Tires M6800 4x4 with Turf tires

[Builder]

Would this set up be hopeless in slop? Even with front & rear locking diffs? I need to cut a large areas of finish & small farm fields and snow plow a couple of long driveways. Lots of school districts use M 4x4's with turfs to cut fields & plow lots and seem to be OK.
The only problem is if I need to do loader work, are the turf sidewalls too soft for big FEL loads? I think I'm gonna end up on R4's, but I wanted to see if there's anyone with turfs on an M 4x4.

 

[Mith]

See this thread, he uses a 5030 with turf to carry some impressive loads.
I think if you are gunna be working in wet slop you will need a cab so you can stay dry while the tow truck gets there. Once the tread on the turfs fills up they act like slicks. R4 would be a good compromise.

 

[JerryG]

If you get in very much slop, you are going to stay there.

 

[Builder]

Those tires look like big lawn tractor tires. The turf tires that go on the M6800 are bigger & different looking. The tires have a deeper tread and the tread has a diamond shaped appearance to them. Since the 6800 has front & rear lockers, i thought I might be able to get by.

Dealer told me with heavy bucket loads (3-4,000lbs) combined with a turn, i might "roll" the tire off the rim because the sidewalls are softer.

 

[Mith]

You will find that R$ tyres are much heavier and have a higher ply rating (I think its 6 ply). This will naturally make them far tougher.

Think of a 4x4 car, it wont do well off road. Your tractor may be slightly better than this but if you are talking slop like I am thinking you wont get very far.

I expect CT_tree guy can give you some accurate info on how it works for him, I can only give info from experince with far smaller equipment.

As to the pic, I had to post it somewhere, its a little tractor (4x4), but see how slick the turfs are, sure, ags wouldnt have got it out but it demonstrates them clogging up it wet slop.

I'm hoping that someone with first hand experience can chime in soon

 

[guyrj33]

The turfs on my B7800 work well in snow.
In wet clay/mud they clog up.

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

L39Builder -

As Rob/3RRL said, the turfs on my 5030 have done an amazing amount of work. The fronts are 6-ply Titans and carry about 3200 lbs each. I'm pretty sure I've gone over that when I have the entire weight of the tractor, attachments and load on the front axle, but they've never let me down. I've never even come close to rolling a tire off a rim, and even the amount of traction that they give me on all but the muddiest surfaces has been astonishing.

The best part is that they are obviously very gentle on turf. I can get in and get the job done when other machines would make too much of a mess. With all your contract mowing, they might be just the ticket.

And you might also want to consider having two sets of tires and wheels. I was all set to get R4's until I decided to get turfs and ags, since it seemed to me that the R4's were essentially a compromise between the two. That said, it sure seems that nothing holds up to tough loader work (and pavement) like an R4.

One last thing: in 580 hours, I've never put the ags on once. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif The turfs have been just that good.

Good luck, John

 

[Builder]

OK, that's good to hear. The "rolling off the rim" issue was a rumor I heard at the local tractor place.

I'd really like to go with turfs on it and I figgered with the locking rear AND front diffs in the 6800 4x4, it would at least have true 4 wheel lock up available to me to help make up some of the traction lost with turfs.

The turfs I'm looking at look different than yours. Your's look like a a big tire with a garden tractor tread. The ones I'm looking at look like a "diamond" pattern in the tread with lots of space between the blocks. Maybe there's another name for this tread??? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif