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

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Again, a plethora of opinion as usual with this type tire discussion.
What is often not spoken is how a person uses their machine, or its size or the lay of the land.
Those details make a huge difference.
One guy has a heck of a time w snow with his R4's on his Kubota 2800 while another guy has no problem w snow or woods or hauling with his Kubota M with the same R4's

Well, they're not the same. Even the tires which may be called R4's. Similarity in name only.
The details here have to do with tire size, weight, age and size of tractor, lug configuration and spacing, etc. Is the tractor cabbed? What's it doing mostly? How is it driven? slow or with alacrity? What's the lay of the land? It's not enough to say "I've had R4's and they suck" or the reverse being true.
That's why these types of discussions hardly ever reach consensus.
Details are often not included.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Go with R1'a for sure! You can get the heavier 6 and sometimes 8 ply front R1 tires or just lighten the loader work. You can't do anything to make R4's get better traction except run chains all the time, Not really a good solution to me.
As for R1's damaging a field or turf more than R4's, sure, if you don't pay attention maybe, but R1's WILL pull you through stuff that R4's never will and when driven properly and use 4wd when it's soft, the R1's won't do any more damage.

R4's were designed for continuous loader work on concrete or other hard pack surfaces to wear better and not for Farm or Ag work.

 

[Midwesterner]

Could you run R4s on the front and R1s on the back, provided that the rolling circumference is the same? You might have to purchase different rims, but this would get you both the traction and lift capacity that you want.

 

[Smokeydog]

I’ve switched from R1 to R4 primarily for loader work. Bigger tractor, bigger loads, bigger problems. About every bit of ground on the farm is pitched. There is some lost in grave digger traction but made up in being kinder on my property’s landscaping. I have grooved some of the R4s for added bite. There are some places where weather conditions determine when to go. Same with ag tires or suffer ground damage.

I did put on some extra deep thread R4, 12ply on M59 front that helped with mud. Easily Handle 4,000# FEL load.

 

[jebova2301]

Could you run R4s on the front and R1s on the back, provided that the rolling circumference is the same? You might have to purchase different rims, but this would get you both the traction and lift capacity that you want.

Sorry for not checking in recently. Been dealing with some family issues, and they come first. Fortunately, they are going to heal up.

As for this post, that was actually something I had thought. I wasn't able to find any r4s on the titan website that would be a match to the factory rolling circumference, but I was able to find an r14. The rolling circumference of the stock tires is 99.78 inches, and the 12-16.5 r14 tire has a rolling circumference of 99.8 inches. I would personally think, in the scheme of nearly a 100 inch rolling circumference, 2 hundredths of an inch is negligible. The downside would be having to order a second set of front wheels for it, as you mentioned. I knew that idea would be a whole nother hornets nest I didn't want to kick right away.

Also, to the other replies regarding lawn damage, that isn't really a great concern of mine. I live in the middle of nowhere, and the only person who has to look at my lawn is me. I can live with the occasional ruts leading into the woods. Fortunately, there are paths that are mostly out of sight getting to the trails.

 

[Midwesterner]

Sorry for not checking in recently. Been dealing with some family issues, and they come first. Fortunately, they are going to heal up.

As for this post, that was actually something I had thought. I wasn't able to find any r4s on the titan website that would be a match to the factory rolling circumference, but I was able to find an r14. The rolling circumference of the stock tires is 99.78 inches, and the 12-16.5 r14 tire has a rolling circumference of 99.8 inches. I would personally think, in the scheme of nearly a 100 inch rolling circumference, 2 hundredths of an inch is negligible. The downside would be having to order a second set of front wheels for it, as you mentioned. I knew that idea would be a whole nother hornets nest I didn't want to kick right away.

Also, to the other replies regarding lawn damage, that isn't really a great concern of mine. I live in the middle of nowhere, and the only person who has to look at my lawn is me. I can live with the occasional ruts leading into the woods. Fortunately, there are paths that are mostly out of sight getting to the trails.

Yeah, that .02 inch change is not going to be noticeable at all. RC changes of an inch or more is where the change becomes noticeable. It looks like Kubota offers a 12-16.5 factory R4 option, so you should be able to procure the rims you would need pretty easily.