Tractor weight on soft ground

[Egon]

Weight is really not a factor. The force per square inch of the footprint is what counts.

 

[bdog]

My question was more of a general question, on soft ground is it better to be light or heavy. I am waiting till it drys out, then i want to clear some brush and till in a couple food plots. Some areas stay soft year round, a few low areas that after a rain, even a few days after, they are soft or almost muddy spots.

In any condition where sinking isn't a concern more weight is better as it gives you more stability and traction. Things like plowing, pulling a heavy blade, etc the more weight the better. This is true whether you are on asphalt or a soft dirt. Now if it is muddy / soft to the point where you can sink and get stuck then you want to minimize ground PSI to get around better. Assuming you are talking about the same tractor and tires the only way to accomplish this is to make the tractor lighter.

I have worked in many various off road environments for the past 30 years with all types of equipment. When conditions are such that you can sink lower ground pressure is key. We now primarily use rubber tracked machines with tracks 24" wide to reduce PSI. These machines weigh over 20k lbs and sink less in the mud than a person on foot.

So I guess to better answer your question soft can mean many things. If you can sink and get stuck then lightening your machine will help. If there is just a few inches of soft and a hard bottom then more weight might help you get around.

 

[rademamj1]

With a tractor, learn to be patient. If the groud is wet and soft, and the concerns about getting stuck is valid, then just wait until ground conditions improve. You really don't want to get stuck, or create ruts so deep it take 3 hours loader work to repair the ruts.
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[ArlyA]

Oh come guys Camso and Soucy both make pods for tractors...

On a more serious note, I asked my brother-in-law why they have no pods on there tractors and his response was something like "they ride to rough". They do run triples on there very large 4wd JDs.

 

[Username Taken]

Why did i ask for loaded rear tires, because in my first post, when shopping i was told on a small tractor weight is king and buying the heaviest tractor is the number 1 consideration. Why did i build the ballast, because even with the loaded tires [about 300lb add] when driving on snow, with the FEL the back felt light. I also loaded the tires for some snow work in the winter. I am in Michigan.

One of the most important things to remember is to avoid breaking through the grass root system. Once you do that, anything can happen. It's the top two or three inches on the surface (often, less) that keeps you from bogging down into what I call 'snot'. If you break through it, either by turning your tires or by having too much weight, not good. Your tires turn into 'doughnuts' and you're done.

Mud and snow are totally unrelated. Mud is unforgiving. I don't care what you're driving, it can sink anything. At least snow has a hard-packed surface underneath it somewhere

Down here (S Florida), the Good Ol' Boys make Swamp Buggies for the express purpose of operating in the mud. My favorites are the ones that use old aircraft landing gear tires that have no tread (but often have chains) and are extremely wide and carry low PSI, so they won't bust through whatever root system there is. Or can just glide over a foot or so of water. There's all kinds of designs. Some are super-aggressive and just power through stuff. Fun at the races but not useful otherwise.

Michigan mud is somewhat similar (sort of) in that the water table is so high, half the fields in the State need to be tiled to be tillable.

I would say, when in doubt, stay out of it.

 

[RancherGuy]

Why did i ask for loaded rear tires, because in my first post, when shopping i was told on a small tractor weight is king and buying the heaviest tractor is the number 1 consideration. Why did i build the ballast, because even with the loaded tires [about 300lb add] when driving on snow, with the FEL the back felt light. I also loaded the tires for some snow work in the winter. I am in Michigan.

I can appreciate your questions and sense of confusion. Sales people can attempt to be helpful, but sometimes their answers are not practical. For one, I would question the loaded tires. The liquid is hard on the tires and can make the ride hard because of the lack of air. If you want weight to counter the FEL, then weight is best behind the rear axle. That also means it can be removed. Since you mention both snow and mud/soft ground, you have two different conditions and require different solutions. Snow definitely needs weight, and weight helps dry ground traction as well. But mud or soft situations are impacted the most by the tire tread. R14 is between an R1 and R4. R1 digs and grips soil and can be "self cleaning" but wears quicker on dry pavement, but if you do not travel up and down a road often or use FEL loads on pavement, then wear should not be a concern. R4 wears much better on pavement but easily clogs with dirt and mud. R14 is in-between. It would be a rare person who would be willing to change all four tires, so you need to make the best of what you have. If you like the feel of more rear weight, add weight as I mentioned. If you want to operate in mud and soft ground with R14, then maybe you consider using some type of tire chains for those times, then remove them.

 

[DieselBound]

I contend with a water table that is near surface level for a lot of the year: I clocked 101" of precip last year! I'm VERY familiar with operating on sensitive ground. I learned many lessons from getting stuck: nothing more embarassing than getting my NX stuck a couple feet off my driveway, right near the house (right near where my avatar picture was taken; pallet forks don't work for pushing away- I stabbed all 4' of the forks straight into the ground, to the hilt)! Getting un-stuck can be a harrowing experience, risky. From UTV to excavator. I now know to WAIT until I am sure whatever equipment I'm going to operate won't be tearing through the sod.

Nothing wrong with getting your rears ballasted. I waited WAY too long to have that done to my B7800. Made the tractor far more stable: fore and aft as in counter-balance for loader, as well as side to side as in roll; oh, and TRACTION when the ground is firm.

Run in 2wd, switch to 4wd and get out at the first sign of trouble.