BX tires?

[s_morgan]

I am getting ready to pull the plug on my first tractor. My property is mostly flat, little 1.5 acre. I am leaning towards a BX 24 with a mower but still in the back of my head (and bank account) looking @ 1850 & 2350. Jobs will be mowing, plenty of FEL work with snow removal, mulching & dirt. The BH work would be farther apart like digging a hole to put the son in law ... Im thinking going the ind tires for traction in the slop & snow but Im still alittle scared of the lawn.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I am getting ready to pull the plug on my first tractor. My property is mostly flat, little 1.5 acre. I am leaning towards a BX 24 with a mower but still in the back of my head (and bank account) looking @ 1850 & 2350. Jobs will be mowing, plenty of FEL work with snow removal, mulching & dirt. The BH work would be farther apart like digging a hole to put the son in law ... Im thinking going the ind tires for traction in the slop & snow but Im still alittle scared of the lawn.

Marking doesnt seem to be much of a problem with this weight tractor. I have bar/AGs/R1s on mine for best all around traction. Marking is hard to find and virtually no problem with tearing up the ground unless you spin - which is less likely with the AGs. These are not quite as tough as the Industrials/R4s, but have better traction on most turf or earthen surfaces.
larry

 

[bx24d]

I read somewhere that flats are more common on Ag tires than Industrial. For general use tractor applicatons, is that true?

 

[offcamber]

I have the industrial tires but I don't mow...they will leave more of an impression on soft soil..more than the AGs. You could always get the Ags and put chains on in the winter.

 

[Tom_H]

There are people who favor all of the three types: turf, ag, and industrial R4. I bought turfs and ags on seperate wheel rims. I discovered that the turfs got no traction whatsoever when doing ground engagement work (loader work, plowing). I also found that the ags do no damage to my lawn. The turfs have been sitting beneath the house in the crawlspace for 7 years. (I will gladly sell them if anyone is interested.)

I have to say that my tires are not ballasted and I do not have implements other than the MMM on the tractor when I mow. I usually cut when it is dry. The one place where the water sometimes doesn't drain gets mushy, but the ag tires do exactly the same as the turfs did in that spot. I am very pleased with the ags and wish I had bought only them. Others may have different experiences than I, but I recommend trying the ags first. You will not be able to do good ground engegement work otherwise. If you then find you really want turfs for the lawn, you could get a second set. Changing tires NASCAR style is pretty easy. From Harbor Freight, I bought a hydraulic jack for about $40 and an electric impact wrench with correct lug socket for about the same. It made changing tires just about as quick as the pit crews do it. Good luck with your decision.

 

[s_morgan]

Thanks, I really think Im gonna go with the ind r4 tires... Now to decide on the BH or not.

 

[offcamber]

Thanks, I really think Im gonna go with the ind r4 tires... Now to decide on the BH or not.

If you can swing it...I would go for it. Unless you really don't think you need it. Ad a thumb and you will be amazed how handy the BH becomes. IF you buy it with the unit, as in a BX24, it will be cheaper in the long run than to add it later.

 

[KeithInSpace]

Concur with Mr. Offcamber. Easy to add a BH later, but less expensive to do it now...to the tune of about $1,200 to $1,500. I waited on mine for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the Woods BH was, in my opinion, nicer than the Kubota BH unit mounted to the BX23. The BX24 BH unit is now on-par with the Woods unit and your choice should be one more of funding and need than capability.

Basically, if you want/need it, better to get it now.

 

[s_morgan]

Yes I am going with the BH. There is a dealer in Delaware that is only an hour away from me & Delaware has no sales tax so out the door price for a BX24 12" bucket 54' fine cut deck is 16,900 so that saves me 1020 in tax.

 

[irvingj]

Sounds like you're on your way, but in the for-what-it's-worth dept, I got my SCUT with turf tires; I'd originally planned to get R-4s, but when I had the tractor on demo --it came with turfs-- I was quite surprised, maybe even shocked, at the traction. Later, when the snowblower arrived & was installed, same conclusion-- the turfs worked very well, even uphill on an icy base, to the point that I never felt the need to put on the chains I got.... Now waiting for the ground to dry up (and the snow to disappear!) to see how they do in the woods.

