R1 or R4 suggestions for me

[jk96]

I guess I'm the odd man out on this one - no snide remarks, please

DickT I'll join the R4 club with you. Your no longer the odd man out

My usage includes

1. Maintaining 4000+ feet of dirt road with a blade and box blade.
2. Brushhogging.
3. Loader work
4. Pallet work with forks on gravel and concrete.
5. Clearing snow on both gravel and concrete.
6. Pulling a disc for small food plots.
7. Occasional spraying & mowing on large commercial lots.

I don't argue that the R1's are better for ground engaging work and if that's all I was doing I'd own them, it's just that for all of the mixed use I like the R4's. I can work on my property, travel across my yard, spray and aerate, and do work for others if needed with limited damage to turf. I've also never found mud or traction to be a problem. The only problem I've ever had in the winter is on solid ice, and I'm not sure anything but chains would do well there. I have several storage magazines for a fireworks business that are accessed by dirt roads only. When we get alot of rain and I can't make it in my 4wd truck, I hop on the tractor and go without a problem. I pulled a friends 3/4 chevy out of the goo last week easily. I just keep scratching my head at all the "useless" comments about R4's. I think a lot of them come from people who have never used them. I just can't remember a single time that I wished I had different tires.

 

[N80]

Right, but about the only thing that you can do with R4s that you couldn't do with R1's is not marring turf. And R4s can mar turf too if you aren't careful. I would never call R4s useless, but in your case I don't see R4s gaining you that much and in most cases you do pay extra for them.

That's why you hear a lot of people say 'useless'. I don't think useless is the right term, I just think for the extra money, you don't get that much benefit and there is no question that you compromise on traction. Which means that if I take your list I can say I can do all that with R1s, get better traction, and pay less.

So my perspective is that I would have to have very specific reasons to spend more money to go R4s over R1s. The reasons exist, obviously, but I think there aren't many of them.

 

[jk96]

N80,

I guess my confusion is in the fact that everything I do with the exception of operating in mud, I've always ran out of power before I've began to lose traction on my DX45. I operate on turf more than I do mud (just don't have anything I need to do often in the mud) and also use my loader close to max capacity so this is where the R4's work better for me. Now if I was doing a lot of choring for cattle, horses, etc where I was using the tractor everyday regardless of weather I can easily conceed the R1 advantage. Most of the time if its muddy, I don't have anything that I can do in the mud regardless of tires.

jk

 

[N80]

That means that R4s work fine for you. Except in mud. What I'm saying is that R1s would have worked just as fine, but also in mud, and cost less. And while I agree that R4s are less damaging for turf, they certainly aren't great on turf either. So that less of a feature and more of a 'not quite as bad.'

I understand that you do not need R1s. But you (probably) paid extra for R4s So the question is this, what did you get for the extra money?

 

[jk96]

I understand that you do not need R1s. But you (probably) paid extra for R4s So the question is this, what did you get for the extra money?

1. The ability to work on and across my lawn, planting trees, spraying, etc, etc without damage.
2. The ability to mow and spray commercial lots without worrying as much about damage. Helps make a buck or two to pay the extra cost.
3. Stiffer sidewall and higher load capacity for pallet work on concrete surfaces and I would argue more robust when doing loader work in rocky areas.
4. 10 ply vs 6 ply - never had a flat even brush hogging around and over small locust trees.
5. Better wear since I do a lot of loader work on gravel and concrete as mentioned. Don't have to buy a new set of R1 as soon.

 

[N80]

1. The ability to work on and across my lawn, planting trees, spraying, etc, etc without damage.
2. The ability to mow and spray commercial lots without worrying as much about damage. Helps make a buck or two to pay the extra cost.

Again, I'm a little dubious about the turf damage issue. I've seen R4s rip turf up. Not arguing that R1s don't, just don't see that as an enormous plus. YMMV.

3. Stiffer sidewall and higher load capacity for pallet work on concrete surfaces and I would argue more robust when doing loader work in rocky areas.

I can see the value of this. If not inflated to the max, my R1 sidewalls flex with a full loader. But, the practical cost of that is zero as far as I can tell and I've moved a lot of stuff in the loader on hills, etc etc. But still, valid point.

4. 10 ply vs 6 ply - never had a flat even brush hogging around and over small locust trees.

I have not had a puncture in 3 years. The name of my property is Honey Locust Hill. Its covered in locust trees. My B-I-L next door has had some puncture flats, but his tires are old and he runs tubes. So while its true that R4s have superior puncture resistance, the inferior puncture resistance of R1s has never been an issue and I've done serious land clearing with mine too. (I'm sure tomorrow I'm going to find a flat with a giant locust thorn in it tomorrow!).

5. Better wear since I do a lot of loader work on gravel and concrete as mentioned. Don't have to buy a new set of R1 as soon.

True. And that alone may make it worth while if you spend that much time on pavement. I suspect most CUT owners do not spend that much time on pavement, although snow removal would.

 

[jk96]

The turf issue, pallet work, and concrete use is exactly why they work better for me. I guess my main reason for posting is every one of these threads have such die hard R1 and R4 - my tire is better than your tire posts. I just don't have a dog in the hunt. I have reasons the R4's are just a better choice for me. Others have reasons the R1's work better for them. And the vast majority will argue to the death even though they have no experience with one or the other. I could really care less. If there was no benefit of R1's over R4's, or vice versa they would quit making both.

 

[N80]

I think what probably generated much of the 'R1 Attitude' is the fact that R4s were being sold to new tractor owners who had absolutely no need for them, by dealers and tractor companies, in large part, because they passed them off as looking cool and they probably made a little more money on them.

Have you noticed that most tractor advertisements and 'beauty shots' show the machines almost exclusively in R4s? And this despite the fact that most CUT owners will be better served with less expensive R1s?

If someone wants and/or needs R4s and they know why and they're happy with them, that's great.

If they want them because they like the way they look, that's great too.

But the truth is, a lot of CUT owners end up paying more for them when they don't need them or use the features that make them more expensive. And a fair amount of folks bought them for looks or because a dealer sold them on the idea, usually simply by saying that they are "tougher". If R4s cost the same as R1s, there would be little argument from me. But paying more and not getting more, which is the case most of the time, just seems silly to me.

When I was buying, and didn't know the difference and several dealers were pushing me toward R4's (not the one I purchased from) I came here to TBN. Heard the facts and realized that for my needs, and most people's needs, R1s either are superior or nearly equivalent in most aspects.

 

[Egon]

And the vast majority will argue to the death even though they have no experience with one or the other.

For Shame, such a statement!

 

[N80]

For Shame, such a statement!

Well its true. I've never used them.....on the other hand, scroll up to that picture of my R1s turned into mudslicks and ask yourself....what would an R4 have done? I'd still be in that mudhole!