If only I'd have known.....

45er · Jul 25, 2006

I guess I'd just like to vent with you folks a little, and also ask if all tractor manufacturers are like NH in that they design their tractors such that you have to buy different wheels for turf and ag tires? I bought my first (and only) tractor used a few years ago (a NH 1925) and it had turf tires on it. While they worked ok, I decided that ag tires would increase the tractor's efficiency. When I went to buy some ag tires, I learned that I couldn't just buy the tires, but had to buy all new wheels too because the ag tires would not fit on the wheels that I had for the turf tires! Can anyone suggest to me that this is anything besides a marketing ploy to sell more tires/wheels? Is there a real technical reason that this has to be the case? I bet not. This sure chaps me off and I was wondering if all the other manufactures of these compact tractors do the same thing? 45er

jwstewar · Jul 25, 2006

I believe that holds true for pretty all brands of tractors. The tires are usually meant for different purposes. The turfs are usually wider and you want more side wall so there is more give where as the ags are usually narrower and less sidewall so they are a little stiffer. There to accomplish these tasks, you need different size wheels.

firemanpat2910 · Jul 25, 2006

I dont beleive that NH or any other brand makes the tires. you cant blame chevy when you cant mount the stock tires on your 22" spinners, so you cant blame NH when you choose to change the aspect ratio of the tires and they wont fit on the stock rims. What about R4s, do they make any that will fit your rims?

Tazz · Jul 25, 2006

45er said:
I decided that ag tires would increase the tractor's efficiency. 45er

Just curious here, What do you expect to gain with the new tire? Are the turf tires slipping on hills or wet grass? My TC29D has the R4 tires and often thought about turf tires and if there was a difference. My area is pretty flat and most grass and trees.

Doc_Bob · Jul 25, 2006

45er said:
I Can anyone suggest to me that this is anything besides a marketing ploy to sell more tires/wheels? Is there a real technical reason that this has to be the case? I bet not. This sure chaps me off and I was wondering if all the other manufactures of these compact tractors do the same thing? 45er

Not a marketing ploy. Annoying yes, ploy no. All tractor makers do the same thing.
Bob

AndyMA · Jul 25, 2006

Tazz said:
Just curious here, What do you expect to gain with the new tire? Are the turf tires slipping on hills or wet grass? My TC29D has the R4 tires and often thought about turf tires and if there was a difference. My area is pretty flat and most grass and trees.

I had turf tires on one tractor about 20 years ago. Major reason I got rid of tractor, I didn't mow and they were just about useless for anything else. If I were to mow I'd use Galaxy Turfs like golf courses do. The rounded edges tear up the lawns much less than standard turf tires square edges.

Turfs, R4's and R1's all require different rims due to different widths and profiles. Fact of nature.

I now run R1's on all my machines so that I get some bite.

390GT · Jul 26, 2006

Sorry did'nt intened to hijack your post BUT, curious about the ratio of the front to rear tire size on a 4X4 CUT. 4X4 trucks have same size at the four corners CUT's don't. Is maintaining the correct ratio important and if so do all manufacturers use the same ratio. Again sorry for the hijack. Greg

45er · Jul 26, 2006

Good point made about the tire manufacturers. I guess I shouldn't be on NH's case as they don't make tires/wheels. So far the turf tires have worked on my 35 acres because I have no rocks and not many stumps, but the soil is very sandy and when I try to pull my disc harrow or even tow logs out of the way, the turf tires slip a lot. 4WD is needed way more than it should be. I guess I will bite the bullet and buy a set of Ag tires for the tractor. Oh well, it's only money as they say. 45er

Doc_Bob · Jul 26, 2006

45er said:
4WD is needed way more than it should be. I guess I will bite the bullet and buy a set of Ag tires for the tractor. Oh well, it's only money as they say. 45er

I went with AG tires. My tractor never sees any lawn. I rarely use 4WD. 2WD with R1 seem to work fine. I save 4WD when I am stuck or nearly stuck in 2WD. AG tires would eat up my lawn.
Bob

sandman2234 · Jul 26, 2006

Once you bite the bullet and spend the money on the tires AND RIMS, you will be able to switch back and forth alot easier than if you had the option of using turf tires on Ag rims. It is a lot of extra money, but you are gaining that at the same time.
Another way of looking at it, is if you run over something on Friday afternoon and tear up a tire, when you have a full weekend of work ahead of you, you can just put the other tires and rims on, and let the tire guy fix the problem on Monday, instead of having to pay him overtime or after hours service call.
Just thinking about the whole picture, instead of the costs of getting started with an extra set of tires.
David from jax