Mowing R4 Tires and mowing

[Dascro]

I put about 5 hours on my new B7610 over the Labor Day weekend. I am loving this machine!!

One of the jobs is using the Woods RFM to regularly mow the yard. The RFM did a good job, but I am starting to wonder about my decision to go with R4 tires. By the time I was able to mow, the ground was drying, but still soft (but not soaking wet) from all the rain from Ernesto. And the tires did leave marks if I turned too sharp and on hills.

I decided on R4's because of the mix of work I do with the tractor (i.e. snow removal, 1/2 acre sweet corn patch, 1/2 acre vegetable garden, 300 yd sloped gravel lane maintenance and upkeep, rotary cutter and of course mowing about a 1 acre yard). I had turf tires on the BX and they did very well mowing and were decent in the snow, but struggled maintaining the gravel lane and in field work (rotary mower, tiller, or anything with soft loose dirt or gravel).

For those of you using R4's for yard mowing, is the "marking" typical for these tires or simply because the ground was soft from all the recent rain? Is your experience that the R4's will mark less when the yard is completely dry?

I am wondering if I made on mistake on tire selection.

Dascro

 

[RoyJackson]

I have R4's on my Deere 790. They leave marks but the grass recovers in two or three days.

I do not operate the tractor on wet grass. Those tires will slip even more and can result in ruts.

Your Kubota is quite a bit lighter then my 790 so I don't know if the marks would be more or less the mine.

However I'd go for R4's again. Just use a bit of caution when your finish mowing. I suggest you not use 4WD when mowing.

 

[Dascro]

Thanks Roy.

This is my first experience with R4 tires and mowing the yard. I am hoping the soft, wet ground exagerated the potential for the tires to mark.

I'll see next weekend as the grass is growing faster now (the conditions are perfect for grass here) than in the spring.

I will plan on being careful and take it easy in the turns.

Lastly, when I use the search feature and "R4" I can never get any returns. Yet I know there has to be a ton of info on R4 tires and mowing yards on this site. Any suggestions in this area from anyone?

Dave

 

[ccsial]

I use R4's on my L3400HST with no problem. I have well drained soil though. If you have wet soil I suspect even turf tires would leave a bit of a mark.

I have never yet been able to search on this new board. Anyone else have any luck?

 

[ToddW]

The R4's on my L2800 don't mark my lawn any more than the turfs on my JD lawn tractor. My yard (lots of Florida sand) drains well so I've never driven on it very wet.

/Todd

 

[Dascro]

Thanks for the replies. I am starting to feel a little better about my R4 tire selection. Hopefully it will be much more dry when I mow this weekend.

Dave

 

[Barnboy]

I have R4's on my B3030 and they work fine if we have not had alot of rain. I wait 3-4 days after a good rain and then I have no problems with marks. I'm glad i have R4's when i'm tilling or pulling my middle buster. I dont think turf's would have been a good option for me. I think the R4's are a good compromize.Just my opion.

 

[8561]

I have the same tractor with R4's. My rears are loaded with calcium chloride. First of all, MFWD engaged is an absolute no-no. Second, if I mow within a day of moderate rain, I get some marks, that as was posted previously, take a few days to come out. If it's dry, no problems at all. The other suggestion I would offer is to try to vary your path on the lawn. Using the same "routine" to mow each time can create depressions in those wheel paths. I'm always zigging and zagging all over. Hydro and an RFM make it easy.

 

[Timber]

use the advanced search option and your search will work fine.

 

[Dascro]

Thanks Timber. I also think you need to enter more than just "R4" to get any returns.