Now That R14 Tires Have Been Out For A While

[Username Taken]

How do you feel about them vs. the R4?

Enquiring minds

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

If I were to need to replace my turfs, I would consider them.. If they were available in the correct size..

The biggest complaint I seem to find is the R 14 is not available in all sizes.. And the fact it is not available as a radial pattern tire in only a smaller number of sizes...

My question was ...what seems so special about the R 14 as a radial ??....
The overwhelming answer seems to be quality of ride of a radial is better....

This is on a tractor, over a yard, pasture, or wood land and a radial tire giving a better ride is a concern ?? ??
I don't get it.... But that seems important to some....

 

[Username Taken]

If I were to need to replace my turfs, I would consider them.. If they were available in the correct size..

The biggest complaint I seem to find is the R 14 is not available in all sizes.. And the fact it is not available as a radial pattern tire in only a smaller number of sizes...

My question was ...what seems so special about the R 14 as a radial ??....
The overwhelming answer seems to be quality of ride of a radial is better....

This is on a tractor, over a yard, pasture, or wood land and a radial tire giving a better ride is a concern ?? ??
I don't get it.... But that seems important to some....

Thanks for the reply. I am also hoping for someone who currently has R14's that used to have R4's and can give us a comparison. R1's are a little too aggressive for most of us and I am not a fan of R3's

I saw Messick's YouTube Vid and I wasn't convinced. All he was doing was breaking through the top part, the sod, the roots.

Here is a page that lists the available sizes. There is also a way to see only radials and only bias tires. Good luck!

Products

www.titan-intl.com

 

[FlyingDonkey]

I have R14T radials on my Kubota M4. They are very gentle on my turf, better than R4s on Deere 3 series were I think. Very smooth ride (mine are radials). Also they are a fairly wide tire compared to some of the R1s. I’m using the tractor for mowing pastures and a grass runway, along with loader work. Actually I bought the Kubota over a Deere because Deere couldn’t get me these tires.

 

[oosik]

I definitely need the traction that R-1's can provide. I just don't think that R-14 can come up to that requirement. I don't drive my tractor on my lawns. I don't care what type tire I would have on my tractor. At 10K pounds - any style tire will leave ruts and tear it up.

Hey - my Kubota M6040 is a tractor - not a Cadillac. I operate in the dirt & mud & snow. Under these conditions I do not expect a very smooth ride.

 

[warrendeere]

I hate to start an argument, but i CANNOT stand R4 tires. Dealers and tire places love the tires, but if you actually try to do work with them, they are absolutely terrible. Its a tire trying to be good at everything but sucks at everything. I would love r-14, but they are expensive

 

[PuffyC]

Actually I bought the Kubota over a Deere because Deere couldn’t get me these tires.

My Deere dealer didn't even know what R14 tires were

 

[KubotaToy]

Just got a new tractor for the wife and let the dealer talk me into R14s, must admit they looked good on the tractor. Always had R4s which works 99% of the time for the work that she does with the tractors. Only time R4s did not work was in snow and deep mud which I do not experience very often, only one snow over an inch in 12 years.

Back to the R14, after 15 hours of mowing and moving dirt, I wish I had the R4s mounted. The R14s may have marginally more traction on grass but tear it up more and can dirt a hole quicker in the dirt, but the one thing I cannot seem to fix is the bouncy feeling on sloped or rough ground. I had rears loaded and aired up to the OM pressures (around 30 psi) but wow, they look rounded and very little tread touches the ground. I lowered the pressure down to 25 psi for a week which really did not improve anything and finally down to 20 psi this week. At the lower pressure they feel even more bouncy but they do look better and have a better contact patch. I may try 15 psi just round out the experiment.

The R4s always felt rock solid, really did not tear up the grass, and worked well enough in the chert dirt I have around my property. I will give the R14s the summer but will likely look for a set of rims and get R4 mounted as even the wife says the tractor feels unstable mowing our sloped property and has stated flatly that she will not be doing much mowing if it does not get fixed .

 

[IndyJay]

Reviving this older thread after after the subject came up on the "Owning/Operating" forum discussing "Tractors and Wood"...

After running my old tractor on R1 tires for the 27 years that I had it, I ordered my new tractor with the Goodyear-Titan R14 biased tires. The dealer offered the choice of tires without an upcharge. Additionally, I had LiquiTube sealant added to the front tires, RV Anti-Freeze added to the rears for ballast with LiquiTube Ballast sealant due to numerous Locust trees on my property.

Liquitube - LiquiTube Tire Sealant

LiQuiTube offers total tire protection with a simple, one time application. It repairs punctures in the tread area of industrial tires.

liquitube.com

Never having owned R4 tires, I cannot make a comparison with them. I do like the R14's better than R1's for my use, mostly mowing 40 acres on moderately hilly terrain including wooded trails. In this scenario, the ride is much better and I have less disturbance of my grass, especially in turns.
I use a grapple to clear downed trees and a box scraper to maintain my gravel driveways. I occasionally use a 3pt post hole auger as well. Having just got my tractor a few months ago I have not yet experienced how they do in snow.

Here are a couple of links that might be useful to the conversation:

Titan International - R14T™ Crossover Tire for Compact Tractors

www.titan-intl.com

Titan - Tires - R14T

Tires help equipment take on some of the most challenging applications — including farming, construction, mining and forestry. Product line R14T

www.titan-intl.com

Bias vs. Radial Tractor Tires: Which Should I Choose? | PTK

The two-part construction of a radial tractor tire allows the sidewall to flex independently of the tread. The stiffer, diagonal construction of a bias tire...

www.ntstiresupply.com

 

[Williy]

I will stick with my R4's don't tear up the lawn and if you
think R4"s are rough riding on a tractor you need some
thing different to ride, tractors don't have springs or shocks!
Any tire that gives a softer ride on a tractor is going to be
spongy and will not be as stable as the R1's or R4's.

willy

 

[TractorTYMe]

If you have R4's and need more traction in snow, groove them. Worked so good, I couldn't believe it.

 

[ning]

Occasionally you're reading a thread and then you see responses that make you realize that someone really missed something and a video like this could be useful

 

[GeneV]

I'm curious about the ride comfort difference. I've got r4, and they were great with tearing out brush and some earth moving projects. But the ride really sux when mowing, compared to using my garden tractor with turfs.

 

[IndyJay]

I'm curious about the ride comfort difference. I've got r4, and they were great with tearing out brush and some earth moving projects. But the ride really sux when mowing, compared to using my garden tractor with turfs.

Maybe the perceived improvement in ride is more related to the new tractor having taller wheels, and also wider tires. On hard surfaces the ride is improved because you are riding on the center strips instead of the R1 cleats, some of which may also be noticeable while mowing. This picture shows what I mean about the center strip compared to R1. They obviously would not do as well as R1 for plowing or digging.

 

[GeneV]

Maybe the perceived improvement in ride is more related to the new tractor having taller wheels, and also wider tires.

Yes, possibly. I should make a separate thread about the subject.

 

[clarksvilleal]

I went from Turf tires on my old Kubota B2910 to R14s on my new LX3310. Someone above said tractors have no suspension. I knew that, but it became painfully obvious with the LX3310 and R14s. The big turf tires on the B2910 were about the same size (both diameter and width), but the rear tires had only 15 psi pressure, compare to 30 lbs in the R14s. With the lower pressure and the big round profile and no big lugs on the tread, I think the tires themselves basically acted like a suspension. There are areas of my property that I have to mow that are rather rough and uneven, including some spots with tree roots protruding above ground. It is clear to me that the B2910 with the turfs really provided substantial cushioning that the R14s on the LX3310 do not. Even driving on a smooth paved driveway the ride is rougher with the 3310/R14s, partly just due to the big lugs on the outer edges of the tread, I think.

To be perfectly honest, though, I don't know for sure whether the much rougher ride is due only or even primarily to the R14 tire itself. The B2910 had no ballast in the tires, and it was significantly lighter than the LX3310, which has almost 200 lbs of ballast in each rear tire plus the added weight of the loader frame, however much that is. So it could be a combination of tire design, tire pressure and extra weight that is making the ride feel rougher with the LX3310.

 

[KubotaToy]

After 6 months, I have landed on 12 psi for a good tire pressure on the R14s for all around use. I have a cab LX3310 with loader and filled tires, most of it life with be a pasture lawnmower, field brush cutter and occasional barn stall scooper...

 

[clarksvilleal]

After 6 months, I have landed on 12 psi for a good tire pressure on the R14s for all around use. I have a cab LX3310 with loader and filled tires, most of it life with be a pasture lawnmower, field brush cutter and occasional barn stall scooper...

Interesting. Does that affect the life of the tires at all, and by implication the tire warranty, whatever that is?

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

My Deere dealer didn't even know what R14 tires were

That figures. Most Deere dealers are staffed with people that have no clue about anything.

 

[workinonit]

Same goes for New Holland and Kubota. I find that my Deere dearler staff is knowledgable about most things they encounter periodically. What they lack on is being educated on the new things Deere offers. I suppose that happens at a primarily Ag location.

About the tires? Do those R14s mash the grass down in front of a finishing mower worse than R1s? R1s have minimal contact surface area to the ground and don't mash things down as bad as R4s did. I expect it's the same with R14s. I like running a mower with R1s, you can't tell where the tractor wheels even ran.