Buying tractor which tires?

[sms0000]

Buying B3200 it has R4 Industrial tires on it now, I have never owned a tractor before ...... how much to switch to turf or ags? OR are they all the same price and which is best for me?

I have 15 acres wooded land with good road and trails on it, I also plan on being across many lawns with it using BH and lanscaping and such (not mowing with it) and will use to plow/blow snow with in the winter. Any advice on which tire is suited best? I am not opposed to buying chains if necessary for the best of both worlds.

 

[radman1]

For what you describe, the R4 seems to be your best choice. See what it is like in the snow. You can add chains later if needed.
Switching is usually expensive unless you really need a specific tire for a specific use. Nearly all of the time, the turf and ag tires use a different rim and sized tire. Requires not only new tires but also new rims.

 

[rScotty]

I've had quite a few tractors and along the way have tried Ags, turfs, and R4s. I live in the rocky mountains, so all of my tractors have had chains to use in the wintertime.
I just had to decide what tires to order on a new M59....and chose R4s. Turf tires ran a close second, and ag tires a far distant third. In a nutshell, the tires depend on your soil type. Any of those tire types will benefit from chains in snow. I now use chains only on the front wheels in the 4wd tractors.
Ag tires will chew up lawns in short order. Ag tires are originally designed to provide heavy machinery traction in soft dirt. Think of plowing. On light machines they just spin the tires and so aren't as useful on compacts as they are on farm tractors. It surprised me how much traction that turf tires have, but they are softer rubber and don't hold up as well as R4s for loader work. They do give a more comfortable ride. Another advantage to the turf tires is that they usually lower the CG a few inches and the wider ones definitely help side hill stability. But the R4s do all those good things nearly as well as the turfs, are way less expensive, are much more durable than either, and have sufficient traction to do reasonable work in snow and mud without chains.
rScotty

For what you describe, the R4 seems to be your best choice. See what it is like in the snow. You can add chains later if needed.
Switching is usually expensive unless you really need a specific tire for a specific use. Nearly all of the time, the turf and ag tires use a different rim and sized tire. Requires not only new tires but also new rims.

 

[harpoonalt]

I've had quite a few tractors and along the way have tried Ags, turfs, and R4s. I live in the rocky mountains, so all of my tractors have had chains to use in the wintertime.
I just had to decide what tires to order on a new M59....and chose R4s. Turf tires ran a close second, and ag tires a far distant third. In a nutshell, the tires depend on your soil type. Any of those tire types will benefit from chains in snow. I now use chains only on the front wheels in the 4wd tractors.
Ag tires will chew up lawns in short order. Ag tires are originally designed to provide heavy machinery traction in soft dirt. Think of plowing. On light machines they just spin the tires and so aren't as useful on compacts as they are on farm tractors. It surprised me how much traction that turf tires have, but they are softer rubber and don't hold up as well as R4s for loader work. They do give a more comfortable ride. Another advantage to the turf tires is that they usually lower the CG a few inches and the wider ones definitely help side hill stability. But the R4s do all those good things nearly as well as the turfs, are way less expensive, are much more durable than either, and have sufficient traction to do reasonable work in snow and mud without chains.
rScotty

Read no further! You just got the best advice you'll get. Be prepared though, because I see some big smiley faces headed this way just coming over the horizon

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Read no further! You just got the best advice you'll get. Be prepared though, because I see some big smiley faces headed this way just coming over the horizon

Maybe since he has a bunch of "little" BX's he will see this isn't like his.
I have a BX2660 with turf by choice and a B3200 with R4's by choice. Have never tried or considered ags. The R4's and turfs have been the same price on all the tractors I have bought. The R4's are great all around tires.

 

[mswlogo]

There are pros and cons to each.

R4's

Pro's

Tougher more puncture proof
More traction
Tougher side walls for heavy FEL work
Designed for pavement

Con's

Rides harder
Will tear up wet lawns
Not so good on ice and doesn't like chains as much as turfs

Turfs

Pros

Softer ride
Like a pair of sneakers over your lawn even wet
Handles chains better for ice
Designed for lawns

Cons

Wears out faster
Easier to puncture
Less traction

Snow is kind of a wash. Depend on depth, type and weight of tractor. Sometime turf will be better because it's a softer tire sometime r4 will be better because it's deeper tread.

 

[Builder]

R-4's are an all purpose tire that might leave you stuck in real muddy spots, but otherwise perform pretty well. Even when I cut with R-4's, they won't do any lawn damage as long as it isn't soft/muddy.

Turfs are best when minimum lawn damage is important.

Ag's are best for the most demanding traction situations or pulling ground engaging implements.

Rule of thumb: As the traction goes up-so does the lawn damage. That's probably the easiest way to look at it.

