Just Some Thoughts

[thcri]

I have now owned a New Holland TC29D for over two years now. I have grown to really like that tractor and don't think I would ever change brands because of the liking I have of it.

I would like to make a couple of comments about my experience and it is my experience only. The first one is turfs versus Industrial. When I was looking I told my dealer I wanted turfs. He talked me out of it. He even showed me that in really tight turns the turfs actually tore up the grass more. He did this on a wet day and took two tractors and tightly turned them moving at a good pace and the turfs did actually throw more grass out from the tires. So I let me dealer talk me into the Industrials and for two years I always wondered if I did the right thing. Well last week-end my wondering came to an end. My neighbor bought a front end sweeper for his tractor. A front end sweeper is great for de-thatching a lawn and since we trade implements all the time he let me use his tractor and sweeper. I will never let anyone with little experience on my property with turf tires. Keep in mind I have some pretty good hills. Going side ways in 4 wheel drive I could not keep the front end going straight. No matter how hi I turn up the front end keep sliding down hill and totally ripped my grass right out. This is with a 200 some pound weight on the front of the tractor. Going down hill with the tractor in 4 wheel drive you would get one tire spinning backwards thus again ripping the grass. The best I could do was to work uphill only and even then at times I would have to lift the sweeper up to get some more weight on the front end to prevent me from slipping. I think the turfs are great tires but for hills I would not trust them. My industrials do a much better job. The turfs are the better tire for flat or mildly unlevel land.

Another long discussion that has happened here on TBN is the treddle pedal versus the two pedal system. After having the tredal for two years and then using the two pedal system on my neighbors tractor I can only say one is not better than the other. After using the tredal it only took about ten minutes to get use of the two pedal system. I beleive anyone can get use of one or the other fairly simple and one can work one just as fast as the other.

This is just my experience and opinion, I am not trying to start any type of wars or extend any wars about tires or pedals.


murph

 

[KiotiJohn]

I think you have posted a very good, informative bit of information. Of course, unless you put the sweeper on the front of your tractor and do the same thing, you won't know if your industrials will or will not do the same thing, but you do know at least that your tractor has been staying on the hills.

I've seen turfs tear up lawn before so I'm not surprised at your findings. I opted for the industrials as well because it appeared they would be a good compromise between the Ags and Turfs as I have to go across lawn almost any time I want to get somewhere on my property. I'm very happy with them.

Thanks for the objective post.
John

 

[thcri]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think you have posted a very good, informative bit of information. Of course, unless you put the sweeper on the front of your tractor and do the same thing, you won't know if your industrials will or will not do the same thing, but you do know at least that your tractor has been staying on the hills.
John )</font>

John,

I have steeper areas where even in 4 wheel drive my industrials don'e slip downhill. At times my loader and bucket are on and I don't slip down the hill when going sideways. With the other tractor even if I lifted the sweeper up, which would put a lot of weight on the front end it should have been able to hold it's position somewhat, but it literaly tore up my grass as it slid downhill. And again I am not knocking turfs. They are a great tire and if I had level property that is what I would have. But I would not trust them on my existing property as is.

murph

 

[Oleozz]

I used turfs for six years to mow my lawn and they performed well BUT my lawn is fairly level. If I'm not careful the ZTR will do more damage than the tractor tires.
Good post, just your opinion but from actual observations that you made while comparing the two tire types and those are the kind of reports I like to read.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If I'm not careful the ZTR will do more damage than the tractor tires )</font>

Yep, I've found it's real easy to spin around with one rear wheel not turning so you scuff a spot where it pivots. But like you said, if you're thinking about it and real careful to be sure both rear wheels are turning (and it's OK for one to be turning forward while the other is turning backward) then you don't do that.

 

[Casco1]

Murph, Good post. I ran into a similar dlilema I bought a "used" (68 hrs) Kubota L3710 Fel & BH it had turf tires. Never having had any tractor experience and a salesman more interested in selling than helping, my case was trial and error. I brought the tractor to my sloped lot, soil was damp with some clay, and couldn't climb the hill.
The turfs were great at home, smooth and handled well but weren't aggresive enough for the building lot the treads filled up with dirt and just spun. I was lucky that the dealer near my lot was a lot better than the one I bought at. he offered me a good trade for my turfs for r4s. One thing that also helped was the R4s gave me an extra 3 to 4 inches of ground clearance on my BH subframe Which helped on the rougher building lot. In my case switching was a good thing and when I use the 'bota at home I just take my time, make wider turns, keep it in two wheel drive and it does OK. My main lesson, like everything else nothing beats practice & experience.

 

[orangebluegreen]

I keep getting the same thing from salesmen....a tractor they have for sale with R4’s they claim won’t dig up a lawn as much as you think. From what I’ve seen at my place it depends on time of year and moisture content of the ground. I’ve had R1 R4 and turfs here and in my case I know turfs work best at not tearing up grass. The R4’s on wet ground have left an impression that later when the ground is dry you feel like your running over a ripple strip on the highway. There’s a big difference in how tires work with different soil types. When I lived up north we used a 2WD Ford TLB on blue clay building houses (no grass) that got so slippery when wet there was no way you could turn on flat ground without steering brakes, more aggressive tires were a must. Here in Florida it’s all sand and the ground gets wet (standing water at times) but not slippery, steering brakes haven’t been needed in my case in Fl, especially with 4WD. Suppose if I were using a machine for commercial and mostly loader work I would have R4, better traction in loose stuff. I’ve also noticed most R1’s tend to be narrower. A narrower tire at the same diameter will apply more lbs per inch to the ground creating more traction but also sinking in more which is again job specific, that’s what you would want a tire designed for traction to do. What I’ve noticed is the turf tires seem to flex the sidewalls more creating a smoother ride at mowing speeds, where R4’s appear stiffer, a good thing for weight bearing jobs but not as good at ride quality IMO. I also notice R4’s are more squared off at the sides creating a sharper edge that could cut while turning (at least when new, they tend to round off with wear)....going the other extreme is the Galaxy Turf Special tires you’ll find on a lot of golf course machines, they are very rounded on the edges. I suspect most of the dealers who say R4’s aren’t a problem mowing probably live in an area with less rainfall than Fl where things can get real soggy but not all that slippery. Probably plenty of other variables like under inflated turfs that distort when the wheel is turned probably would dig up grass.