 

[offcamber]

On ice I am not suprised the turf tires worked well the small lugs act like siping. I can see how ther R4s would suck on ice. The wide lugs will tend to slip. I notice this effect on my Jeep that Runs Super Swamper SSRs Great in mud not good on ice or wet pavement...why no siping....

 

[KeithInSpace]

I like the IDEA of the R4 tires, but in reality, I don't see how they would help all that much. I have done everything so far with turf tires and they do an admirable job with very limited distress to my turf. I have an ATV cart that I had to pull the ATV tires off of because they were doing so much damage, even when going in a straight line. With the flat lugs, the R4 tire just looks like a VERY worn R1 tire.

If I didn't mow with my tractor, I'd probably have R1 tires. But in the end, I don't think the turf tires are all that bad given the weight of the machine and the 4WD.

I'll put it this way: I've easily broken traction in 2WD and done the work in 4WD without incident (inlcuding ice, snow, mud, leaves, etc). In the situations where I've broken traction in 4WD (only able to do that in Low Range), R1 would have just dug a hole FASTER...not really prevented me from spinning the tires in a particular situation.

But that is just from my "around the house" type of use. I'm sure others have been in a great many situations where R1's have saved their buns.

 

[Volfandt]

I originally had R1's (bars) for two seaons, now I'm going on my 2nd season w/turfs (picked up off of craigslist at a great price) and the difference is very noticable.
The ride is much softer on my rear and the grass is compacted much less w/ the turfs. I've had to use the diff lock and 4wd more inorder to get out of the muck but I've not gotten stuck yet (knock on wood).
Add this ole BX23'er to the turf side

 

[David Cockey]

I recently purchased a set of turf tires and wheels for our B2350 (same as for BX24). The dealer priced them using the "wholegoods" price list (same list as tractor prices, etc) and after discount and sales tax the total was a little under $300. He said they would have been considerably more if I'd gone through the parts department and their price list.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I originally had R1's (bars) for two seaons, now I'm going on my 2nd season w/turfs (picked up off of craigslist at a great price) and the difference is very noticable.
The ride is much softer on my rear and the grass is compacted much less w/ the turfs. I've had to use the diff lock and 4wd more inorder to get out of the muck but I've not gotten stuck yet (knock on wood).
Add this ole BX23'er to the turf side

AGs ride softer than turfs on turf with my BX, to my initial surprise. Actually, the AGs ride softer on any surface if you distinguish firmness from the bar vibration you feel on hard surfaces. On further thot softer makes sense because the tire carcass is not fully in ground contact instantly. 1st the cleat touches and localized carcass deflection starts while at the same time it presses into the surface some, whereas it happens all at once over the whole surface with a smooth tread. AGs riding harder does not make sense nor have I observed it.
larry

 

[Volfandt]

Ag's have harder sidewalls than Turfs as they are constructed for traction, to get a better "grip" in soft soils, they are not constructed for comfort nor to tread lightly on the surface they operate on.
Whereas Turfs are constructed with less stiffness in the sidewalls which not only aids in their intended purpose of distributing the weight more evenly across a wider surface, but also results in providing a softer ride. With Turfs the compaction occurs more in the softer sidewall and with Ags the compaction occurs on the ground inorder to provide better traction on the surface it's operating on.
These tires are constructed for specific purposes and thats why theres a major difference in their construction.
I ran my Ags at 18 psi (rear) and I also run my Turfs at 18 psi (rear) and the Turfs definitely provide a much softer ride to me ove the Ags, even on soft turf. I won't mention how the roughness is amplified on hard surfaces, oppps, I guess I did
I'll also not mention how I don't see the telltale rib markings on my damp lawn and damaged turf in sharp corners when I mowed with Ag's, oppps, did it again
Makes all the sense in the world to me

 

[Barneyhunts]

I have turf and ag tires for my BX2200. I've mowed with both, but use the turfs now because my wife (who does most of our mowing) likes the way they ride. I use the turfs with chains and weights when the snowblower is on. The ags were not much good on ice unless I put the chains on. My lawn is not golf-course quality so the ag tires didn't do much damage.