Whuch Tires do I get? AG? Industrial?

[Boondox]

I feel compelled to toss another variable into the mix. What's your soil structure like? My land sounds a lot like yours. 155 acres of hardwood and granite, lots of brush to clear, and plenty of old stumps on our sloping part of Paradise. I also have a lot of clay, and even in areas with decent topsoil the clay is just a few inches down.

My past tractors (B1750, L3010, and L4640) have all had R1 Aggies. I recently downsized to a little B3030 (Big Mistake #1) and since most of my heavy projects were finished I opted for R4 Industrials (Big Mistake #2).

In years of heavy use harvesting firewood in our forest, I have never had an Aggie fail, get punctured, or suffer sidewall damage. The only downside was that phenomenal traction sometimes came at the cost of tearing up my meadow.

Since getting the B3030 with R4s they have loaded up with clay several times and turned into slicks, and a few times while going up the steeper sections of my meadow after a rain they have lost traction on the wet grass and forced me to go far out of my way to reach a destination that would have been 100 yards away as the crow flies.

We live in snow country, and typically have 4 feet of the stuff on the ground from December till early March, with lesser amounts before and after. I have really good snow and ice chains -- the ones with the Norse-style ice spikes -- but the R4s are so wide the tractor is often lifted off of contact with the ground and I loose traction. The Aggies with the smaller contact patch put the spikes right into the ground every time and I never had a winter traction issue. The comment about the chains being lost between the lugs? Not true if you get chains designed for R1s.

For my land, my needs, and my conditions the R4 tires have been a bitter disappointment.

Pete

 

[RickB]

R4's load up and become next to useless in wet soils with any appreciable clay content.
There is nothing in R4 tire construction that makes it any more durable than an R1 of like construction and ply rating. The name 'Industrial' provides that illusion, I suppose.
Chains work just fine on R1's so long as 4 link ladder style highway chains are avoided; Double ring, Duo grip and even 2-link ladder chains perform as well on R1's as R4's.
In the last 15 years, the CUT industry has moved towards catering to a clientele that is either protecting turfgrass while doing its work, or is simply being sold a bill of goods by dealers who want to stock and sell one tire style.
R1's are the obvious choice unless one is trying to strike a balance between traction and turf damage.

 

[teg]

You can get heavy duty AG1... with more ply that is tough to beat.

 

[US American]

I had r4s on my old is 4200 and the traction issues convinced me I had to have ags on my new 4320. Am grateful I went with ags. I do a lot of arena work and have a lot of clay. They are not quite as good for loader work but the pros far outweigh the cons. R4s try to be ags and turfs rolled into one tire and does neither well, imho. If I ever changed a thing it would be getting a set of turfs as a second set of tires/wheels. But don't see the need right now.

 

[TripleR]

Slipping into my asbestos suit.

I once believed the whole "useless in mud" on Industrials until I used them that way. We haven't farmed in many, many years and have very erodible land so when it's wet, we park all of our tractors.

Last fall however, my son and I used our M8540 with Ags and L5030 with Industrials to muck out a pond and make it deeper. We thought we could dig down a few feet and hit solid ground but never did. We spent two days working in it and neither of us had to be pulled out. Now we both had to use the FEL to push ourselves out from time to time. Both of us ran down the field road once in a while to clean our tires, but neither wound up with slick, useless tires.

We have a pretty high clay content around here too.

No doubt in mud, any mud Ag tires are the way to go, but I have used two tractors with Industrial tires in mud and both worked; not great, but they worked well enough for me to keep using them. Now if I was going to be in mud more often, I would go with Ag tires.

It seems my experience is an anomaly.

 

[US American]

I suppose soil composition is the big variable. My r4s would fill up and get slick real fast in the mud. My ags stay completely clear so long as I keep forward momentum. If I spin in place they will start filling up. I also have more weight and clearance than previously so my experience is not a true scientific test.

 

[teg]

...used our M8540 with Ags and L5030 with Industrials...neither wound up with slick, useless tires...It seems my experience is an anomaly.

Those are both very heavy tractors, which is why I think it worked for you. IMO (No asbestos suit needed )

 

[TripleR]

Those are both very heavy tractors, which is why I think it worked for you. IMO (No asbestos suit needed )

Could very well be, there are just so many variables that I really hesitate to make a blanket recommendation on tires. For many if not most of us who do not depend on our tractors for a living and do a lot of different things, just about any tire is going to be a compromise. Just one of the many compelling reasons to own more than one tractor.:thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

Slipping into my asbestos suit.

I once believed the whole "useless in mud" on Industrials until I used them that way. We haven't farmed in many, many years and have very erodible land so when it's wet, we park all of our tractors.

Last fall however, my son and I used our M8540 with Ags and L5030 with Industrials to muck out a pond and make it deeper. We thought we could dig down a few feet and hit solid ground but never did. We spent two days working in it and neither of us had to be pulled out. Now we both had to use the FEL to push ourselves out from time to time. Both of us ran down the field road once in a while to clean our tires, but neither wound up with slick, useless tires.

We have a pretty high clay content around here too.

No doubt in mud, any mud Ag tires are the way to go, but I have used two tractors with Industrial tires in mud and both worked; not great, but they worked well enough for me to keep using them. Now if I was going to be in mud more often, I would go with Ag tires.

It seems my experience is an anomaly.

No, my experience is the same. Ag's are best in mud, but R4's are not useless. Ag's expecially on a 2 wheel drive tractor like I had, will "fillet" wet turf like a knife gutting a Walleye with the 3 rib front tires, when you turn sharply. The rear R1's would leave much deeper depressions in the wet ground. But no tire is useless, it just depends on what you are trying to do with it. The reason they make different kinds is because each kind is best at some things but not others.

James K0UA

 

[DennisFolsom]

For my use, I am glad that my used JD 4600 has R4's on it. If I had found the same deal on a tractor with R1's instead, I would have bought it. I would not have turf tires.

I'm running over rocks and stumps. I am busily trying to eliminate as many of both as I can, but my place is full of them. The R4's seem very tough, and the extra width seems to add to the stability. With all that said, I am still trying to be careful not to run directly over sharp stumps. I sure don't want to puncture those babies.

I haven't been into serious mud yet. With a loader on the front, and a hoe on the back, I should be able to claw my way out, if need be.

I have been running over the back lawn a bit. I have not done serious damage yet, but the lawn would turn into a tractor road if I keep this up. For that reason, I have been clearing a tractor road, back of the lawn. In fact, I just got it so that I can get all the way through today! I still have a few rocks and stumps to take out to improve the road, but it's passable now. I'll be using this road to carry off stumps, roots, rocks and brush to waste piles out in the woods, as I clean up more of the property.