R1 or R4...probably kicking a hornet's nest

[jebova2301]

I am in the market for a new MX6000. I currently have an L4400 that I use for moving around totes full of firewood, building/repairing the shooting berms on my property, and brush hogging the trails in the woods. I live about an hour south of St. Louis, Missouri. As anyone from the general area knows, we get to run the full gamut of weather. Heavy rain in the spring, awful heat/humidity in the summer, sometimes a rainy fall, and sometimes quite snowy winters. The property is mildly hilly, and there are a few low spots where the trails have a very slow trickling stream that runs across it. Based on the fact that the R1s get much better traction in sloppy conditions, a part of me thinks they are the better option. Having said that, I also deal with burning a lot of firewood in the winter for heat, and generally have IBC totes packed full of firewood that I bring right up to the "basement" door during the winter, as well as use the current pallet forks on my L4400 to lift and carry around logs before cutting them to size and splitting.

I know going into this that R4 tires have much stronger sidewalls(likely helpful for avoiding any punctures in the woods or doing loader work for building/repairing berms), but lack grip in the sloppy weather and on hillsides, where the R1s will give me better traction if the weather is a bit sloppy, but I am really concerned about the loading on the tires when doing work with the loader. I have run into very minor traction issues on the current R4 tires on the L4400, but nothing that has left me stuck. Having said that, I also don't really deal with the trails or hills if it is damp/rainy/snowy because I don't really feel like getting myself into a bad situation.

Maybe I am overthinking and doing too much research, but the R1 tires the mx6000 comes with appear to have a load rating of 1390 pounds per tire(so let's just say 2800# for the front end). This seems incredibly low, considering the loader(LA1065) is rated for roughly 2000# lift capacity, plus you have the weight of the tractor/loader. If I am running the loader at or near capacity, is this going to cause a huge issue based on the load rating of the front tires if I go with the R1s?

Or is this just one of those "no win" situations where I sacrifice the loader capacity for the grip of the R1s while using the old tractor for most of the loader work, or sacrifice the traction to get the R4s that can easily handle anything I can throw at the loader without breaking a sweat, or are the R1s able to handle the extra weight in some cases, just as long as I don't make a habit of it?

I feel like I am stuck in a rut here where the R4 tires are going to be far better for the loader work, but the R1s are going to be much better for trail work. I am leaning towards the R1 tires, just for the added stability on the hills and usability in less than optimal weather(going with a cab so I can be out of the elements and stop eating spider webs all day), but I am certainly open to any suggestions.

 

[4570Man]

You pretty well understand the pros and cons of both options. Just compromise and buy 2 tractors one with each tire lol.

 

[45FarmallA]

What I would do (now this is just me) is since the R4's have a better load rating is fill the R4's with beet juice or anti-freeze, they won't freeze or crack the tubes/tires in the winter and it'll add more weight to the tire maybe giving you better traction in more softer conditions, Its a trick a lot of farmers would to their tractors to provide better traction I assume. But since the R4s have less tread then maybe also putting tire chains on them in the winter could help, that also depends on how much you drive your tractors in the snow. That's my opinion on it maybe some other people could provide better advice since I don't have new tractors and stuff like that. Good luck

 

[jeff9366]

Is there any reason you MUST tractor when the ground is soggy?

(going with a cab so I can be out of the elements and stop eating spider webs all day)

Cab will add 750 pounds to your tractor, probably 250 pounds on the front axle.

R1/ag tires can be ordered in 6-ply but not from Kubota. You would only need front tires.

 

[jebova2301]

Is there any reason you MUST tractor when the ground is soggy?


R1/ag tires can be ordered in 6-ply but not from Kubota. You would only need front tires.

Sorry for the late reply. I was spending the holiday(and celebrating my birthday a few days late) with family, and just made it home.

Main reason for having to deal with the weather is because I'm not the big man in the sky, and can't really control it. Working 55-60 hours a week at a job where it's an hour and a half each way to and from work, it just doesn't leave a whole lot of time to be picky on what the weather hands me in regards to getting done what needs to be done around the property. Being in the midwest, there is no "set" weather schedule. The old saying around here is "Don't like the weather? Stick around for 15 minutes and it will change." We can go from 70 degrees one week straight down to 20 degrees the next. The spring, you can pretty much expect rain every 2 to 3 days, or sometimes for a week straight at a time fully saturating the ground where it simply doesn't dry out. With me working so far and having so little time during Monday-Saturday with work, it generally only leaves Saturday evenings, Sundays, and holidays to get all the things that need done around here done, so I sort of just have to make due with what I have time-wise.

As for the tires, it appears based on the configurator that the tires are 6-ply rated. Kubota lists the option as "FRONT - 9.5-16 R1 GOODYEAR DURA TORQUE 6STUD" tires. Looking at titan, the only 9.5-16 dura torque they have listed is a 6-ply rated, but still have what seems like a very low load rating of 1390#. The only other 9.5-16 R1 style they have is the high-traction lug, but the same numbers apply to those on the load and ply rating.

 

[arrow]

Air up those R1's. You'll be ok.
The rest of your needs seem to point to R1's in my opinion.

 

[oosik]

I've always had R-1's. I lift & transport some pretty heavy loads ( 3000#) with the grapple on the FEL. Never had any problems with the 6 ply Titans on the front or the 6 ply Goodyear on the rear. My rear tires are filled with RimGuard.

I would recommend R-1's.

 

[sea2summit]

I've got one of each and the R-1's will do a lot of damage to grass/hay fields compared to the R4's. I've never noticed significant advantages with the R1's in mud or anything else...unless you're pulling. For a tractor doing loader work and no ground engaging work I wouldn't even consider R1's, winter just chain up the R4s.

 

[k0ua]

Have you looked into the R14's that try to have the "best of both worlds"?

 

[oosik]

sea2summit makes a good point. However I've never noticed that the R-1's do any damage to my fields. Ground is too darn hard. Besides all my 80 acres is considered range land and a little tire scuffing goes completely unnoticed. Well, hidden amongst cow tracks and piles of cow dung.

About 20% of my tractor time is when tires really make no difference - chipping( Wallenstein). Otherwise it's all ground engagement and pulling.

The R-4's tend to load up and become slicks. It takes a while longer for the R-1's to reach this point.