Turfs sound right?

[Humdinger]

I'm thinking turf tires would be good for a small tractor that will mostly mow grass, do some landscaping/loader work, tilling a garden. Will not be going into the woods or doing heavy farming work.

Pretty sure big farming tires wouldn't be good, or the r-4?

 

[Marveltone]

I have turfs on my tractor and I love them. They allow me to work in the yard without tearing everything up, just perfect for field mowing, they give me good enough traction for the loader work I do, and they're dynamite with a set of chains for all my winter needs. If I did a lot of log skidding, or real ag work like plowing, disking, etc, I'd go with R1, but for my jobs the turfs are great.

Joe

 

[sailorman]

Welcome to the forum. You 're probably will get a lot of good advise that will run the spectrum of tire types based on the posters' needs, experiences, and opinions. Ultimately the diversity of advise will lead to a first time choice based on your best guess for you. From there you may need to move on to a different tire.

My opinion ( and that 's all it is ) is that you will not find any one tire that will do everything perfectly for everyone. That 's why more than one type is offered.

As a side If I run R4 's on my tractor with no additional rear weight they are marginal in performance on the light duty loader work I do. I can 't imagine turfs being equal or better due to traction factor. But another poster has pointed out that chains can make up for it and of course rear weight. However, there is always a trade off. With chains and or weight ya may get lawn damage. Just as you might with R1 's.

 

[Rusty]

I'm thinking turf tires would be good for a small tractor that will mostly mow grass, do some landscaping/loader work, tilling a garden. Will not be going into the woods or doing heavy farming work.

Pretty sure big farming tires wouldn't be good, or the r-4?

I don't do any tilling, but mow lots of grass, do some landscaping/loader work, and rear blade snow. I have been happy with the turf tires on my Kubota B7500 since 2003. Having 4WD is also a real plus for the non-mowing tasks.

 

[TripleR]

We have all three types and they all have their place, for your use Turfs should work quite well.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm thinking turf tires would be good for a small tractor that will mostly mow grass, do some landscaping/loader work, tilling a garden. Will not be going into the woods or doing heavy farming work.

Pretty sure big farming tires wouldn't be good, or the r-4?

what size tractor? ( and what size tires? )

how much mowing?

soundguy

 

[ray66v]

Turf's are fine.

The only place they will not perform at all, is in mud.

And can always chain them up, if you want more traction.

When I bought my TLB, the dealer tried like heck to get me to take it with the ag's. I knew better. And have never regretted this decision.

 

[204saskman]

I got turfs on my montana and im rather impressed with them. Like stated above, there not great in the mud but as long as you keep them turning they are not to bad. I wanted the r4s but i eneded up with the turfs as the dealer mis understood me. But in the end im happy with the turfs.

 

[Reg]

One of my tractors has a set of loaded R4s for Winter and Spring, with a set of turfs for Summer and Fall.
I have messed up my switchover date a few times and roto-tilled with the turfs on, this is with a forward rotation tiller, which tends to push the tractor along.
I have never got stuck with the turfs.

First check your loader's capacity.
Then figure that the load is cantilevered about 4ft in front of those tires.
Check the load rating of the turf tires you are considering.

You might need R4s, you might not.
If you are mostly mowing and mostly on fairly level ground you will probably be mostly in 2WD.
It is very possible to rip up lawn with turf tires - especially if you make tight turns when the soil (not just the grass) is wet.
So don't think that turf tires are a save-all for lawns.

It is also possible to avoid lawn damage with R4s by taking only gentle turns and just staying off the lawn when the soil is wet.
You can also take the loader off when not in use, that can save grass plowing with front tires.

For the conditions and applications you described turfs on the back and R4s on the front COULD work out very well.

Personally I would take a chance on lawn damage in preference to taking a chance on overloading front tires with loader work..... Your choice is for you to make (-:

 

[arsenix2001]

I do the same same chores as you mention and do even occasionally go into the woods. I traded my R4s in when my tractor only had 25 hrs because they were imprinting the heck out of the grass, got R3s and havent looked back. Granted my tractor may be quite a bit heavier, bear that in mind that a nice light scut may be abke to use r4s with no issue at all and benifit from the extra traction.