Turf tires good in snow? YOU BET!

[wny770]

To all the posters that clain turf tires are good in snow, you were right. I will eat my words. I've plowed with ag's, R-4's and turfs on the same tractor (NHT1510). BY FAR, turfs are best. Not as much tire slip in reverse as with R-4 tires. But what suprised me was how they gripped on blacktop. Mind you, I was only pushing about 6 inches or so, but NO wheel slip in 2wd on a slight uphill. I have to admit, I was impressed. Now, we just wait for a real snowfall.

 

[Thomas]

Flat w/down hill pushing?
I ran turfs for 14 plus years but w/chains,wet snow or even pack once needed that little extra bite.

 

[murphy1244]

On my simplicity Conquest the front with no chains does not steer much.
Are you saying you use NO chains on the rear at all????

 

[MG1867]

That's good to know. I just purchased my first tractor and it had turf tires on the back and skid steer type on the front. The front were wore out and I replaced them but was not wanting replace the back if I did not have too. We are still waiting for snow here in Illinois also.

Mike

 

[Marveltone]

I'm running turfs with chains. Without the chains, 6" was nothing, but once I got into 16" or more, things got way different. The chains provided the needed traction for bucking the big drifts. With the chains, it's nothing short of amazing what it will go through. Now, to be honest, I've never had R1s or R4s to compare performance, so this is really an incomplete assessment.

Joe

 

[Diamondpilot]

Drive and snow type along with tractor will make a difference. My neighbor has a 35HP JD with Turfs and it will not do anything in the snow. He calls me to plow with my tractor and R1's. My tractor is only 28HP but will move 10 times the snow his will. He wants R1's but does not want to spring for new wheels and tires.

What I am saying is there is variables.

Chris

 

[wny770]

These are the Titan multi trac R-3 tires. No chains. I imagine a foot or two will be different, but with a blower I am not pushing as much as if I was plowing. I remember a few years ago blowing snow with my 62 HP Oliver... 16.9 x 38 rear rubber with an 84" 2 stage blower. You can't compare a tire over 5' weighing about a ton w/ballast with a little CUT tire, I understand that. But none the less, over the R-4's I had last year, for me, a big improvement. Who knows, maybe we'll get another 7 foot snowfall like we did in 2001? I sure hope not!!!:laughing:

 

[pat32rf]

Once we get a good frozen base of snow/ice on the driveway the tires don't matter. Its the chains that make the difference....

 

[oldballs]

Once we get a good frozen base of snow/ice on the driveway the tires don't matter. Its the chains that make the difference....

My BX has turfs also, without chains. Even in the deep snows that we had last season, it performed up to my expectations. I call "deep" about 12 inches around here. It's the wind drifts that make the FEL handy along with the RB. If there is ice, i think I'll just stay indoors since I don't plan on buying chains. Being retired and not "in business", gives one that luxury. I'm not against having chains (have them for my truck), but can get along fine without them on our relatively flat road. Yet, who can "snow blow" or "grade" ice........ regardless of the traction?

 

[fgross335_2210]

I have a JD 2210 with both turfs and bars. I ran the turfs one winter and then switched to the bars the next year. No chains on either set, and 200 pounds of weights on the rear wheels plus a backblade which weighs ~300 lbs. FEL on the front.

While either tire works OK on my asphalt drive when plowing snow, I have found that when trying to drive through deep snow (for this little tractor, 18" or more) I can go right through it with the bars, but the turfs will give up quickly and get stuck. Since I frequently haul firewood from the back of my property to nearer the house, and cut a new path each time, the bars work much better. I have not noticed any lose of traction with the bars while plowing the driveway.......