Tires Should I do this tire swap??

[dirtworksequip]

John, if you change your mind about wanting the R1's I'll make the swap. My R4's have about 100 hours on them. I wouldn't hesitate one bit to swap them out for R1's.

 

[AndyMA]

I would definately go for the R1's. All my tractors have them. Everytime I want to consider R4's my dealer just lets me take two tractors out into one of his fields and all thoughts of R4's come to an end.

Andy

 

[wolc123]

I would reccommend staying with the R4's for 3 reasons. First, I suspect your parents will not be happy with the lug marks that will result from operating a tractor with loaded R1's on a lawn. Second, the R4's are $400 more new and you will take at least this big of hit at resale because of a much smaller demand (75% or more CUT buyers prefer R4's). Third, you are not having any traction problems now. There is no doubt that R1's greatly improve traction under some conditions. For tillage work, a 2wd with R1's is approximately equal in pulling ability to a 4wd of the same weight with R4's which is why you rarely see R4's on Ag tractors. The only way I would make that trade is if the dealer would also throw in $400 cash or a store credit.

 

[jcmseven]

wolc123,

Your advice is well-taken. I really like my R4 tires, and have had no real problems with them. The only two reasons I am looking to change to the R1's is 1) hoping to improve wintertime traction when plowing snow without having to add tire chains and 2) making my tractor a couple inches more narrow to be able to access the area behind my garage more easily. I can get back there now, it just takes about four turns and some wedging to do it. With the R1 tires, I should be skinny enough (the tractor, not me) to get back there without having such an ordeal. My tractor pulls a box blade fine and even though I do very little mowing with my tractor and mostly ground engagement things, I do not get in frank mud that often. This makes me think the R4's are adequate for 90% of my needs. I still wondered though, if the R1's would make that 10% difference in those areas above. I never really wanted to know enough to actually order a pair, but when I saw a set on another machine, this prompted my inquiry. My selling dealer says in his area, which is flatter with less challenging terrain, he has sold only two tractors with R1 tires out of several hundred sold in the past year or two. I do not know if this is due to them not being popular, or simply that none of his inventory has them and thus people just buy or order what they see. At the local dealer-the one with the tires-they are more popular just not as popular as the R4 tires. My biggest concern is resale. If I were to sell my tractor at some point, I do not want to take a huge hit due to the tires if I change them. If I could find a set of tire straps or chains that were easy to attach or remove when we get snow, I would probably keep the R4's. To this point I have been unable to find such a thing, though.

John M

 

[Oleozz]

You seem to be answering your own question, you like the R4's most of the time for most of your needs. Why not get tire chains for your front tires? They won't be hard to take on and off and will greatly increase your traction. The 4 link are reasonable in price and then you won't have to worry about the resale value of the R1's.

 

[Superduper]

.........is this a direct swap-over or are the hub mounts different, and will the speedo gauge work the same??? .........
John M

John, the tractor could be ordered with either the R4's or R1's so they are pretty much an easy swap. I believe that the front tires on the R1 and R4s are different too so you probably should get all 4 swapped if they are indeed different. As far as compensating for speedo guage, the Deere on-board computer is programmed for the installed tire size. The dealer can easily re-program the computer to recognize the new size. It is basically an electronic reprogram and does not involve any gears, etc.

 

[ddivinia]

I have a 4720 with R4 and a 5525 with R1s. The R1s are nigth and day difference in mud. The R4s are great all around tires - but the R1s just can't be beat for traction in mud, dirt, etc.

D.

 

[jcmseven]

Well folks,

I have taken delivery of my 3720 with the newly-fitted R1 tires. Although I only have used them about 30 minutes in non-challenging work and on the road, I have a few thoughts. The tires seems very aggressive, far more so than the R4 tires. They are also larger around so the tractor sits much higher. I like this, as it seems to improve front (read: loader) visibility. Surprisingly, the tires ride well on the road. If anything their taller profile absorbs some of the road shock the R4's did not. I had the wheels set in, so as to allow me in tighter spaces. From the front and side, the tractor looks OK. From the back the tractor looks too narrow (am I being vain here?). I can tell no difference in my brief usage on hill stability between these tires and my R4 tires before. For others interested in R1 tires, keep in mind an important point. The R1 tires on the mid framed JD's only hold 24 gallons of ballast each. For me, this equates to about 200 pounds per tire. The R4 tires hold about 30 gallons, or about 80 more pounds per tire. The large R4 tires would hold maybe 5-8 more gallons than that and thusly would hold 320 pounds, or more, total ballast per tire. This is important, as with the R1 tires, one might have to add wheel weights or run a heavier rear attachment to provide better ballast. In short, the R1 tires seem to have provided the promise I desired. But, I simply do not like their looks on the machine (maybe just me). Can someone talk me out of my disdain for their appearance and focus me on their performance gains? It would make me feel better. Thanks to all.

John M

 

[Superduper]

Well folks,

The R1 tires on the mid framed JD's only hold 24 gallons of ballast each. For me, this equates to about 200 pounds per tire. The R4 tires hold about 30 gallons, or about 80 more pounds per tire. The large R4 tires would hold maybe 5-8 more gallons than that and thusly would hold 320 pounds, or more, total ballast per tire. This is important, as with the R1 tires, one might have to add wheel weights or run a heavier rear attachment to provide better ballast. John M

It should be noted that the factory Deere operators manual for the 300cx manual states the necessary ballast is filled rear tires AND 3 weights per side AND approx 1000 +/- ballast at 3PH. This presumably allows the loader to operate at it's stated capacity of 1650 +/- lbs.

