When we first built our house, I bought a Cub 154 Lowboy. It was 2WD, and had turf tires. It was easy on the grass, but on hills (especially if the grass was wet or extra long) could have used more traction. I had a front-mounted blade, and HAD to use chains just to drive through the snow. With chains, it could push a lot of snow.
A few years later, this tractor was replaced with a Ford 1210 4WD with unballasted Ag tires. These were a little more aggresive on the grass, but unless the ground was very soft, or the tractor was in 4WD, performance was acceptable. In the snow, the little tractor did an outstanding job with a 5' rear-mounted scraper blade. If the snow wasn't too deep, you could drive forward through it and angle the blade to throw it aside. Deep snows were done by rotating the blade and pushing backwards.
About 2 weeks ago, a B7500 HST/4WD was delivered, and the Ford's days are numbered. The tires selected for this tractor were R4's. I am running 12 gallons of antifreeze/water mix in each rear tire, and nothing but air in the front. There is some extra weight from the FEL subframe. I have used this tractor and a 3PH finish mower in the rain a few times, and it has been doing things in 2WD that the Ford needed 4wd to do. These two tractors can be compared "apples to apples" because I have been mowing the same 7+ acres for several years, and when I switched to the Kubota, I found it unecessary to reach down and lock it into 4WD at most of the places the Ford needed it. Another trick I didn't need to use with the Kubota was using the 3PH to pick the mower slightly for weight transfer when backing uphill in 2WD. The Kubota just goes where it should without a hassle. It's also notable that the Kubota is pulling a mower that's about 160# heavier. The R4's don't leave grass pushed down like the Ag's.
Yesterday (in the rain) while mowing along the roadside in some tall grass, I heard a "POP", kinda like a big lightbulb breaking. Then there was the smell of beer. Some pig discarded a partially filled beer bottle, and it was crushed beneath the right rear tire. No damage to the tire, thank goodness. Don't know if the Ag tires would have put up with that or not..................chim
