Traction Tires

It's not necessary.  If you get sufficient traction from the locomotive for your operating style, leave them off.

The only "knock" that I've heard is some folks worry about wearing the groove with no tire, but I think that's going to take a lot of running.

One other possible issue is how the trucks sit on the rails.  Without the tires, a six wheel truck may be an issue, and a steamer might rock a bit, especially if it's one with four drivers.

You won't damage anything by giving it a test, see if it works out.

Thanks, I will try it without tires when the current tires wear out.

BOGEYMAN,

The one thing John did not state, "It's a matter of choice". While I'm from the old school. Your locomotives were designed to use traction tires. A wise choice would be to use them. With a little practice replacing worn rubber tires will become second nature. I noticed one thing over the years. Those who do not replace their worn tires are the ones who lack self confidence or have doubt in their own abilities. By replacing your traction tires you will gain the basic knowledge. And feel more comfortable doing so again in the future. Like I stated above, "It's a matter of choice".

I'm running 3 steamers now with traction tires off.  I've tried replacing them but the replacement tires that came with the engines are old (1990s Williams brass) and didn't last long.  I've tried MTH tires but they're too thick and so far the engines have run fine without them.

IMO no tire is better than a tire that comes off and wraps around the siderods, bending them.

I have replaced tires on a couple of MTH diesels and they've held up.

I wonder if the longer frame and resulting forces on a steamers wheels has an effect on tire life.  Most diesel trucks are shorter than the wheelbase on an 0-6-0 and can go thru curves without as much stress put on them.

I dont understand.This subject often comes up and most people here agree that they are not needed.If they are not needed then why do the Mfg's,with the enormous amount of money they must pour into product technology install them on their locomotives?Nick

If you have grades on your layout you most likely will need the traction tires to get the load over the hump.

I have an MTH Trainmaster that lost it's traction tires. To replace them you need to remove the side frames and to do that you have to remove the truck first, which is a lot of work. I tried working the tire down the side without removing the frame, but that proved to be difficult without damaging the tire. My layout is pretty well level, so I gave it a try without the tires. What I found was the lack of tires improved two thing that the loco suffered from. It used to rock slightly as it went down the track due to the out of round traction tires, now it is rock steady. Also, many times the trucks would not straighten up when it went around the curves (it is a 6 wheel truck, with one set being a dummy plastic wheels on the innermost wheels). I now find the that slight grove helps them to snap back into alignment when it goes around the curve, which looks much better. I have found I can easily pull 10 cars (pretty well the max that my layout looks good with), without a hint of wheel slip. So all in all, I am happy not replacing the tires and plan to do similarly as they fail on other engines. Each will be tested without the tire, if it works as good as the Trainmaster, they will stay off.

The club layout has a 2% grade, and the Lionel Reading T1 4-8-4 without traction tires or the 3rd Rail Q2 have a real problem there if they have a large consist and don't get a running start.  My little MTH Dockside switcher with it's corrugated wheels will pull 9-10 RMT ore cars up the grade, but any more and it doesn't make it all the way.

I use traction tires on almost anything that supports them.  The exception is some of the little 4-wheel motorized units, when they hit an insulated track section with a traction tire, they only have one wheel supplying power, that sometimes is problematic.  They certainly don't need traction tires as they're not pulling anything, so I take them off.