Tire choice

[rcrcomputing]

I'm reading some posts and I fear I may have gotten to aggresive on my tire choice. (the dealer not delivered tractor yet, though he has them mounted already)
I told him R1 and while getting stuck etc is my biggest concern, I'm wondering if you think it's not a good all-around choice.
My ground is not soft. My yard is not a prize "lawn". And that part that is nicer, should generally get the riding lawn mower. That said, I guess I'm asking those that chose R1's if they regret thier decision?
Also, I would NEVER try to change the deal if he special ordered the tires or rims. Am I worried about nothing?
Will I never be able to mow grass for neighbors?

 

[OffBalance]

Well, he may have another customer who just ordered R4s, and is wishing he could really have R1s, so it doesn't hurt to ask! Let the dealer know that you will take the R1s since that is in the contract, but that you really want R4s. Maybe he can help work out a trade with the next customer that wants R1s.

 

[_RaT_]

R1's without a doubt offer much better traction then R4's when used on most surfaces with the possible exception of pavement. You can also dig holes much easier because of the tread when you spin the tire. The front tires also wear considerably quicker and the stock tires are typically have fewer plys and don't handle loads as well as stock R4's. All those though should be secondary factors for your tire choice. If you need the traction because of your soil type be it because of your geographic location where rain fall is year round making wet soil, you pull ground engaging implements in such soils etc., R1's are the choice I think you should make as you will become agitated with the poor traction of R4's. If your like me where our summers are dry, your soil drains very well, your problem is not traction, then R4's may work very well. The stock tires are unquestionably tougher then stock R1's. If you want R4's, the dealer can typically swap them out very easily although they do cost more. I have been very happy with my R4's. I have a neighbor with the identical tractor but he has R1's. Using his tractor with the loader it becomes apparent that the R1's on the front of it do not take fully loaded buckets of material nearly as well.

 

[rcrcomputing]

I do have areas I worry about getting stuck in. However, I don't want to have ruts and I certainly don't wish to hamper the load handling capability. So the R1 is an Ag tire, what is an industrial tire?

 

[tillboy2001]

R4 industrial has a similar tread pattern to the R1 ag tire, but the R4 has more of a flat surface than the R1. The R1 will bite into the ground more for better traction.

I have the R4's and were it not for being a little concerned about messing up the lawn, I would go for the R1's if I had to do it over again. I've had issues with slipping in the grass with my R4's (but only on hills and if the soil is soft/damp). The R4's get packed with mud pretty fast when I'm doing loader work and spin...but they do clean out very fast once you're out of the mud. I think overall I'll be just fine with the R4's and I like the fact that they're a very tough tire. I worry about stray nails (from the old timers that used a few areas as a dump in the past) and thorns on our property...but not nearly as much with the R4's. Personally, now that I've had the chance to get around the yard with the heavy John Deere 4120 (440 lbs of rear wheel weights, loader and finish mower attached), I think I'd still be ok with R1's if I didn't do anything stupid. I really don't need to be in the lawn much when it's damp anyway.

R3 Turf - R1 Ag - R4 Industrial Comparrison Photo

 

[rcrcomputing]

I thought it might help to describe the usage of the tractor.

brush hog - 15%
pulling down trees - 15%
leveling with bb - 20%
FEL work - 20%
finish mowing - 10%
bh work - 20%

Maybe this will help you, help me. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[tillboy2001]

Since you'll be doing a lot of pulling on trees, doing loader work and leveling work...if it were me, I'd go for the R1's. Since I don't do a large amount of heavy loader work and our tractor is already very heavy, the R4's work out fine for me. I drug a huge root ball (tree stump with lots of soil still attached) through light snow, damp ground and rolling hills and it didn't spin at all (in 4 wheel drive).

 

[RalphVa]

You probably made the right choice, R-1s, for what you want to use the tractor for. I went with turfs on my JD 4010 because of my experience with both turfs and R-1s and chains on my Gravely. Also, I have to go across my lawn A LOT with both tractors. Both R-1s and chains dig a lot when they lose traction. I found that the turfs have as much traction until they lose it and don't dig when they lose it, in general. On bare dirt, the R-1s or R-4s would have more traction than turfs though, and it won't matter much when they start to dig.

 

[Bird]

Purely personal opinion, of course, but I've only had the R1 (Ag) tires and that's what I'd want in your situation, so in my opinion you've already made the right choice.

 

[rcrcomputing]

You guys have made me feel much better. While I was prepared for the hard truth, it seems the R1's might be better for my use and possibly my "personality". I like mean aggressive stuff. as evidenced in my pickup truck.
Tonka Toy