Tires Ag or industrial tires...

   / Ag or industrial tires... #21  
With as many different tires as there are, in general, I would think someone would produce a hybrid with R1 tread on a stiffer, more puncture resistant tire body.

OkieG
 
   / Ag or industrial tires... #22  
Michelin does. I can't think of the model, right now.
 
   / Ag or industrial tires... #23  
I've tried dual turf and ag tires on my Gravely and have used chains on the turfs. Chains give maximum traction in snow/ice. Both chains and ag tires dig very badly and bounce the tractor when they lose traction. Both turfs and ags become greasy slicks in wet clay and are useless. Haven't used the chains with wet clay but they'd probably be the only thing that wouldn't load up.

My overall preference is the turfs and are what I use most of the time (4 of them). If they slip, they don't bounce or tear hell out of the dirt/grass.

When I get my 4wd tractor next year, I plan to get it with turfs.

By the way, I've put metal screws into the ags that I use in the winter. Haven't had a chance to use them in slip/icey conditions yet. They're better that the turfs in the snow. I'm hoping the big tractor turf treads will have enough edge depth to put screws into them. Suspect they'll be as deep as the little ags are on the Gravely.

Ralph
 
   / Ag or industrial tires... #24  
Going back to what other's have said regarding floatation vs. traction. I think it's important to remember that while the R4's offer better floatation, this is due to more surface area in contact with the ground. This situation is great for lawns and roads as the tires will wear less quickly.

On the other hand, the R1's are designed so that there is less surface area and therefore, the force is spread out on a few lugs at a time. This gives very poor float (they dig very fast...) but in mud, they tend to dig sink through the mud to the solid ground below (if there is any).

Farmers use the R1's for a totally different reason than either above. Since they are mainly using their tractors in loose dirt and field work conditions, they want a tire with the most surface contact they can find. Since the lugs of the R1's dig in to loose dirt, you are really getting surface area on not only the bottom of the lug but on the rear side of it as well. Therefore, you actually get more surface area from R1's in loose dirt. (Actually have talked to the farming neighbors about this) This is also one of the reasons they like to load their tires. If they don't sink in a little, they get very little traction.

The worst conditions for R1's are ice. Very little surface area and the tires can't dig in like designed. Quite dangerous.

In my opinion, the reason many people don't see a difference between R4's and R1's on CUTs is that the tread on the R1 isn't that much deeper than the R4 tread. When you move into a bigger tire, you get a much deeper (4 inches +) lugs. Many farmers replace their R1's when they reach about 1.5 inches of tread left around here. It's just too wet to have that little tread and pull a fully loaded wagon.

Just some food for thought!!!
 

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