Tires Winter use Tires

[LouNY]

I've been running the Nokian highway snow tires for several years on numerous vehicles and I have found
them to be an excellent tire.
If I were to retire the Branson I would be more then willing to try there tractor tires.
But unless I cut a rear down on something I don't see me replacing the tires on her the R1's will suffice.
Of course I also run chains all winter long going on the 7th season with this set of Aquiline Talons they are getting
some wear on them so sooner or later they will be replaced. Of course my backup tractor has the same size tires
and same style of chains so I will likely be switching them from one to the other after this season. And that saves that expense.

 

[Paystar]

Funny, but I have no problem with R4's on snow and ice. Last winter my 2013 B2620 started getting hard to steer on ice because the original R4's have some wear and the lugs don't have nice sharp square edges any more, so I put fresh new R4's on and no issues. Just proper air pressures and throttle control.
I plow and snow blow up this hill no problem.
And my driveway has about 30 foot drop over 200 feet.

 

[chim]

I'm sold on grooved R4's but admit to having fantasies about Nokian tires.

I've had a 2WD with diamond turfs (no go on level ground without plowing. Added chains and it was almost unstoppable)

R1's on the 4WD Ford 1210 and it moves lots of snow with a rear blade.

R4's on various Kubotas (B7500, L3200 & current L4240). They worked OK on the B7500 and L3200. Snow removal was with rear blades, loader and the L3200 had a rear blower for a couple years. After grooving the tires on the L3200 it went much better. Here's a post from a couple years ago after grooving the L4240's R4's and a shot of the L4240's tires:

Snow Equipment Owning/Operating - Cutting / Groving / Siping R-4 for snow

Watcha gonna do with all of them "fishing worms" :)........

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[LouNY]

^^^^^^
Paystar;

Amazing to me it must be different snow conditions.
I wouldn't even consider trying to plow without chains.
My hills and our snow and you would be a toboggan headed down hill,
without chains.

 

[RoyJackson]

... but admit to having fantasies about Nokian tires.

So do I!!

 

[Cougsfan]

Where I live there isn't any tire that will work in the winter without chains. I think turf tires work quite well with chains because the chains don't fall between raised treads like they do on R1's and R4's. However when winter is over the turf tires may not work nearly as well as the other tire choices in many applications. I don't think any type of tire is perfect. You compromise something no matter which one you choose. It is just a matter of what you are willing to compromise in your situation.

 

[screamin400]

I am running Nokians

 

[RoyJackson]

Where I live there isn't any tire that will work in the winter without chains. I think turf tires work quite well with chains because the chains don't fall between raised treads like they do on R1's and R4's. However when winter is over the turf tires may not work nearly as well as the other tire choices in many applications. I don't think any type of tire is perfect. You compromise something no matter which one you choose. It is just a matter of what you are willing to compromise in your situation.

I agree...I'd prefer R1's or R2's when mowing my 3-4 acres of field...just don't have the money to buy the wheels and tires to swap.
That said, the first year we lived here, I mowed with a 4400 with R3 Turfs and no problems.
But, as you'd written, if you do use chains, it's easier to mount them on R3 Turfs

 

[Paystar]

^^^^^^
Paystar;

Amazing to me it must be different snow conditions.
I wouldn't even consider trying to plow without chains.
My hills and our snow and you would be a toboggan headed down hill,
without chains.

I don't know? But I have never had loaded tires or chains. We get on average 13.5 feet of annual snowfall. But admittedly most years it gets cold before it snows. Only the last two years have we had lots of rain/freezing rain between cold and snowfalls. I use the loader and a rear snow blower.

Maybe you get more wet snow?

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

Does anybody have any experience with the Nokian Hakkapeliitta TRI tires?
I have R4, and they lack both traction and side grip. Often the tractor goes where it wants to when I am blowing snow, and I have to back up a bit and lift the snow blower off "float" position to get me going where I want to, as in staying on my driveway.

I have the tires shown in the clip posted by RoyJackson. My tractor is the same as what is in the clip (JD 4066R, Nokian tires, cab...) I use a front mount 6' wide blower and a 3ph mounted pto driven hydraulic pump.

The first winter I used R4 tires and had the same issue you described. R4's worked well on flat, level driveway. Not so well on hills. or in turns. Horrible on trails for snowmobile pavilion...the R4s had little lateral traction and the tractor would slide sideways and get stuck.

This is the second winter for the tractor, and it now has the Nokians. I LOVE the tires. They are even better than a previous tractor (JD 110 TLB) with R4's and front chains.) Drive, brake, and steering measurably improved with the Nokians. Very, very seldom do I have the lift the blower because of traction. "Non-snow" tractor use is general rural property owner stuff. Loader with bucket/grapple,forks and a 7' ABI TR3 "rake on 3ph for driveway and trail maintenance, some land clearing... The Nokians do fine year-round...and no chains to install/de-install.

 

[Rustyiron]

You guys above, are they the Nokian brand? I understand that their rubber is a softer compound.
The reason I ask is that I have that same tread style (does it actually having a name?) BKT just mounted on the rear and an Alliance on the front.

