I kind of skimmed this post so some of my points may already have been covered. I've used 2WD and 4WD, from 25 - 150HP and most major brands over the years. Here are my merits for 4WD and why even for haying I would highly recommend it.
4wd points -
Same work out of a smaller hp tractor. We had 2 - 100 hp tractors, same model & brand on a farm I worked on in college. The 4wd would run circles around the 2wd with duals come tillage time. We could pull a 4 btm plow faster than the 2 WD with 1 dual. Disking, even with 4WD I'd recommend duals, just because it's a smoother ride and easier in the tractor. Still the 4wd would pull much better even without duals and you could get on the ground sooner. Some fields with wet holes we would have waited for with duals, we could pull through with the 4wd. Now when we used 120 HP tractor, the added weight, that machine would probably do about the same amount under similar conditions with dual as the smaller 4WD.
Safety - I have a neighbor that I help with haying and we do have some hills. The 2wd gets pushed on the hills bailing (we don’t load the wagons heavy on the hill). In this case we have a 100 hp tractor that weights about 1500-2000 lbs more than the 4wd. The 4wd we bail with it locked in and now we do not have this problem.
Ride quality - No contest, with the larger front tire's, all tillage is a much easier way to go. With plowing at times a 2wd can be "jerky" (wheels would spin) if you have 2 btm trips at about the same time or hit tough spots. With the 4wd we do not have this problem. Now I have plowed with a JD 4440 that was about 150 hp and with a 5 btm set I did not seem to have this problem, but that tractor had allot of weight on it and was 50% more power.
Compaction - We have 2 tractors and the 4wd is about 1500-2000 lbs lighter and it runs rings around the 2 WD. Without the added weight the 2wd can not pull the plow, disk, or drag. The load on the motor isn’t the issue it’s traction.
4wd points -
Same work out of a smaller hp tractor. We had 2 - 100 hp tractors, same model & brand on a farm I worked on in college. The 4wd would run circles around the 2wd with duals come tillage time. We could pull a 4 btm plow faster than the 2 WD with 1 dual. Disking, even with 4WD I'd recommend duals, just because it's a smoother ride and easier in the tractor. Still the 4wd would pull much better even without duals and you could get on the ground sooner. Some fields with wet holes we would have waited for with duals, we could pull through with the 4wd. Now when we used 120 HP tractor, the added weight, that machine would probably do about the same amount under similar conditions with dual as the smaller 4WD.
Safety - I have a neighbor that I help with haying and we do have some hills. The 2wd gets pushed on the hills bailing (we don’t load the wagons heavy on the hill). In this case we have a 100 hp tractor that weights about 1500-2000 lbs more than the 4wd. The 4wd we bail with it locked in and now we do not have this problem.
Ride quality - No contest, with the larger front tire's, all tillage is a much easier way to go. With plowing at times a 2wd can be "jerky" (wheels would spin) if you have 2 btm trips at about the same time or hit tough spots. With the 4wd we do not have this problem. Now I have plowed with a JD 4440 that was about 150 hp and with a 5 btm set I did not seem to have this problem, but that tractor had allot of weight on it and was 50% more power.
Compaction - We have 2 tractors and the 4wd is about 1500-2000 lbs lighter and it runs rings around the 2 WD. Without the added weight the 2wd can not pull the plow, disk, or drag. The load on the motor isn’t the issue it’s traction.
Last edited:
