105hp 2wd or 85hp 4wd for Tillage?

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Which will pull better for tillage purposes, such as pulling a chisel plow, offset disk, ripper plow, etc.?

2wd 105hp with loader with total weight of 8,000 pounds;

or

4wd 85hp with loader with a total weight of 7,000 pounds.

 

[nwhittemore]

Which will pull better for tillage purposes, such as pulling a chisel plow, offset disk, ripper plow, etc.?

2wd 105hp with loader with total weight of 8,000 pounds;

or

4wd 85hp with loader with a total weight of 7,000 pounds.

The 4x4 will of course be better at pulling a dead load (anything with drag). It all depends on the horsepower you need for any pto driven implements. If you can do everything you need with 85 hp I would certainly chose a 4x4.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

In good going, the 105hp tractor will win every time, BUT as soon as you hit soft ground or a wet spot, the MFWD tractor will out pull the bigger tractor.

The bigger hp tractor could use some added weight to work well in heavy tillage, cuz it sounds light to me.

SR

 

[nwhittemore]

While I agree with Sawyers claim in perfect conditions that the larger tractor will win a bucket full of dirt in the loader of the 4x4 and even on good ground the 4x4 will walk off and leave the 2x4 just because of wheel slippage. You also have to look at fuel consumption an 85 hp will burn 5 gallons a day less fuel. That adds up over time.

 

[oldnslo]

Which will pull better for tillage purposes, such as pulling a chisel plow, offset disk, ripper plow, etc.?

2wd 105hp with loader with total weight of 8,000 pounds;

or

4wd 85hp with loader with a total weight of 7,000 pounds.

With proper tires and duals the 105 HP would be my first choice but then I am old and set in my ways. with 105 HP if you are spinning you shouldn't be doing tillage in the first place. First thing I would do is fill the rear tires with fluid of some sort. on 105 HP tractor that could easily add 2,000 - 3,000 lbs.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

With proper tires and duals the 105 HP would be my first choice but then I am old and set in my ways. with 105 HP if you are spinning you shouldn't be doing tillage in the first place. First thing I would do is fill the rear tires with fluid of some sort. on 105 HP tractor that could easily add 2,000 - 3,000 lbs.

Bingo, weight is your friend in what you are wanting to do and a good set of duals adds that and will help it stand up a little better, but the 4WD is nice and is the way of the world today, so I don't think you will go wrong no matter which you choose.

 

[Redlands Okie]

The 4wd choice would be mine even if it is less horse power and weight. Also the 4 wheel drive has all 7000 lbs of its weight helping it pull. The 2 wheel drive has less weight per traction tire pulling, not all 8000 lbs is on the rear traction tires.

 

[searcyfarms]

that has to be the lightest 105hp tractor I have ever heard of including loader? that doesn't even make sense to me - my buddies 105hp tractor weight around 11K w/out a loader and my 135 weighs around 14K w/out loader - weight is your friend and it better be a small disk or chisel for only 7000 of tractor I don't care what the hp is - yes it will pull something but not a very big something - I run duals when disking and it doesn't matter 4wd or 2wd if its soft and wet you are honestly making more of a mess than you are doing any good as you are making chunks and mudballs that are going to have to be broken up again later - just wait till its dry -

 

[atsah]

With proper tires and duals the 105 HP would be my first choice but then I am old and set in my ways. with 105 HP if you are spinning you shouldn't be doing tillage in the first place. First thing I would do is fill the rear tires with fluid of some sort. on 105 HP tractor that could easily add 2,000 - 3,000 lbs.

I agree, a dueled up 105hp tractor with loaded tires would be my choice.

 

[LightningCamaroGuy]

that has to be the lightest 105hp tractor I have ever heard of including loader?

I was thinking the same. 7000 lbs is a pretty lightweight 85 HP, 4WD tractor with a loader as well. Not saying there aren't any but even my open cab 73 HP 4WD tractor weighs more than that with a FEL. To be honest I'm much more use to plowing with a 2WD tractor. Really I'm much more use to anything with a 2WD tractor as I grew up on them, and my new tractor is the first 4WD that I, or parents have owned, and my time using 4WD tractors was pretty limited especially for things other than hay farming.

I will say this, today I went out to pull off this fairly large cherry tree I cut down in my front yard and when I started to pull it I was going forward, but was noticing that my tires were slipping on the soft grass as well. Suddenly clue bird landed and said, "hey dummy your tractor has 4WD with almost new R1 tires." I then put it in 4WD, and it pulled it no problem, and without tearing up my yard. Point being is 4WD definitely helps a lot with traction, but I agree that a large crop row tractor with duals, or maybe those large 30"+ wide skidder type tires pulls a lot better than people like to credit them for.