3520 Decision?

NitroX5 · Oct 3, 2011

Looking for some help, experience, or opinions from the experts (thats the part you guys play:laughing

. I'm looking at a 2010 3520 with 300CX loader and 72" auto attach deck. I'm looking to use it for plowing my commercial lot and doing some residental drives. Looking to put a 7-8 foot snow pusher
(400-500 lbs) on it and have a 66" Lorenz snowblower (approx. 1000 lbs) on the back. My main concern is that is has R4 tires and I am concerned about traction. Chaining is not an option as I have to drive it from point A to B. I have a 2520 with R4 now and I think that they are terrible in the snow. Do you guys think that with the heavier tractor and the extra weight of the snow pusher that I would see better results?? Don't really want to load the tires either because I want to mow lawn with it. Any help/ideas would be appreciated.

kude · Oct 4, 2011

When looking at different picture of 3x20 tractors, I've seen a different patterned R4 tire on the tractors which appear to be a less stiff R4, also more rounded, chain compatible? I would talk to a dealer about that tire. I have the turf tires which I have used on level snow okay. On ice or slope not good. Chains with turf might be better. The 3520 is about 2900 to 3570 pounds, according to Tractordata.com, so with a snow push and a rear blower you should have enough weight. You could leave the mower on for even more weight.

I thought of a snow push, but with the turfs, a snow blower might be better idea for me. I recently got an equipment catalog that showed a Frontier quick attach snowblower folr the 3x20 series. It has its own power unit.

If you are doing suburban driveways where would you push the snow to, a blower makes more sense even for rural driveways. A push, from what I have seen is used for parking lots to good effect. A push on a long driveway with a lot of snow seems like a PITA. I don't like looking over my back to use an implement.

DAY · Oct 4, 2011

Check out a thread from last year on siping tires. Apparently the MORE snow packed in the tread, the better. (snow on snow contact vs snow on rubber)

homerjer · Oct 4, 2011

I have a 3720 with the 66" front blade with wings mounted on the sides. 66" by itself is no problem. With the extra 2' of wings added can be a problem. Plenty of power, just not enough traction. No problem with driveways, just with parking lots. Trying to do parking lots can be frustrating to say the least. If you are planning to do a lot of parking lots I wouldn't go any bigger then a 7' and add as much weight as possible.

JD3520Turbo · Oct 10, 2011

The weight of the implements will help. However, if you have the Galaxy's like I did, I don't think you will be happy. I put Michelin XMCL Radail R-4s on my 3520, and they were fantastic in the snow, All I used was a box blade and the loader to move snow. They have a much bigger footprint than a bias tire will. Plus their tread design cleaned well and gave me good traction. I have had 2 people from this sight ask me about them, and I know one guy bought them. The size for the rear in a metric radial is 400/70R20.
If you have the 19.5s, then you will be out of luck for the Michelins because they don't make those.

The other key to good traction, is to make sure you don't have to much air in the tires. Most people do. I ran between 9 to 11 psi in those back tires, and 18 to 22 in the fronts. I still think the rear tires had bit much in them as they did not squat at all under load.

Here are a couple of pics. One shows one rear tire way further out, and that is because I was putting spacers on and snapped a pic to show how much difference 4 inch spacers do for you.
Good Luck

JDGreenGrass · Oct 10, 2011

JD3520Turbo said:
The weight of the implements will help. However, if you have the Galaxy's like I did, I don't think you will be happy. I put Michelin XMCL Radail R-4s on my 3520, and they were fantastic in the snow, All I used was a box blade and the loader to move snow. They have a much bigger footprint than a bias tire will. Plus their tread design cleaned well and gave me good traction. I have had 2 people from this sight ask me about them, and I know one guy bought them. The size for the rear in a metric radial is 400/70R20.
If you have the 19.5s, then you will be out of luck for the Michelins because they don't make those.

The other key to good traction, is to make sure you don't have to much air in the tires. Most people do. I ran between 9 to 11 psi in those back tires, and 18 to 22 in the fronts. I still think the rear tires had bit much in them as they did not squat at all under load.

Here are a couple of pics. One shows one rear tire way further out, and that is because I was putting spacers on and snapped a pic to show how much difference 4 inch spacers do for you.
Good Luck

Nice tread design. Light air pressure with those and you're going places.:thumbsup: