Snow Best tires for the snow.

[BizDoc]

My R4s are loaded and they still are not as good as the non loaded turfs for plowing. Once the driveway gets slick the r4's just dont have the surface in contact with the pavement the turfs do and it leaves me wishing for my old turfs.

 

[Foton404]

Let's see if I am hearing this right...a smoother tire digs through snow better than a lug tire. Wow! No wonder I have had such a difficult time plowing my 1/8 mile lane, trying to gain traction because my lugs do not dig in enough. A tire with less depth of tread on snow. Interesting!. Car snow tires have a lug type tread. Must be an engineering faux pax. Maybe snow plows should be using slicks.

 

[muskokaBX24]

I agree that is rather hard to wrap your brain around the theory-and I would love to test the theory-by the way(if someone were supply me with turfs to try before I buy... I have industrial tires and do have some problems and cannot blow up the driveways that have a slop - only down. This is my second winter and I lowered the tire pressure from last year and this has helped. I cannot use chains due to a mixture of paved, interlocking and gravel driveways.

 

[irvingj]

Foton404-- I think you'll find it's not a matter of digging in (my car has aggressive snow tires, and I wouldn't be without them), but rather surface area contact, on a blown or plowed, relatively low-depth surface behind the FEL or blower.

I've also found the turfs on my 2310, either pushing the FEL or blowing, have performed very well on my sloped, gravel driveway. But then, I'm not driving the tractor through deep snow; that would be a whole different ball game. In that situation, I bet my turfs would probably load up and be just about useless in about 8 feet....make sense?

 

[Oleozz]

I have R4's and run a front snow blower...just curious has anyone ever tried chains on the front tires ONLY?

Yep, only run them on the front. Lots of controversy and posts about this but for me has worked fine.

 

[KeithInSpace]

...a smoother tire digs through snow better than a lug tire. Wow!

Actually, the "smoother" tire in this case would indeed be the R1 or R4 tire. The advantage a turf tire holds is that it has many more "edges" to catch compressed snow and create friction between the tire and the surface. If you look at modern snow tires, they resemble road tires more than they resemble Dick Cepek muddin' tires. The multiplicity of edges and sipes provide more traction than large lugs.

I suspect there is a depth of snow where the advantage inverses and R1/R4 tires are more advantageous than turf tires. That point of inversion would be dependent on the size of tractor...probably 14" to 18" for a BX...at least a few feet for an L...

And in the mud, my turfs work great UNTIL they get filled with goo. R1/R4/Mud tires are "self clearing" and can gain traction by slinging mud off of themselves...an advantage my turf tires do not hold.

 

[Chad450r]

My R4s are loaded and they still are not as good as the non loaded turfs for plowing. Once the driveway gets slick the r4's just dont have the surface in contact with the pavement the turfs do and it leaves me wishing for my old turfs.

Look I have turfs on my BX2200 and no problems unless it's pure ice, even up hill (20-30 deg) backwards with a 52" Lucknow blower. My dealer recomended turfs anyday over ag tires. I wanted to buy chains he told me to try it first, glad I didn't spend the money!

 

[dodge man]

I've had a couple of chances to try my tractor in the snow. The turfs work well, traction is not a problem. Keith pretty much hit it on the head on why turfs work well in the snow. I've done quite a bit of reading on tires for cars and trucks and it is the fine slits (sipes) that get good traction in the snow. It goes against common sense, which would make you think big lugs would work better. I assume all this holds true for tractors.

I did move pile of dirt this week end before it got cold, and it was muddy. The turfs really suck in the mud. The loaded up with mud and it wouldn't come off.

 

[dhagerty]

I am using industrial tires front and back with chains on the rear. Local Kubota dealer was very firm in not recommending chains for the front tires, he would not sell them to me in any case. Has to do with the way the front tires work in 4WD and with slippage in the back tires and then the front grabs they have experienced broken front end drive with chains. This is on a BX-24. Could be snake oil but all is good with the current arrangement so no need for me to change.

 

[huckflynn]

I've had a couple of chances to try my tractor in the snow. The turfs work well, traction is not a problem.

I used loaded turfs exclusively for about 3 years. Every now and then I'd have to put the chains on when snowblowing because of icy conditions.

One spring, I got a set of bar tires because I was repeatedly getting stuck in mud at the bottom of my property (4 wheel was no help when the tractor was just sinking in the mud).

My plan was to use the bars during early spring until the muddiness cleared up. That was 5 years ago. My turfs are still in the shed -- never used again. And the chains are with them -- never used again. I never felt the need to put either back in use. This is not a recommendation for anyone else -- merely my experience. But if there are any BX owners interested in buying some turfs with chains, let me know.