Midwesterner
Member
Note. If you are just here looking for whether you should get R14s instead of R4s the short answer is Yes, and if you can, get radials. They will far outperform any other common tire found on our small tractors. If you want the details on how I reached that conclusion, keep reading below. Hopefully this doesnt get too boring, I am an extremely information oriented person and I love sharing this information, especially if it can help someone make a better buying decision
Being as Mother nature finally provided us with some snow, I was able to complete a test that I have been wanting to do for some time. Taking the same tractor in similar snow conditions and testing, once with bias Titan ContractorT R4s and once with radial Mitas HCM(technically also an R4 but closer in style and design to an R14) to see how much of a difference there was between the tires. The tractor was my new to me MF 1233 weighing in at 2000lbs pulling a 6ft bushhog blade which weighed 500lbs. The first run was the first measurable snowfall here in Gothenburg. We had an inch of dryer snow on top of a little bit of rain, making for fairly slick conditions, but nothing too extreme. The Titan tires were struggling in 2wd but when I switched to 4, they improved and I didnt have too many major problems until I drove over a small pile of snow and was nearly unable to back out. After I got done cleaning the main areas, I went to push the piles up to the curb, and here again the R4s struggled, being only able to push small sections at a time and only then with a little momentum.
Based on this performance, I decided to upgrade to the Mitas HCMs. I also changed to fronts to a radial mud terrain pickup tire. And then... it warmed up. As it would. We averaged between 50-70 degrees for the rest of the month and into this month.
On the positive side, um, it was warm I guess.? But finally, it snowed enough to complete the test. The testing conditions were a little different, but still close enough to make this test relevant. The second time we had about two inches of wet, heavy snow, on top of sleet making for very slick conditions. I was able to clear my wide to car driveway in 2wd no problem and put it in 4 for pulling the piles away from the end of the drive. In 4wd I was pulling a 3 foot high pile that came past the rear tires without any issue and I could drive all over the snow that I had piled up.
From this experience, I can say that the HCMs have well over 2x the performance than the old ones did. I was able to move piles of snow that I wouldnt even had considered with my old setup. Between that and the other major advantages of these radial tires (ride, flotation, and traction overall), I would say to anyone looking to replace or upgrade from their old tire setup to highly consider looking at these new type of tires.
Links to the tires
https://www.kumhotireusa.com/us/glo...2-0004&returnType=L&idcate=MC000116&iditem=44
HCM
Being as Mother nature finally provided us with some snow, I was able to complete a test that I have been wanting to do for some time. Taking the same tractor in similar snow conditions and testing, once with bias Titan ContractorT R4s and once with radial Mitas HCM(technically also an R4 but closer in style and design to an R14) to see how much of a difference there was between the tires. The tractor was my new to me MF 1233 weighing in at 2000lbs pulling a 6ft bushhog blade which weighed 500lbs. The first run was the first measurable snowfall here in Gothenburg. We had an inch of dryer snow on top of a little bit of rain, making for fairly slick conditions, but nothing too extreme. The Titan tires were struggling in 2wd but when I switched to 4, they improved and I didnt have too many major problems until I drove over a small pile of snow and was nearly unable to back out. After I got done cleaning the main areas, I went to push the piles up to the curb, and here again the R4s struggled, being only able to push small sections at a time and only then with a little momentum.
Based on this performance, I decided to upgrade to the Mitas HCMs. I also changed to fronts to a radial mud terrain pickup tire. And then... it warmed up. As it would. We averaged between 50-70 degrees for the rest of the month and into this month.
On the positive side, um, it was warm I guess.? But finally, it snowed enough to complete the test. The testing conditions were a little different, but still close enough to make this test relevant. The second time we had about two inches of wet, heavy snow, on top of sleet making for very slick conditions. I was able to clear my wide to car driveway in 2wd no problem and put it in 4 for pulling the piles away from the end of the drive. In 4wd I was pulling a 3 foot high pile that came past the rear tires without any issue and I could drive all over the snow that I had piled up. From this experience, I can say that the HCMs have well over 2x the performance than the old ones did. I was able to move piles of snow that I wouldnt even had considered with my old setup. Between that and the other major advantages of these radial tires (ride, flotation, and traction overall), I would say to anyone looking to replace or upgrade from their old tire setup to highly consider looking at these new type of tires.
Links to the tires
https://www.kumhotireusa.com/us/glo...2-0004&returnType=L&idcate=MC000116&iditem=44
HCM