I think they are an improvement over R1's and are a dream on the road, but in the proper ice conditions .
2 storms ago I had to call for backup just to get out of this driveway. It was up hill and sloped to the right, all solid ice. I spun the tractor 180* with every try nearly missing the deck posts. The salt/sand truck backed down and saved me

 

[RoyJackson]

This is the second winter for the tractor, and it now has the Nokians. I LOVE the tires. They are even better than a previous tractor (JD 110 TLB) with R4's and front chains.) Drive, brake, and steering measurably improved with the Nokians. Very, very seldom do I have the lift the blower because of traction. "Non-snow" tractor use is general rural property owner stuff. Loader with bucket/grapple,forks and a 7' ABI TR3 "rake on 3ph for driveway and trail maintenance, some land clearing... The Nokians do fine year-round...and no chains to install/de-install.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of the Nokian conversion?

 

[PILOON]

In my area most snow contractors have gone to the Nokian brand.
The one comment is they wear a bit faster, probably due to the softer rubber compound.

 

[BackRoad]

Northern PA...hilly...1 mile gravel drive...about 1/3 of the driveway is a measured 7% slope.

The 1st winter for the MX6000 with new R4s was OK, no major issues plowing using 8' back blade. But was not able to consistently plow while heading up the drive. So I added old-school ladder chains to the rear. Some improvement, but not spectacular.

Now, 450 hours later, the R4 tread has started to wear with a bit of rounded edges. They work great 9 months out of the year...but winter, not so much, and the front tire traction is really non-existent.

And a tractor without traction is really just an expensive bobsled!

I found the concept of grooving or siping tires interesting, yet also concerning, at least for me, due to wasting potential "tire life". It seems like it is actually cutting good usable tread out of my tires.

So instead, I added Euro style OFA-EKO studded chains all around...resulting in an unexpected order of magnitude improvement in traction.

Up, down, sideways, stop, reverse, start on the hill - it doesn't matter!

It will even plow those old hardened 3' snow bank edges (the snow berms built up along the driveway edge from plowing previous snowfalls) while tracking a straight line. Previously when plowing edge berms, the angled back blade would act as a lever, steering the front end of the tractor all over...it was nearly impossible to do.

With the studs, the tractor has become unstoppable!

For me, the greatest snow/ice performance gain is adding studded tire chains to whatever style tires you happen to already have on your tractor.

...//TJ

 

[mo1]

I think for effectiveness in snow, worse to best, it’s R4 construction, R1 ags, turf, chains.
I also suspect that in deeper snow, where your not clearing it, or compacting it enough that there are times R1 lugs beat the turf treads.
Or situations where the increased turf tire contact points can beat chains on a hard surface.

I have found that chains obviously work the best operating over a hard (paved or frozen) surface but second best was ag tires. If the snow isn't deep, the tire tread contacts the underlying surface and ag tires clearly have the best traction on unpaved surfaces and have about as good of traction on paved surfaces as anything else. If the snow is deep, the tires compact the snow and the tread pushes on the compacted snow just like the tires compact loose soil and push on it out in a field. Ag tires clearly have the best traction in this situation too.

I wonder if part of the issue with turf and industrial tires is that they are generally wider than ag tires and give flotation rather than bite in for traction? Traction increases with pressure, and a narrower tire puts more pressure down to the ground.

 

[LouNY]

Northern PA...hilly...1 mile gravel drive...about 1/3 of the driveway is a measured 7% slope.

The 1st winter for the MX6000 with new R4s was OK, no major issues plowing using 8' back blade. But was not able to consistently plow while heading up the drive. So I added old-school ladder chains to the rear. Some improvement, but not spectacular.

Now, 450 hours later, the R4 tread has started to wear with a bit of rounded edges. They work great 9 months out of the year...but winter, not so much, and the front tire traction is really non-existent.

And a tractor without traction is really just an expensive bobsled!

I found the concept of grooving or siping tires interesting, yet also concerning, at least for me, due to wasting potential "tire life". It seems like it is actually cutting good usable tread out of my tires.

So instead, I added Euro style OFA-EKO studded chains all around...resulting in an unexpected order of magnitude improvement in traction.

Up, down, sideways, stop, reverse, start on the hill - it doesn't matter!

It will even plow those old hardened 3' snow bank edges (the snow berms built up along the driveway edge from plowing previous snowfalls) while tracking a straight line. Previously when plowing edge berms, the angled back blade would act as a lever, steering the front end of the tractor all over...it was nearly impossible to do.

With the studs, the tractor has become unstoppable!

For me, the greatest snow/ice performance gain is adding studded tire chains to whatever style tires you happen to already have on your tractor.

...//TJView attachment 731230View attachment 731231

People that haven't used that style of chain do not understand the extreme difference that they make over an other chain.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of the Nokian conversion?

They are about $2000 as a JD option when ordering a tractor.

At least a year ago, JD did not sell the tires as a part. Buying outright they were $4000 plus for a set IIRC. They use ag wheels, so converting from R4 would be even more money.

 

[Rustyiron]

People that haven't used that style of chain do not understand the extreme difference that they make over an other chain.

Lou I remember calling them "ice magnets" with my first experience. I'll stand by the description and I only have a pair for the front!

 

[Doughknob]

“Turf tires” come in several forms. The “knobbies” form like dirtbikes work well. Other forms not so well.

i have R-4s and with added weight, in 4wd, never have a problem in snow here.