R4 vs. R1 rant

   / R4 vs. R1 rant #1  

MMH

Gold Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
329
Location
Murrysville, PA
Tractor
JD 4500
I have R4s on my 4500 an cannot believe how much worse the traction is compared to R1s in mud/muck. Granted I have never had R1s w/ this tractor, but my 9200 Kubota gets around like a dirt bike w/ it's R1s.

What is the cheapest that I can expect to pay for a set of 8-16 R1 front & 14.9-24 R1 rear tires & rims? Any chance of finding a set used or on Ebay?
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #2  
for tires themselves, there are name brands then there are off brands. price can be 2 to 3 times as much for name brand tires.

open up phone book to auto/tire change places, and just start calling. you may have to call 40 to 50 places, but as you call just make sure you have a good working pen and paper, to quickly jot down names and phone numbers. due to some times folks know who, and will just spit it out and will want to quickly hang up.

also get on the internet and do a search for R1 tires, for places a couple hours away. prices can change rapidly. and some times it is that place 2 hours away that has things in stock, and will deliver and install them for less than some place locally.

if you are going with filled rear tires, having someone come out to do it, can make things easier on you for any were from 50 to 200 bucks. they will have the heavy duty jacks, larger size toque wrenches, and if need be a small crane on the truck itself, to lift tires and move them on/off trailer. and onto tractor.

personally prefer a thicker harder rubber tire. (uth oh been to long to remember) i want to call say instead of an R6 or R8 go with R10 or R12. thickness for the rubber. the thicker/harder rubber will give a rougher ride on tractor, but for me running over a thorn bush, or peice of metal. the thicker / harder rubber tires will less likely get cut and get a hole in tire.

it is normally fairly cheap to get "tubes" installed at same time. for me running over thorn bush or like, just a little more rubber a thorn or nail or like has to go through, before i get a leak. if you go with filled rear tires, a tube gives you a few more options of what you fill the rear tires with.

==============
i would be very cautios of buying second hand tires. without seeing them first in person. most dealers may get a request from a customer to have different tires put on, before actually buying a tractor. the new tires that were on the tractor, normally need to be sold to some recycling place for tires. and dealers not allowed to re-sale those tires that were taken off. there are a few places that are allowed to re-sale these tires, and other old tires taken off of other machinery. and you may end up getting beat up ready to fall apart tires. or tires with cuts and cracks through side walls and everything else.

for R1 tires, thickness of tread can be very important. if tread is gone, you end up with R4 loader tires and loose your traction abilty in the mud.

=============
one last note do search here on TBN, to see about putting groves into R4 tires for better traction, along with putting on chains on the R4 tires.

errr one more last note, if your tractor is 4x4 or MFWD or like, you will need both new set of rear tires and front tires. so you keep the ratio correct. and do not tear up the front end of the tractor.
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #3  
Why are you wanting rims? I would think you would be able to move from R 4 in a size to R 1 in same size with little issue.
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #4  
Why are you wanting rims? I would think you would be able to move from R 4 in a size to R 1 in same size with little issue.

From what I've heard, R4s are a different width than R1s, and the rims are not interchangeable.
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #5  
From what I've heard, R4s are a different width than R1s, and the rims are not interchangeable.

I have heard the same report on rim sizes being different from R4 to R1. Normally the R4 is a wider shorter side wall tire than the R1.

Agree with the OP on the R4's suck in slippery conditions..
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #6  
For the most part it can be very difficult to find 1 style of tire that fits another style of wheel. Some of the tire mfg's are starting to come around though. Firestone for ex came out with a turf tire that will fit onto the industrial wheel on a 4x2x series tractor a couple of years ago. Not your situation but just an example, can help if you have any friends in the tire world as it can be time consuming to find some of these non traditional tires.
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #7  
I would think you would be able to move from R 4 in a size to R 1 in same size with little issue.
That would suprise the **** out of me. I've only owned six tractors in my life, but every one required wider rims with smaller diameters for R4s. I don't see any way possible to put R1s (sized for the tractor) on those rims - and vice versa.

//greg//
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #8  
In my case... R1's require a smaller diameter, narrow wheel. R4's require a larger diameter, wider wheel. I'm lucky enough to have a set of each (although the R4's are in pretty rough shape).
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #9  
In my case... R1's require a smaller diameter, narrow wheel. R4's require a larger diameter, wider wheel. I'm lucky enough to have a set of each (although the R4's are in pretty rough shape).

I never seen a case where the R1's were on a smaller diameter rim in a 4wd application:confused:
 
   / R4 vs. R1 rant #10  
If I am wrong on the rims sorry.

If I read some of your comments correct you are saying rim size must change with tread design change. Is that true just on tractors or also trucks and cars?

Are you saying the tread change from R 4 to R 1 the sizes of the tires offered are not the same? Might be true there for not all tread designs in any tire are offered in any size tire.
 

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