Anybody like their R4 tires in snow

[revitupfaster]

Here's a couple of pics to give you an idea of the driveway I plowed last year. This is the hilliest section of the drive. Sorry, no snow pics...didn't think to take them at the time.

Well I don't have anything that remotely resembles those kind of hills, so I guess if you manged I should be OK.

REV

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Well I don't have anything that remotely resembles those kind of hills, so I guess if you manged I should be OK.

REV

Just another thought on snow removal. Looking at some of the responses from people that remarked on how much difficulty they have with R-4's, I started to wonder why. Maybe it's a matter of perception.

Here in central KY, we have an annual average snowfall in the neighborhood of 14 inches. That's 14 inches of snow per year. So, in a typical year we're likely to have one or two snows that will require firing up the tractor. Snows over 4" are quite rare.

What you see in my pictures is a little less than 1/3 of my driveway. Best I can remember, it took around 2.5 - 3 hours to clear the whole thing, as it took several passes and I was required to take small bites at times.

Now, when you only have to do this once per year on average, you don't think much about it. If I lived in Maryland or Canada and had to do this several times a month for several months in a row, I might not be willing to accept 3 hours as a reasonable expenditure of time. I'd be less patient with the task and would push to the limits more often (resulting in more tire slippage, etc.). Doing this once or twice per year is OK, but doing it over and over and over would be tiresome.

<shrug> Maybe this is why R-4's are OK for me, but not for others. Still, in 4WD with loaded R-4's, I have no complaints.

 

[Deadman]

Ya, I'm in Northern Wisconsin, and the last 2 winters we had over 100 Inches of snow each year. It gets really old, because I spend too much time spinning the tires, and getting a new angle. It doesn't help that its usually below zero temps and windy when i am out trying to plow. :laughing:

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Funny I should see this post, I was just out looking at my R4's after grooving some truck tires and thinking I could cut a nice single pocket groove in the face of each lug to help with the bite a bit.


I one of the earliest 3720's built. I have the larger R4 tires loaded with Rim guard and no chains. Yes they slide a bit, but I go off in the woods in a LOT of snow and have no major issue. The biggest thing I need to remind myself is to slow down. I like to pedal the hydro hard and this makes it spin and then it goes straight, etc. It's easy to get it going sideways on wet packy or icy snow, but you learn how to deal with it.

I should add though that most of my snow plowing is done with the 9'2" Boss Power-V XT on my truck.

 

[check]

You know, it's really too bad they don't make snow tires for tractors, especially for CUTs. This would solve a lot of these problems.

Meanwhile, I have R4's and they do well, although I have very little in the way of slopes, and I don't plow. In the past, I plowed with my ATV and tractored the furrows with the FEL when they began to build up. This year I have a new rear mount blower, and I will see how the R4's do with that. If they are a problem, I will get chains.

 

[OneMarineE5]

I have a new 2720 just one week old sittin' in barn with R4s. I sold a Frontier 1332 (13horse 32"wide) walk behind blower a couple months back in part to get this tractor. My driveway is roughly 550' long all gravel w/bottom 2/3 at 8% slope. I have really been looking forward to the ease of snow removal with this tractor as it took quite a while with alot of effort with the 1332.

However...Has not been very re-assuring reading this post....albeit informative and that's why we're here right? Anyway, chains!? Either this post or elsewhere I read that chains are not recommended on the front, something about weak axles...voiding warranty etc., however I think the tractor discussed was something other than a more modern 2x20....but not sure.

Does anyone know if that applies to all JD tractors? Have not found this issue covered in my literature yet. It would seem to me that front chains while keeping weight on front (no significant downward pressure with blade/bucket) would be better than rear as this would provide better directional control in addition to increasing tractive effort (am not implying increased traction over rear chains)!

Here is a video on youtube some of you have probably seen. This guy is using chains on front with turf tires. Might be level ground, but he's moving tons more than a Polaris 700 with the old Good/Year aggressive treads I use to have.:confused2:

 

[AKfish]

I have nearly 750 hours on my 2008 JD 110 TLB. Probably 30% of those hours are plowing snow...

The R4's are like "racing slicks" when the snow packs down and forms a glaze on the surface. I have chains on all 4 wheels - although I only use 4x4 about 10% of the time when I plow.

The V-bars on the front tires are the only reason I can even begin to make a turn without cruising into the next county!!

I believe that the "normal ballasting" of the 110 with hoe attached is on the order of 76% of the tractor's weight is on the rear axle and approximately 24% is on the front axle. Of course, with the hoe off and using the 3pt and ballast box or HD box blade the ballasting changes to approx. 60-40 rear and front weight distribution.

Point being - keep most of the tractor's weight on the rear axle - IMO. Use 4x4 when necessary and minimize those times when the front of the tractor is "crabbing and grabbing"!

AKfish

 

[Storm56]

I must be about the only person that has no issues with R4's in the snow. I have a long drive and also a 90 ft long pole building with doors all down the length, so I plow a lot. Now my drive is gravel but I simply do not have problems. Heavy wet snows are somewhat of a pain at times, but I gotta tell you that I am quite happy to have a tractor, (even with those dreaded R4 tires), as the alternative is a shovel!

 

[slowzuki]

I don't like my R-4's in wet snow. Embarrassing to be in someones driveway you just plowed or blew out and you can't drive out even with 4wd + diff lock and you have to drive through their yard to get out. Meanwhile their 2wd car can drive in and out fine.

A couple of times I've thrown a chain on the side that I can put on the shoulder so it isn't too rough to drive and I can get myself out with the diff locked.

 

[dmay]

I'm in Winnipeg, Canada. We typically deal with snow from November to March. This morning I was out clearing snow in my new 2320/R4's. Had it two weeks now. It was a balmy -23C. Brrrr. I have a large driveway area that covers over 9000 sq ft that I clear. It has a mild incline that changes 3ft in elevation from front to back. Overnight the wind created a 1 ft deep drift across my driveway. If you know wind drifts, they get packed solid. So hard you can drive over them. In other places the wind clears the base to a slick hard frozen surface. The way I attack my driveway is two fold. I have a 54in front snowblower and rear landscape rake. I drop the snowblower, go slow and steady and clear through the hard pack drifts. Rear blade is up for rear traction. If I need more traction I raise the front blower up slightly to add front wheel traction. Slow and steady gets me through the drifts. Then to clean the driveway so my sons lowered Honda Civic doesnt get stuck (lol) I raise the blower, drop the rear rake and take a few quick passes up and down the driveway. I find the landscape rake is great because it creates a combed rough surface that aids in traction, as opposed to a blade which would create a smooth slick surface.

I expect if I had a higher grade elevation change I'd add chains. A blade alone would never be enough in Winnipeg. We get snowfalls for 4 months of the year. With wind drifts you get 1/2/3 ft drifts to deal with which would be impossible to blade a solid snow drift away, at least with a compact tractor. A loader/bucket or blower is needed to attack the snow wall. I prefer a blower as you dont have to deal with piled up mountains of snow.

In the end I like having a blower and rake combination.