Help me decide on R1 vs R4 tires for my first tractor

[oosik]

Yes - I had the grill guard modified BEFORE I purchased the grapple. Took the OEM grill guard to a local welding shop and this is how it looks now.

The young fellow wanted to paint the upper two quadrants white with big blue eyes. He suggested the "tongue" be bright red.

I guess I'm just an old stick-in-the-mud. All black is just fine with me.

 

[friendlywithbears]

Yes - I had the grill guard modified BEFORE I purchased the grapple. Took the OEM grill guard to a local welding shop and this is how it looks now.

The young fellow wanted to paint the upper two quadrants white with big blue eyes. He suggested the "tongue" be bright red.

I guess I'm just an old stick-in-the-mud. All black is just fine with me. View attachment 702806

Black definitely makes it look cool and aggressive but I could see it looking great with the WWII fighter plane face too

 

[CH4Ohio]

Hi there folks,

I'm in the process of purchasing my very first tractor and the only decision left to make is which tires will best fit my needs. I've read about a million threads on R1 vs R4 and it's obviously very situation-dependent, so I'm hoping you can help give me some insight for mine.

I'm on about 150 acres of adolescent forest land (cleared about 10 years ago, young trees, lots of old stumps, berms, and brush to cut trails in), and my location is the east side of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It's mostly level land with some gentle hilling throughout and some rough terrain from the previous logging.

My expectation is that work with the tractor will be a lot of general utility support for land clearing (moving me from A to B with saws/equipment), brush hogging, grapple work for moving slash and debris, gravel road maintenance, and FEL work like leveling areas of ground, moving/spreading/leveling gravel, and the odd stump or small boulder. Probably also some light digging and roughing in trails until I can purchase a mini-excavator as well.

The tires will be filled whichever I go with.

Please fill me with your infinite wisdom!

Thanks,
B.

As previously mentioned, check out the R14 tires.

If R14 tires are available, that would definitely be my choice. For loader work, you definitely want R4 or R14 and don't want Ag tires. Ag tires also tear up grass in areas like lawns much more than R4.

As I understand it, the new R14 tires offer the benefits of R4 but ride much better -- more like an Ag tire. R4's are notorious for riding hard.

You don't need to worry about traction as long as you have 4WD. A 2WD tractor with R1 Ag tires is EASY to get stuck in mud, loose gravel, etc. They'll dig a nice tire size hole as soon as you start slipping. 4WD is the key. Anything will get stuck in quicksand, but R4 or R14 tires with 4WD will do as well as anything in snow, and tear up MUCH less ground. The R14s are, based on everything I've read, superior to both for traction in mud and snow.

I keep looking at the RK tractors because I really like the size of their 37HP model. I noticed they offer R14 tires as an option. It would be an easy decision for me to opt for R14. (If that tractor had a mid-mount mower option, I would have already bought one.) Guess I'll stick with my Kubotas for now.

Good luck with it.

 

[jeff9366]

My expectation is that work with the tractor will be a lot of general utility support for land clearing brush hogging, grapple work for moving slash and debris, gravel road maintenance, and FEL work like leveling areas of ground, moving/spreading/leveling gravel, some light digging and the odd stump or small boulder.

Consider the optional Kubota L2296 heavy-duty bucket and an aftermarket Bucket Spade.

Front-End Loader - BUCKET SPADE TODAY // FEL BUCKET ATTACHMENT

I am a fan of Bucket Solutions' clamp-on Bucket Spade. It is

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[sd455dan]

Have to agree with Oosik

Northwest gets some rain and working in the woods can mean mud. I will disagree with the R4 or R14 crowd and say get the 6 ply R1s

Disagree on the traction of R4s vs. R1s especially in deep snow...

give me the R1s every time.

Also think the taller R1s ride better on rough ground. Never had a problem with R1s not handling a full FEL load either.

If most all of your work will be on smooth ground finish mowing then the others make sense. jmo mileage will vary

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Hard to do when you are not new to tractors, just about impossible when you are new to them.

Have you given thought to what all you want-need to do as well as how long it will take with the size tractor you are considering?

I personally would be looking at an M7060 or equivalent. This size tractor can run circles around an L series for amount of work that can be accomplished.

If you will be working on this project when ever you want, maybe not so critical. But if you are only a weekender and want to get more work done, you may want to consider going up in frame size and horse power.

Just a thought, time may not be relevant for your situation-circumstances.

Last thing, I personally would go with 8 ply R4s filled with Rimgard-beet juice.

Just because I have had excellent luck & performance from mine.. Zero issues in 16 years.

Good luck with all of your decisions.

 

[msmith]

R1/ag hands down for your application. I have a Powerstar 75 with the ag tires. It goes from hayfield to the woods to pasture. I just roaded, it on pavement, with my Tajfun logging winch to winch trees for a friend 40 miles round trip.

 

[friendlywithbears]

My expectation is that work with the tractor will be a lot of general utility support for land clearing brush hogging, grapple work for moving slash and debris, gravel road maintenance, and FEL work like leveling areas of ground, moving/spreading/leveling gravel, some light digging and the odd stump or small boulder.

Consider the optional Kubota L2296 heavy-duty bucket and an aftermarket Bucket Spade.

Front-End Loader - BUCKET SPADE TODAY // FEL BUCKET ATTACHMENT

I am a fan of Bucket Solutions' clamp-on Bucket Spade. It is

www.tractorbynet.com

I am definitely getting the HD bucket, but that thing looks insanely cool.

 

[friendlywithbears]

Hard to do when you are not new to tractors, just about impossible when you are new to them.

Have you given thought to what all you want-need to do as well as how long it will take with the size tractor you are considering?

I personally would be looking at an M7060 or equivalent. This size tractor can run circles around an L series for amount of work that can be accomplished.

If you will be working on this project when ever you want, maybe not so critical. But if you are only a weekender and want to get more work done, you may want to consider going up in frame size and horse power.

Just a thought, time may not be relevant for your situation-circumstances.

Last thing, I personally would go with 8 ply R4s filled with Rimgard-beet juice.

Just because I have had excellent luck & performance from mine.. Zero issues in 16 years.

Good luck with all of your decisions.

Tell me about it! I feel like you have to have 20+ years experience before making the decision on your first tractor!

I was looking at the bigger sized machines but I am hesitant to go that big with how tight things can be on the property. I am moving in and will be building there and managing full time so I am happy to balance efficiency and speed with enjoying the ride. The M7000s are definitely a bit daunting for a newbie too.

Thanks so much for your input I really appreciate it.

To summarize the feedback so far from folks, I should get R1s and also R4s?

 

[friendlywithbears]

Have to agree with Oosik

Northwest gets some rain and working in the woods can mean mud. I will disagree with the R4 or R14 crowd and say get the 6 ply R1s

Disagree on the traction of R4s vs. R1s especially in deep snow...

give me the R1s every time.

Also think the taller R1s ride better on rough ground. Never had a problem with R1s not handling a full FEL load either.

If most all of your work will be on smooth ground finish mowing then the others make sense. jmo mileage will vary

Thanks I'm definitely interested in feedback from other PNW folks. I'm just below the snow line and with things warming it snows less and less at lower elevations here so worst case in winter there would be a few days a year with some on the ground.

It seems like people are definitely back and forth on R4 effectiveness in the wet. "Some rain" is really wet winters, is it going to be a slip in slide for 9 months in R4s?

I definitely have some road work and travel on gravel roadways to move around the property, but also a lot of rough terrain in the woods.