Looking at a B7500 tomorrow - question about mowing with R1s

simie · May 26, 2015

Been searching for a while for a tractor - had an L2800 which was great for a lot of the things I need a tractor for, but not for lawn mowing. Had a lawn mower for that, but now I have neither so looking for something in between. I've been over the B/BX dilemma, and think B is better for my needs, although I haven't ruled out a BX2200 or similar. Need 4WD, 20hp+, belly mower (50 total acres mostly hills and woods, 2 acres of lawn with hills). Pickings in the region have been slim - CL, dealers, etc. Just not a lot out there. Anyway looking tomorrow at a low-hour (150 or so) B7500, geared (prefer HST but I'm ok with geared - my L2800 was geared), but it has R1 tires. My L2800 had R1s and was rough on the lawn, but was also a much heavier tractor and had a loader and loaded tires. This one does not have a loader. Anyway, is this tractor light enough that the R1s won't tear up my yard while mowing? I thought that I'd simply throw some new turf tires on it but in searching on this site that doesn't seem to be as simple as that, or cheap.

rswyan · May 26, 2015

The R1's will likely tear up your lawn ...

Mendonsy · May 26, 2015

The R1's will tear it up, but it depends a bit on the lawn.
The best case is fairly hard level ground with no really tight spots to mow around.
The worst case is soft wet ground with hills that require you to use 4wd.

varmint · May 26, 2015

Turfs.

The Deerslayer · May 26, 2015

R1s will tear it up....R4's may even cause some damage depending on lawn condition and terrain (my father has the B7500 with R4s). If the price on the tractor is low enough, put the savings towards turf tires.

k0ua · May 26, 2015

I had R4's on my B7500. Yes it will still tear up the turf when it is wet, or you have to make turns in 4wd Not as bad as the R1's you are getting.

JOHNTHOMAS · May 27, 2015

As long as you pull out slow, coast to a stop and never turn the wheel you'll be OK with the R1s. If you ever do any of those things then the R1s will shred the dry and wet grass/turf. A light tractor can and usually will do more damage than a heavy tractor on turns.

rScotty · May 27, 2015

simie said:
Been searching for a while for a tractor - had an L2800 which was great for a lot of the things I need a tractor for, but not for lawn mowing. ....snip..... Anyway, is this tractor light enough that the R1s won't tear up my yard while mowing? I thought that I'd simply throw some new turf tires on it but in searching on this site that doesn't seem to be as simple as that, or cheap.

Not having a loader is good on a mowing tractor. It's the front wheels that really tear up the turf. I understand your reluctance on going to turfs, but it isn't really all that hard to do properly. I found it hardest to accept the financial cost; the technical problem of 4wd ratio matching is just arithmetic. Anyway, I made the switch on our 30 hp tractor and it worked fine. In fact, the only oddity was that I got the ratios a little too well matched and the old "hard to shift into/outof 4WD problem surprised me by disappearing completely. Mixed blessing there.

But it wasn't cheap. Matching the ratios is mostly a matter of looking up the proper numbers and then being prepared to shell out rather more money than expected to get both new rims and new tires. The breakthru for me came when scrounging around my dealer's back lot and there were an old set of rear rims with half-worn turf tires to fit our tractor. With some arm-twisting he parted with them and that left me buying new front rims and new front tires that would make the ratios match. Total cost was about two grand....

As far as I know, there isn't any dependable inexpensive way to switch to turfs. Especially on the larger compacts. I haven't heard of anyone having success with simply throwing new balloon semi-turf tires on the existing rims. Aside from the 4wd ratio problem, the OEM rims won't aceept the width of real turf tires, and that large width is what makes a turf tire work so well. Although if you did find a set of "balloon-type" turfs that would fit on your rims and give the proper ratios then it would be a neat intermediate compromise. Nothing against trying...

One thing to look forward to with turfs is that they are real soft rubber and if you run them at low PSI then the ride is much improved.
luck, rScotty

Sawyer Rob · May 27, 2015

simie said:
Been searching for a while for a tractor - had an L2800 which was great for a lot of the things I need a tractor for, but not for lawn mowing. Had a lawn mower for that, but now I have neither so looking for something in between. I've been over the B/BX dilemma, and think B is better for my needs, although I haven't ruled out a BX2200 or similar. Need 4WD, 20hp+, belly mower (50 total acres mostly hills and woods, 2 acres of lawn with hills). Pickings in the region have been slim - CL, dealers, etc. Just not a lot out there. Anyway looking tomorrow at a low-hour (150 or so) B7500, geared (prefer HST but I'm ok with geared - my L2800 was geared), but it has R1 tires. My L2800 had R1s and was rough on the lawn, but was also a much heavier tractor and had a loader and loaded tires. This one does not have a loader. Anyway, is this tractor light enough that the R1s won't tear up my yard while mowing? I thought that I'd simply throw some new turf tires on it but in searching on this site that doesn't seem to be as simple as that, or cheap.

The only thing I don't like about "that" tractor for mowing is, I don't think it has live power with the gear drive tranny...

SR

flusher · May 27, 2015

That 7500 with R1 rears is not the correct tool for lawn mowing. Spend your money on a decent riding mower. I mowed about 1.5 acres of lawn and almond orchard with a $900 Huskee riding mower from Tractor Supply that has a 42" wide mower. Takes 3-4 hours to do the job but it's a good time for relaxed thinking.

Good luck.