 

[TheFlatlander]

I've had quite a few tractors and along the way have tried Ags, turfs, and R4s. I live in the rocky mountains, so all of my tractors have had chains to use in the wintertime.
I just had to decide what tires to order on a new M59....and chose R4s. Turf tires ran a close second, and ag tires a far distant third. In a nutshell, the tires depend on your soil type. Any of those tire types will benefit from chains in snow. I now use chains only on the front wheels in the 4wd tractors.
Ag tires will chew up lawns in short order. Ag tires are originally designed to provide heavy machinery traction in soft dirt. Think of plowing. On light machines they just spin the tires and so aren't as useful on compacts as they are on farm tractors. It surprised me how much traction that turf tires have, but they are softer rubber and don't hold up as well as R4s for loader work. They do give a more comfortable ride. Another advantage to the turf tires is that they usually lower the CG a few inches and the wider ones definitely help side hill stability. But the R4s do all those good things nearly as well as the turfs, are way less expensive, are much more durable than either, and have sufficient traction to do reasonable work in snow and mud without chains.
rScotty

I agree with HARPOONALT. Very good advice and post.

 

[TheFlatlander]

Snow is kind of a wash. Depend on depth, type and weight of tractor. Sometime turf will be better because it's a softer tire sometime R4 will be better because it's deeper tread.

Good post as written, but wanted to add to the snow part. I have both types of tires for my tractor.

I Push the snow and have found that the Turfs work much better providing the best reaction with the least tire slippage. When pushing snow you generally are not driving through the deaper snow and resistance to slippage is desired. The turfs have more edges and will provide better traction under slippery conditions. I have also had good luck going through the deeper snow with the turf's on.

I also feel that the larger voids on a more aggressive tire, like the R4, may be more advantageous if I were to be pulling snow with a back blade.

The above comments are based on my tractor being four wheel drive. and I seem to have too much fun driving my tractor during the first few snow falls of the season. especially compared to the older two wheel drive model I replaced.

 

[sms0000]

Good post as written, but wanted to add to the snow part. I have both types of tires for my tractor.

I Push the snow and have found that the Turfs work much better providing the best reaction with the least tire slippage. When pushing snow you generally are not driving through the deaper snow and resistance to slippage is desired. The turfs have more edges and will provide better traction under slippery conditions. I have also had good luck going through the deeper snow with the turf's on.

I also feel that the larger voids on a more aggressive tire, like the R4, may be more advantageous if I were to be pulling snow with a back blade.

The above comments are based on my tractor being four wheel drive. and I seem to have too much fun driving my tractor during the first few snow falls of the season. especially compared to the older two wheel drive model I replaced.

Thanks for the info guys......my thoughts also lead me to believe that turfs would provide better traction in the snow/ice per the extra edges on the tires. I think R4's will be the best all around for me though ..... puncture resistance means alot to me and not really concerned with wet grass damage.
Thanks Again

 

[LBrown59]

Real tractors have Ags.

 

[harpoonalt]

TAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

 

[TonkaToy]

Keep in mind I am in Canada and these are Canadian prices but when I was looking around for tractors, my choices were BX25, JD 2305, and MF GC2410 TLB. While checking them out, I was pricing out what I would need, like snowblower, MMM, and I asked about an extra set of tires and rims. JD wanted $850 for the rears and $350 for the front for $1200 total. MF wanted $900 for the set of 4, and Kubota asked for $350 for a set of four R4痴 with rims. I ended up getting the BX25, for other reasons than the tire price, but definitely got a set of R4痴 on the side, came with turfs. My point being, ask around. For $1200 on the JD I would not have got them, but at $350, I thought it was a steal.

BTW I did ask around many places and different people about turfs vs. R4痴 for the winter. It痴 similar to what previous posters were saying. For deep heavy snow, the consensus was the R4痴 are better. For slick ice or scraped snow, the turfs have better traction. Being from Canada and the winters we have, I would think this makes sense. It's much like the car tires. The thick knobby heavy tread winter snow tires are good for traction in deep snow. The newer high tech ice tires have less aggressive tread (much like turfs) and softer compound that stick better on ice, but do not have great traction in deep snow. I have yet to go through my first winter, but I値l try both over this coming winter and post what my experience is.

 

[sms0000]

Canada eh?
Me too......... I'm in South-Eastern Ontario, up until 2 winters ago we really didn't get much snow as a norm, but the last 2 years we gotten our fare share. I purchased the tractor today with the R4's that were on it. I think, I got a good deal compared to everything else I looked at....besides the dealer is only a few KM's down the road from me and treated me well so far!

 

[mcd176]

I have had tractors with Ag's and R4's, I have done loader work, plowed fields baled hay and so on with both, I prefer the R4's they work great in my opinion, they also dont tear up my 10 acres of grass I mow like ags did in the past.

As far as buying new tires and rims, for my L4200 I switched from turf tires that came on it to the R4's and it cost me over $2600.00 !!!!!!

-Mike