Love of the R-4 Tire

[ergoman]

ag vs. turf tires
Are you guys out of your minds? If you want an overly expensive lawn mower get turfs on your 20-30 hp lawn mower, if you want to farm get ag tires. How can this be a debate? There is no way a turf tire is going to outperform an ag tire in clay, loam, gravel or sand. Ive plowed, disced, dragged and planted all of them, Ive also had a few months on turf tires for much easier hay and picking work. Turf tires barely work on wet grass.... People read these forums before they spend there 15-30k on a new tractor, how can you leave this type of info on here for them? Tractor by net implies that you want to use a tractor not an expensive lawn mower. Ag vs. turf, give me a break.

 

[jbrumberg]

ergoman:

I get the impression that you do not like turf tires , but for some users they do fit the need. I never had them and probably never will. You can not work serious dirt with them. I might consider R-1W's or maybe even R-4's someday. Jay

 

[schmism]

Tractor by net implies that you want to use a tractor not an expensive lawn mower. Ag vs. turf, give me a break.

hmmmmm i guess all of us arnt lucky enough to have a $3000 ztrn to mow grass, a $40,000 utility tractor to work the "feild" and another $10,000 SCUT to hall all the yard implements, you know the spreder, the airrator, the dethacher/landscape rake, wagon/trailer...

so instead i have a CUT that while isnt the best at some things, can at least do almost all things with just one toy to pay for and maintain.

 

[jimgerken]

Actually, just to be fair about it, Turf tires get excellent traction in dirt, unless it is muddy at all. And turfs are WAY better on ice than either R4 or R1 tires. And they chain up better than either of the other two (your whole chain is exposed to the ground, none lost between lugs). And of course the turf is the least damaging to the lawn. Now, that said, my 2nd compact tractor was ordered with R4 tires, as a compromise. And it has paid off with the unexpected benefit of much better load handling capacity compared to turfs, for loader work. I can see how the R4 will do fine in dirt unless it is muddy. No problem, when it is muddy, I don't start the tractor anyway, instead I am in the shop building more attachments. Tractors, like airplanes, are built and equipped based on the most likely mission. Everything else is a compromise. If tires and rims were cheaper, I'd want to own a set of turfs, and maybe even a set of R1s, along with my R4s. R4s are a compromise between turfs and R1s, but because they are 6-ply their load capacity is an added benefit.

 

[joebobharley]

My JD rims are carbon copies of yours. The rears will adjust to 5 widths. However, on my 4320, the fronts are only adjustable to two widths with the R4's. R1 rims give several more options I believe.

Richard
4320 eHydro Cab 400x R4's

Too bad JD rims aren't like NH's, depending on the size tractor you can adjust the R4 widths in 7 positions (5 on my TC40DA).

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