Anyone regret filling your tires?

[rbtjr]

After having had four tractors, three with the rear tires filled 75% and one small tractor with both filled and unfilled (at different times), I will always have mine filled. To me, the benefits of added stability and traction far outweigh any detriments.

 

[majorwager]

As other posters stated, primary tractor task is mowing. Unloaded tires work best for this application, again wet spring is a detriment. Also use tractor for snow removal. Was using the FEL float feature and that defeats the advantage of front wheel assist. When holding the snow pusher an inch or so above plowing surface, non-loaded tires perform adequately. The winter mounted back blade is only 400 lbs., not enough weight for true ballast.


Fact is, adding a heavy implement should provide all the needed ballast w/o loading tires. The wide R-4 tires used by compact manufactures isn't the best tractive solution. A narrower tire section width would actually provide better results but not look as cool!!

 

[Maharaja]

I chose to not have tires filled. Time will tell. I did have two sets of weights per rear wheel (added).

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I regret getting R4 tires instead of R1.

 

[Maharaja]

I regret getting R4 tires instead of R1.

Please elaborate. My Kubota dealer called the morning of delivery and said by the way I upgraded you. I said how so? Tires he said.

I specified R4.
He delivered with R1W

I like the tires so far but being a newbie I am learning from the masters.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Please elaborate. My Kubota dealer called the morning of delivery and said by the way I upgraded you. I said how so? Tires he said.

I specified R4.
He delivered with R1W

I like the tires so far but being a newbie I am learning from the masters.

What is the w in R1W?

R4s dont do well in mud, or sideways on hills. R1s give much better traction. I have both, will not do R4 again inless its for lawn work.

 

[AllDodge]

Read thru the post and someone probably did not see about front tire filling. It was mentioned but my questions goes along is it worth the added weight. Buddy has a JD5065E and has all 4 filled. The issue is 4x4 or not, the front tires tear up the sod and when in 4x4 they really tear up the sod with R1 tires

For other question, R4 set lower so it will lower center of gravity, but the trade off is they don't hold as well. But then again they don't tear up the sod so much either

 

[Maharaja]

In for answer. I saw somewhere it is “wet” unsure though so far.

What is the w in R1W?

R4s dont do well in mud, or sideways on hills. R1s give much better traction. I have both, will not do R4 again inless its for lawn work.

 

[ning]

What is the w in R1W?

R1, for wet stuff

 

[LouNY]

What is the w in R1W?

R4s dont do well in mud, or sideways on hills. R1s give much better traction. I have both, will not do R4 again inless its for lawn work.

Its a more aggressive R1 but not a rice tire;

R1W is defined as having a lug height about 20 percent deeper than an equivalent R1 tire, but this could vary from 15 percent to 35 percent depending on the tire and manufacturer. R2 is a tread type used typically with cane and rice or other crops grown in wet muck or flooded fields. Tread depth of R2 tires is approximately twice as deep as R1 tires.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

One of the reasons i went with R4 on the L5030 is because of the hills, i figured a wider tire would be better. We then found they really slide sideways on hills. The R1 tires on our old tractors are narrow. I got R1 on my L3940, and they are as wide as the R4s were.
Dad got stuck last week, because he couldnt go up a muddy hill in 4x4, the R4 tires become slicks. Fortunately he was able to take a longer route around the hill to get back to the house.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

But no regret filling the tires.
See how they fill with mud.

 

[AllDodge]

R type tires

 

[gladehound]

Larger / longer / wider tractors are more forgiving of not filling the rears. When I first got my DS4510HS, the tires were not filled. I used it for a while and It was much more stable than the LB1914 on any task even though the LB1914 had filled rears. But the larger tractor was substantially longer, wider and heavier.

One day I was lifting a heaped bucket of wet dirt (probably ~1,500 pounds). The tractor was pointed down hill when I raised the bucket to dump it. When the bucket got about 7 feet in the air a rear started to lift. So I lowered the bucket. Dumped it and made an appointment to get the rears filled with ~1,000 pounds of whatever the local JD dealer was using (not calcium).

One day I was digging a stump out with my filled rears and a 500 pound blade off the 3pt. I got the bucket hooked under a root. Curled the bucket to try to break the root and the entire rear of the tractor came completely off the ground. I also bent the bucket. So now I have filled rears and an additional 350 pounds of weights attached to the end of the draw bar a few inches inside of the 3pt eyes so I can leave it there all the time and not interfere with implements or even more ballast. Now when I know I'm going to go really heavy on a lift, I put an extra bucket on the back with my 3pt to SSAQ adapter and fill it with heavy stuff (like extra bags of cement that were left out and got hard). With filled tires, 350 pounds on the draw bar and 1000+ on the 3pt. the rear stays down.

Moral of the story - even if it doesn't seem that you need filled tires now, eventually you will do something to make you wish you had them. And in some cases you will want both filled rears and big ballast on the 3pt.

The only down sides are that the tractor is heavier for times when you want it light. But if you only fill the rears, filled rears still don't tend to sink as much as unfilled fronts. The front is what tends to dig in. And if you have R4 tires, they have so much contact patch that I don't ever see it being an issue. The other down side is that you won't be able to go as fast up hill in the highest gear due to the extra weight - kind of an obvious one.

 

[mykleh]

what is the skid steer style tread then I thought those were the R4's??

 

[AllDodge]

what is the skid steer style tread then I thought those were the R4's??

Yes they are R4 also

 

[Turbys_1700]

To answer your question...
No...
I've never owned a tractor without loaded tires...

 

[LouNY]

Can't regret it because mine are not loaded. :laughing::drink:

 

[Tennsawdust]

They will be loaded soon!

 

[Fastball]

I will be in the market for tires soon. I don’t do a lot of ground work, other than tilling the odd patch. Mostly just mowing in a pasture and in an orchard...and hauling bits of stuff around. Environment is pretty dry here. There’s a gravel drive in the winter that I plow with a blade. The property is on a slope, though. I don’t think I need R-1s, and everyone says R4s are terrible. I am considering turfs. Are there some that have a decent tread to them, and are they somewhat puncture prone compare to the R4s?