far thats what I want to hear . Bruce

**David47** · 05-01-2018, 07:18 PM

I'm interested in the feedback on this too. My first flights will be with 26" Alaskan Bushwheel tyres but I'd like info on any alternates.

**Floog** · 05-01-2018, 10:07 PM

1,250 hours on 8.50s. 90 percent off pavement. Still show wear indicators with only one tire rotation. Still hope to get at least another 500 hours!

**airlina** · 05-10-2018, 06:52 AM

OK you guys sold me on the Desser 8.50 Tundras. Installed them yesterday and got a couple flights in. I find them to be just the right size for my ops. Noticeable ride improvement on my grass strip and did a few on blacktop and like how they handled that as well . When I first finished the plane in 2003, I had regular 6 ply 8.50's that weighed a bunch and handled poorly on hard surfaces due to the inertia required to spin them on touchdown (very grabby). Then I switched to 8.00's which was a big weight savings and much better handling. The 8.00's are what I replaced with the Tundras and they handle the best of the group. I was concerned that they would grab like the standard 8.50's did , but due to their low weight there was none of that . In fact weight wise , it was an even swap from the 8.00's to the Tundras, each weighing 12 lbs . with tire and tube. Early indications show I may have lost 2 mph with the bigger tires , but I can live with that. Bruce N199CL