Mowing Opinions on mowing on a 3320 with R4's?

[orlo]

Hi:

I ordered a 3320 last week (In addition to my 2305 - Yes, I'm not married so I'm the toy boss . The 2305 will be moving to my smaller area so I don't have to haul it back and forth 200 miles a few times a year.

Anyway, I was going to try the less agressive (of the two) R4's for mowing instead of jumping to Turfs. Is anybody mowing with the 72" deck with
unloaded R4's? Are they ok on the turf? If they are no more aggressive
than the R4's on the 2305 I'll be happy with that, but if they are any
more aggressive I'd want to go with R3's. I was figuring the additional weight of the 3320 (About double the 2305) would be offset by the much larger diameter/larger footprint of the tires.

It'll probably be 70%+ mowing, 30% or less FEL + implement work. Possibly some rotary cutter work in there also.

Any opinions?

 

[Havoctec]

I have a 4310 with 72" deck and r4's. I am very satisfied with the r4's. They do not tear up the turf unless I get into a hurry and spin the tires or turn sharp to fast. But that would be a problem with the turfs as well. I also use a disk, tiller and loader quit a bit and the r4's do fine with that also. They do not perform very well in real muddy ground but when the ground is that wet, one should wait for it to dry out before working it anyway.
Bottom line, I would get the r4's again.

 

[orlo]

Thanks for the reply. That's good info. I'm assuming the R4's are unloaded, correct?

Thanks

 

[Partsman2]

I have a 4710 with R4's and am happy enough with them. Ag's are too aggressive for finish mowing and turfs give up too much for the other jobs where you actually need some traction. My R4's are unloaded but I do have 220 lbs of wheel weights on each rear as ballast for the FEL.

I have a buddy who bought a 4610 with turfs and he was regretting it early on. Go with the R4's.

 

[browns40]

Hi orlo,

I have a 3320 with the larger r-4's and do not find they do damage to relatively dry turf... just have to remember not to crank the wheel while still or turn really tight--the front tires will push material around a bit...

Wet areas they rut, like anything would, but dry areas are fine.

Mine are unloaded, for lighter weight for mowing.

 

[orlo]

Thanks for the advice. I'll live it with the R4's and go unloaded. I was going to get the Ballast box with extension so I might not even need the wheel weights since I think I can get about 1100#'s if I fill it and the extension with concrete.

 

[Havoctec]

My r4s are unloaded as well. Your weight box should work also. I have a 1000 lbs that I hang on the three point and it works great. I have also used the loader with my 665 tiller on the back which weighs about 600 lbs. While it is much better than nothing on the back, there is a difference between the tiller and weight box. So I would recomend staying at or above 1000 lbs.

 

[browns40]

Hi orlo,

Since you still have some time before signing it away to JD credit, you might consider a 6 foot box blade instead of a weight box.

I consider it to be my 2nd most valuable and versatile implement, and it does provide a good deal of loader counterweight in a fairly compact package... dozer blade, ground breaker, material mover, tow bar, ballast/counterweight, grader... only the loader comes before it for usefulness.

There is a massive box blade photo comparison Bob Skurka started surfacing from time to time in the forum which is a fantastic resource on the designs & types out there.

If you do consider one, think heavy--like 700# plus... Woods makes the box I wish I had, although my Frontier (relabelled JD spec'd Worksaver) is a nice rugged box blade, it's not a Woods!

Just my .02... a ballast box will only be a box, and still costs a bit of money.

 

[orlo]

That's not a bad idea since a Box blade is on my list of things still to get. Although the weight box isn't too bad price wise. The other thing I can do is use the weight box (maybe 700lbs, no extension) I already have for the 2305 on the 3320. I was going to keep them in different locations (So I wanted two ballasts) but the Box blade might work out better.

 

[BloomingtonMike]

I use a 3320 with unloaded regular size R4s and the 72" 7-iron MMM and have had zero problems in my yard (mid state IL) with damage to the lawn. I have even cut in wet conditions and super tall consitions and have had zero problems with cutting the turf up, compaction, or stability. I love this setup for mowing!! It is a monster mower!