R4 vs Ag Tires on M6040HDC

[deadduck]

I'm buying a new M6040HDC-1 for use on my little horse farm. Main usage will be clipping pastures, some grader blade work, loading hay bales and pallets of feed. Will also use for a small garden and haul to the deer camp for planting food plots and road maintenance. It currently has R4 tires, 16.9-24 Rear and 12.5-18 Front. The dealer will swap for Ag tires if I want. I think they are 12.4-24 front and 16.9-28 rear.

I like the taller rear tire of the ag tires, but the skinny front doesn't look like it would hold up very well with much loader use. I don't plan on having the tractor in a lot of mud, but I know the ag tires would have a lot more traction in wet conditions.

So which tires do you prefer? Do the skinny front Ag tires hold up for loader use?

 

[catskinner]

Skinny Ag tire is my vote.

 

[travlitt]

Ag tires

 

[TripleR]

We have tractors with Ag and Industrial, I don't see anything in your planned usage that would make Ags more useful than Industrial. If you really want Ag, I would go bigger. We have the bigger tires on our M8540 that come standard on the M9540 and foreman Etexas had larger tires installed when he bought his last M7040.

We use a tractor with Industrials side by side with one with Ags and the only place the Ags really excel are really loose dirt, snow and mud, otherwise no difference.

We had skinny front Ags on our Case and rolled them off the wheels with heavy loader work.

I am just extrapolating as I have no experience with that tractor, there seems to always be a lot of debate on this subject and you can find several old threads on this.

Good luck.

 

[jtygoku]

My former tractor had R1's and my current has R4's. For me, the R4's have been fine and easier on the my lawn areas. There have been a handful of occasions that I longed for the extra traction of the R1's but have always worked through it OK. I did get chains for the snow whereas I never felt they were needed with the R1's.

 

[CobyRupert]

We use a tractor with Industrials side by side with ine with Ags and the only place the Ags really excel are really loose dirt, snow and mud, otherwise no difference.

Yes, other than that, no difference.

 

[TripleR]

Yes, other than that, no difference.

Yeah, it's hard for me to recommend strongly either way, we rarely have snow, when it's muddy, we park our equipment and we no longer farm, so what works for us won't for others. I grew up farming and it took me a while to adapt to Industrial tires. Several years ago, I bought a new Kubota with Industrial tires and told the salesman I wanted to swap for bar/ag tires. He said, "Do me a favor and try these out for a week or so and if you don't like them, we'll swap for anything you want." I kept them and two of the last three tractors I bought have had Industrial tires.

 

[Kubota 2007]

I have a L4200 with Ag Tires and a L4740 with industrials, I see no difference, I try to stay out of the mud with both,in snow the Ag tire rubber seems to get really hard with the cold weather.If I had tomake a choice I would stay with the Industrial.

 

[Wolfy]

The R-4s are much heavier duty and hold up very well for loader work.

 

[RFB]

These Michelins give you both, an R4 carcass and sidewall rating, and R1 traction.

I do not know if they make them in the size you need.