are r 4 the thing

[KJN128]

i am a new member and have read several articles on the r4 , r1 debate im fixing to get a new tractore in two weeks i was in luv with the r 4 i am getting a loader tooo, after reading about the ag tires and the traction benefit am i loosing alot by going to r4 i like the wider foot print and as my yard begins to shape up ( i have new 5 acres to clean up and build on) i wil want to mow grass too.. will i regret r4 i woiuld luv to hear from people who have them and tell me if you regret them,, i guss i wanna be sold on them but if they dont wrk i wil l have to go for the r1 they just look funny on a bota l3010dt

thanks

from louisiana

 

[Fly_Rodr]

You will be sorry for thr R1s if you want to mow a lawn, OK for a field or pasture but tuff on a lawn. If the area you operate in is moist in the spring the R1s will also take a toll. I currently have R1s on my JD950 and on the tractor I just ordered I went with the R4s for the above reasons. I'm a little worried how the R4s will be for plowing the snow, the R1s work very good in the snow and mud.

 

[chim]

First tractor was 2WD w/ turfs. Second a 4WD w/ R1. This one is a 4WD w/R4's. Picked R4 because of FEL and travel on blacktop.

So far the R4's are great. I got a new B7500HST this Spring, and have spent a fair amount of time on it. There's a little over 85 hours on the clock. The bulk of my time is spent mowing, about 7-1/2 acres of finish mowing each week. The tractor has also had an afternoon of brush hogging in some rough terrain. There was an old tree that needed removed, so it got cut into mebbe 8 pieces and drug off and piled into the fencerow with the FEL. Also dug a decent sized hole to ruin some muskrat burrows that were threatening a driveway. About a month ago I cleaned up the sand volleyball court and added sand. Last week I placed 10 tons of large crushed rock on a bank that was washing out. Yesterday I dug out an area next to the driveway for the 13 tons of 2A Modified stone that I placed today for some "overflow parking" now that the youngest boy's buds gave up bicycles for cars. I've been in some mud, dirt, stones and sand so far and they've worked fine in all cases. The one thing I haven't been in was snow.

I never finish-mow with the FEL on, and only use the 4WD when absolutely necessary. If you tool around a soft lawn with the FEL on, or in 4WD, and make sharp turns you will probably mark it up.

The R4's are stiff tires. As such, they seem to be happy running with less pressure. I have been running 10# all around. The front tires are 23 x 8.50-14, and rears are 12-16.5. I'm running 15 gallons of antifreeze/water in each rear tire. The max pressure listed on the tires are 35# front, 40# rear. The one place I mow has a large root of a weeping willow sticking out of the ground. When I was running higher pressures, even at very slow speed, the fronts would bounce up on top of the root, then go two "boings" before they stopped bouncing. With 10# the bounciness pretty much disappeared. There's about a 1" difference in elevation where the driveway and bridge meet. Again, with the higher pressures it felt like 4" the way it bounced. Since airing down, it's just a very minor bump.

Here's a pic of the front tire with a bucket full of dirt to give you an idea of how much the tire deflects with a load in the bucket and 10# of air in the front...................chim

 

[KJN128]

thanks for the reply, isee alot of tractors with r4 tires on them
i think i will go ahead and get the r4 tires on them, one guy i talked with said to have two sets of tires , well i dont think thats too practical for $$ reasons and also to haave to change the tires..... when did you get your tractor

 

[Fly_Rodr]

I'm not sure what tractor you are going with but I was quoted 1000.00 for a set of R4s on rims for the JD950

 

[Boondox]

I run loaded R1s on my L3010HST. I finish mow seven acres in 4WD...and the only time I get any turf damage is if I mow after a sustained (3-5 days worth) rain. My neighbor has an L4310 with R4s and under conditions similar to mine he hates them. Great for FEL work, and because of the footprint he has a much easier time compressing the loose stuff after regrading/crowning the road, but in the forest or in mud he has severe traction problems.

So the answer comes down to your use. I skid logs out of the woods with my tractor, and do a lot of work in muddy or snowy conditions where my neighbor's R4s are virtually useless. Both do a fair job mowing IMO, but when doing any heavy FEL work I envy him the extra strength and rigidity of his industrials.

Pete

 

[gerard]

I second boondox. I have the R1's but WANTED to go with R4's. While I don't cut my finish grass with my bota I do drive across it regularly with no lawn damage. Even when it's soft all you do is leave depressions that disappear in a day. For traction/mud and snow there's no comparison - R1's are better. Now you could go with R4's and get chains if you don't mind putting them on and off but that's kind of a pain. As boondox said the only time I wished I had R4's is when doing heavy loader work. The R1's flatten out a lot more, (even with 26PSI)

 

[JohnMiller3]

It mainly depends on usage as Boondox points out...

Industrials for constant loader work that approaches the loader limit 80% of the time, moving/carrying lots of weight...

Ag's for the best overall traction in almost all conditions & transferring the most horsepower to the ground for ground engaging implements...

 

[CSAW]

I chose r4s because they seem to be an all round compromise. They are fair in the mud and I assume snow but not as good as r1s. They are better for loader work than r1s. IMHO they are tougher this means less tire repairs. R4s are definately easier on a lawn than r1s but not as good as turfs.

If you use your head and don't go looking to get stuck most of the time you won't.

There is not one tire that will do everything but R4s are as close as it gets.

 

[gusg]

I have R4s on my 7500. I like the look of them and they give me plenty of traction while doing loader work. I have not chewed up the lawn when mowing. I mow in 2WD. I have heard that 4WD is harder on turf so I tried it on a hill. It did chew it up a little but not that bad. I would go with the R4s if you are going to be mowing. They are a great compromise and will get less flats than turf tires.