Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Cutting / Groving / Siping R-4 for snow

[k0ua]

It is hard to tell, but mine seemed better in the little 4 inch snow we had last month.. but just not enough to be sure. I did work on a steep hill covered in snow/ice getting my wifes impala unstuck, ( it would not make it up the hill) and the tractor never spun even once. Hard to say what it would have done before cutting..So in summary.. traction is good, but we just did not have enough snow this year to put them to the real test...Last season we had plenty, and I spun quite a bit on some of the slopes.. The new cut grooves filled with snow of course just like was described by gladehound. Oh well maybe a better test next winter I think we are done with snow here.

James K0UA

 

[Phil48]

Great thread! I want to share good news about grooving up north!

I have been taking to my local tractor tire supplier. He's asking about 60-90$ per tire for grooving your typical AG tire (24'').

He's also a supplier of Tryyg chain and Maxigrip. Here in Quebec we're close to northern Vermont weather. He's been grooving tires for quite some years now. For preservation of asphalt, his best advice: Nokia tractor tire for winter (1100$). :confused2:

However, there's hope for us, base on his experience, grooving can turn your AG tire into an excellent winter tire. As good or almost as good as a studded one!
For him, traction wise, nothing can beat Tryyg chain, but they will mess up your driveway.

I told him about this thread and the price of the tool....:drool:. I do a lot of business with him. He advised me: "Do it in the summer time, twice as fast and a lot easier." :thumbsup:

So far, he hasn't heard of any lugs that broke off or any type of mischief with grooving! It will be a nice summer project for me.

Phil

 

[k0ua]

I told him about this thread and the price of the tool....:drool:. I do a lot of business with him. He advised me: "Do it in the summer time, twice as fast and a lot easier." :thumbsup:

Good advice. I did mine in January. It was a "warm" January day, but still too cold.. I recommend July 4th. The side of the tractor that was in the sun was easier than the shady side. I only got to use it in one snow event, and it worked well, but not a real good test.

James K0UA

 

[daugen]

Hopefully it is appropriate to re-open this, and if it has been elsewhere, sorry.
But lots of us were interested to know how summer service went with your siped tires?
Any chunking on macadam? Gravel get stuck in there?

For those of you who siped your tires, could you recap your results now that a year has passed for most of you?
thanks

 

[k0ua]

Hopefully it is appropriate to re-open this, and if it has been elsewhere, sorry.
But lots of us were interested to know how summer service went with your siped tires?
Any chunking on macadam? Gravel get stuck in there?

For those of you who siped your tires, could you recap your results now that a year has passed for most of you?
thanks

I would be interested in hearing more also. I can tell you about the gravel.. yes it it did stick some in there. and Mud.. yep the sipes fill with mud at times and it dries and falls out after a while.. I would think that before a snow event you would want to make sure they were cleaned out so the snow on snow action would work. I have not done the Kioti.

James K0UA

 

[Carl Bert]

Hopefully it is appropriate to re-open this, and if it has been elsewhere, sorry.
But lots of us were interested to know how summer service went with your siped tires?
Any chunking on macadam? Gravel get stuck in there?

For those of you who siped your tires, could you recap your results now that a year has passed for most of you?
thanks

Great idea, I haven't done mine yet and would be very interested to hear how the others held up.

 

[k0ua]

Great idea, I haven't done mine yet and would be very interested to hear how the others held up.

Carl it would be very interesting for you to sipe your R4 tires and see what your evaluation of them was versus the aggressive snow holding tread on your JD.

James K0UA

 

[daugen]

Carl it would be very interesting for you to sipe your R4 tires and see what your evaluation of them was versus the aggressive snow holding tread on your JD.

James K0UA

I'm not sure Carl could stand the excitement of posting another tractor comparo....
But I'd like to hear too.
I have HDAP tires on my Gravely and they are superb in the snow, btw.

 

[Carl Bert]

Carl it would be very interesting for you to sipe your R4 tires and see what your evaluation of them was versus the aggressive snow holding tread on your JD.

James K0UA

Yeah I'm curious myself to see the difference. Maybe next week when it warms up a bit. If I remember right the tool comes with different size cutting heads, any recommendations as to what size to use?

 

[Carl Bert]

I'm not sure Carl could stand the excitement of posting another tractor comparo....
But I'd like to hear too.
I have HDAP tires on my Gravely and they are superb in the snow, btw.

That's funny. Talk about brand loyalty, wow Kubota fans are brutal. After that thread I felt like I went a couple of rounds with Tyson.