Although the R4 tires filled provides more ballast than filled R1 tires, please know that the R4 tires can only accommodate 52lb weights, while the R1 rims can accommodate 105lb weights. If you do the math, this equates to 315lbs vs 156lbs which more than makes up for loss of liquid ballast. Now I know that many if not most operators don't properly ballast their rigs to specification, but if they did with the recommended 3 weights per side, then there should be no difference there.

 

[jcmseven]

Sorry to say my addition is incorrect on the ballast. I started looking at my post and saying, "That is not right!!" Using what this dealer uses, which is 5:1 mix of water and methanol (I do not like this--but he did it that way). The total weight of fluid is 198# per tire. Adding 6 gallons of this mix would increase each wheel' weight by about 45 pounds, not 80. Increasing to a larger R4 tire would get someone to about 40 pounds or so more than that, or about 85-90 pounds over the R1 tires on this machine. Of course, using something such as Rimguard, which I understand weighes about 10# per gallon would get us close to the numbers I noted in the previous post. Sorry for any confusion this might have caused.

John M

 

[dirtworksequip]

John, I really wish you would quit all this back and forth on the R1's vs R4's and just let me make the trade. lol. Here's my take on the swap. Advantages of R1's:1) Better traction in all conditions.2) Better on and off road ride and comfort.3) More stability with wider stance.(R1 wheels are adjustable to several positions)

I would think that with the R1's set at the narrow postion on your tractor is going to become quite unstable, but this could be remedied by moving them to a wider position. I think you would also like the looks better. The only problem being you stated that you had some narrow areas you needed to access.

I myself would not even consider running R1 wheels in the narrow position. Its just going to make the tractor super unstable. In fact I felt that my 3520/cab was too unstable with the R4's even set in the wide position. So I added 4 inch wheel extenstions giving me 8 more inches of rear wheel width. If you have some pics of your tractor with the R1's post them for us to see.

Here's a couple of pics of my 3520 with the rear wheel extensions.


http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/dirtworksequip/P1010793.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/dirtworksequip/P1010794.jpg

 

[LBrown59]

Real Tractors have AG tires.

With out ag tires it's less of a tractor.

 

[AndyM]

Real Tractors have AG tires.

With out ag tires it's less of a tractor.

That's a rather silly statement.
It's like saying it's less of a tractor if it has hydro or a cab.

 

[dirtworksequip]

I don't know? When I run the JD 3520/cab eHydro with R4's my wife says I'm on the sissy tractor,but when I run the old JD 870 OROPS geared trans.with R1's she says that's the "manly tractor" So there must be something to it. I personally have turned into quite a sissy. Albeit, comfortable sissy.

Sincerely
Dirt

 

[Superduper]

I don't know? When I run the JD 3520/cab eHydro with R4's my wife says I'm on the sissy tractor,but when I run the old JD 870 OROPS geared trans.with R1's she says that's the "manly tractor" So there must be something to it.

I disagree. Let's see, back in the day, hot rods had big fat rear tires (ala R4's) with small front tires and that would be way cool, and of course manly. In fact, when I peer at my 3120 with the R4's the profile looks quite hot rod like.

Tall skinny tires did not, a hot rod make. Rather, I think back then, tall skinny tires would have been rather nerdy or sissy.

Oh but I forget, tractors rarely make it to the drag strip.

 

[LBrown59]

That's a rather silly statement.
.

But I Like It

 

[jcmseven]

Well folks, I now have had a week to work with my tractor and the R1 tires. I like them. Box blading my steep gravel driveway I can now do in two wheel drive what I would have definitely needed four wheel drive to do before. In four wheel drive, my tractor will pull a box blade to overflowing with gravel and road bond up the gradient which I estimate is greater than 20%. I am happy with my decision. I still am not thrilled with the appearance of the tractor (I liked the R4's better here) but I seemingly am the only one. The people who have seen me working have commented I now have a real tractor. I remain a little concerned that my resale value is taking a hit, but the tractor works so well, I suppose I will deal with that when the time comes. My question: is there any way to set the wheels wider without inverting them? I would like about one or two inches more width on either side, but not a full inverted amount. Thanks.

John M

 

[Partsman2]

I'm not sure where yours are set now but typically they are set a the narrowest setting from the factory. You should be able to change the width by attaching the rim to the other side of the wheel. In my manual it says when the valve stem is to the outside that is the wide position. If it is to the inside that is the narrow position. This is because the mounting flanges on the rim are offset to one side. You have to move the each wheel to the opposite side of the tractor to keep the tire rotation right. You can also change which side of the mounting flange is against the wheel which gives you an additional couple of inches of adjustment on each side. Clear as mud?

This is without inverting the wheel. Inverting the wheel is how you get the widest position which on my tractor with the flanges mounted at the widest position increases the total width by 20".

I wouldn't worry about resale value. I don't think most people buying a used tractor will care one way or the other IMO.

 

[dirtworksequip]

John, the ag wheels should have 7 different positions you can set them at.Take your pick. It will take a little work though. Probably swapping sides and turning them is the least amount of work,because you will not have to change the inside of the wheel to another position. I'll post some pics later of the different positions.

 

[dirtworksequip]

John, here are the 7 positions that you can acheive with the AG wheels for varying the rear wheel width. The easiest is just swapping sides and keeping the tread in the correct direction. The other positions require you to move the inside portion of the wheel to one of the other blocks. It will drive you nuts trying to figure what width you want. Hope the drawing make sense to you.

JD 7 position AG wheels

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/dirtworksequip/agwheelposition.jpg