Now That R14 Tires Have Been Out For A While

[Creamer]

To me ride quality is when working in fields.
When you spend several hours a day in the tractor seat ride quality is important.
With non-filled tires it is amazing the difference in ride quality between radials and bias tires,
when both are properly inflated. Adding liquid fill will adversely affect the ride quality.
And yes we road our tractors frequently but if the ride quality is good in the field it is usually good on the road,
occasionally while roading I've had a tractor that felt spongy and bouncy and actually had to slow down a bit till it got the poggoing settled down.

If your fields are too rough it would be easier to change your fields, the angle you drive on them, or how you till. Growing up on a farm/ranch when we cultivated and hilled corn we smoothed them out driving diagonally - the longer the angle the smoother the ride. Hilling corn is rare anymore so what is making your fields rough.

We also had some land where multiple moldboard plows had plowed a fire break one time to stop a prairie fire and it had just gone back to prairie grass laeving 20-30 dead furrows. When we mowed it lengthwise with the furrows or at a long angle to the furrows to make it smoother. Now of course this land is cropped so the dead furrows are long gone.

Furthermore if you do fieldwork the priority should be traction not ride quality.

 

[N80]

If your fields are too rough it would be easier to change your fields, the angle you drive on them, or how you till. Growing up on a farm/ranch when we cultivated and hilled corn we smoothed them out driving diagonally - the longer the angle the smoother the ride. Hilling corn is rare anymore so what is making your fields rough.

We also had some land where multiple moldboard plows had plowed a fire break one time to stop a prairie fire and it had just gone back to prairie grass laeving 20-30 dead furrows. When we mowed it lengthwise with the furrows or at a long angle to the furrows to make it smoother. Now of course this land is cropped so the dead furrows are long gone.

Furthermore if you do fieldwork the priority should be traction not ride quality.

Ride quality means nothing to me but having smooth fields is not always a feasible option. Around here we have two creatures that make it almost impossible to keep smooth fields: fire ants and wild pigs. You could spend every waking moment trying to maintain smooth fields and never get ahead of them.

 

[LouNY]

If your fields are too rough it would be easier to change your fields, the angle you drive on them, or how you till. Growing up on a farm/ranch when we cultivated and hilled corn we smoothed them out driving diagonally - the longer the angle the smoother the ride. Hilling corn is rare anymore so what is making your fields rough.

We also had some land where multiple moldboard plows had plowed a fire break one time to stop a prairie fire and it had just gone back to prairie grass laeving 20-30 dead furrows. When we mowed it lengthwise with the furrows or at a long angle to the furrows to make it smoother. Now of course this land is cropped so the dead furrows are long gone.

Furthermore if you do fieldwork the priority should be traction not ride quality.

Tillage work, compaction while harvesting, frost heaves, rocks, very many things can turn a field rough. We normally try to do no till or minimal tillage for erosion control. Plowing, disking, harrowing, and picking stone can result in a very nice field however once it is put into hay and wheel tracks get put in roughness can occur and roughness can just be occasional bumps but they add up as the hours do.
Traction is important but ride quality is also.

 

[Texasmark]

I don't go fast enough to bounce around on R4's
and am very comfy with them. I have no desire
to race someplace to bounce around and be
uncomfortable. I'm very happy with my setup.
But then again everybody is not happy with
just puttin along.

willy

Well good for you. If I went any slower I would just get out and walk.

 

[Torvy]

I think ride quality may mean more to people who have large fields and spend more time in the saddle, as it were. If you work the land to pay the bills, going slow only makes sense for some tasks. Typically, people who farm for a living will go as fast as is practical for the task. Time is money, as they say.

 

[Texasmark]

I think ride quality may mean more to people who have large fields and spend more time in the saddle, as it were. If you work the land to pay the bills, going slow only makes sense for some tasks. Typically, people who farm for a living will go as fast as is practical for the task. Time is money, as they say.

Well if you are 80 and not 27 your priorities change. If you knock your back out bouncing around you won't be in the field tomorrow running lickety split!

 

[Blue Mule]

Went from R3s to R4s. I prefer R3s. They are much better in snow, better while grading gravel roads, better in the dirt, easier on the turf, and still very respectable in mud. They also wear better on pavement if you transport the tractor by driving it. It's a no brainer. R3s are the best all around tires you can buy for the same reason that A/T tires are the best for trucks.

The R4s are too stiff and the tread doesn't provide much friction and that causes them to be poor at most uses of tractors. Sure, they work, but other tires work much better. I have no idea why R4s became standard on tractors.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I have some R4s on my Kioti dk4710. They are made by Titan and look like a mixture of R1 an R4. They look a bit weird, but seem to work. They came stock. They may be proprietary.

 

[John_Mc]

Has anyone factored in the cost of new wheels in their evaluation of tire type??

Fortunately, I'll be able to keep the same rims if I switch from R4 to R14 in my tire size.

 

[blaylockvol]

I bought a M7060 with r14t tires about. 18 months ago, (extra $1,000.00 for the r14’s). I use the loader regularly for moving dirt and have a heavy duty 7 ft woods mower for bushhogging and a 8 ft grooming mower for upkeep on my yard. My tires are liquid filled and for my use, I could not be happier with the results. I have plenty of traction and not much disturbance on grass surfaces. I do take it out of 4 wheel drive with the grooming mower (about 5 acres). I would buy these tires again when I need them. I have 340 hrs on them and no sign of wear. I am currently looking for a 2/3 cu yd dirt pan to move dirt a little faster and have no worry about the traction. Bill