R14 tires any good in the snow on hilly driveway?

[LouNY]

I prefer the R-14s way over the R4s, hard to beat R1's most of the time. But once they spin on wet snow none of them are worth a damn. I switched one tractor over to BKT Ridemax last year they worked very well in the snow. But even then the rears were chained up. If it's steep and gets wet snow or ice under the tires none of them wil work worth a damn.

Putting the chains on the new rear tires.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I'm a little late, and I don't have experience with hills. That said, as a Mainer I have experience with winter. On my last machine, a 1025R, I went from an R4 with chains to a set of hybrid tires (in this case, Carlisle Versa-Turfs) and noticed no performance loss.

I did, however, see a huge improvement with traction in mud.

When I purchased my Kioti I insisted on R14's after these experiences, they made a believer out of me.

Again, I'm on flat ground, so take my input for what it's worth.

 

[kozal01]

Mt R14's have been great in the snow on my Kioti.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I grooved my R4 tires about 8 years ago, and noticed a significant improvement in snow. With the grooves they are somewhat similar to R14's in tread appearance. I will be replacing my fronts next year and will likely go with R14 tires assuming I can match up the rolling diameter. The rears will have to remain grooved R4's, as I'm not willing to spend the $$$ to replace 80-90% tread tires.

I did notice an improvement in traction for snow when the R4's where grooved, but the fronts wore down more quickly than usual.
Considering the grooved fronts have more friction placed on them while turning they lost rubber faster due to this? This was after 650 hours.
Had to replacethe front grooved tires and decided not to groove the new tires.
The back grooved tires are wearing at a normal rate.

 

[RjCorazza]

I did notice an improvement in traction for snow when the R4's where grooved, but the fronts wore down more quickly than usual.
Considering the grooved fronts have more friction placed on them while turning they lost rubber faster due to this? This was after 650 hours.
Had to replacethe front grooved tires and decided not to groove the new tires.
The back grooved tires are wearing at a normal rate.

There is significantly less tread on the pavement for the fronts, even less after being grooved. I have 1200 or so hours on the grooved fronts and they are about shot.
The fronts also pull slightly when in 4wd, which likely adds to the wear.

 

[ruffdog]

There is significantly less tread on the pavement for the fronts, even less after being grooved. I have 1200 or so hours on the grooved fronts and they are about shot.
The fronts also pull slightly when in 4wd, which likely adds to the wear.

Being that the fronts are much smaller, they make many more rotations per mile. They also scrub on turns and wear, especially on pavement.

 

[chim]

The fronts on all except the Cub LoBoy have worn much faster than the rears and I don't believe grooving had much to do with it. I blame it on other things:

Most of all, the (what I think is) excessive positive camber runs the load on the outer edges of the tires.

Then the scrubbing when turning in 4WD doesn't do them any good. Whatever difference in travel needs compensated for that can't be made up with drivetrain slip does happen somewhere. If one or more tires can't slip, something expensive and metal will break. Although many believe that it's fine to put the tractor in 4WD the day it's delivered and leave it that way forever - I don't.

Then it's the common sense that the fronts get a lot more "miles" on them that the rears. They might rotate twice or more as much as the rears. My tractor gets run on the road into town for snow removal and to help with various projects. That can a round trip of 3 miles or 6 miles depending whether it's for the church or the gun club. Those trips are made with the FEL or heavier 8' plow on the front. The road guys here do a great job of spreading "car dissolver" here, so the roads are often only wet when there are parking lots to clear in town..

The first picture below is from January of 2019 when the tires were grooved on the 977 hour new-to-me L4240. I don't have record of the hours when the next two pictures from January of 2024 were taken when they were regrooved. Probably around 1400 hours. This shows how much camber it has. The insides were barely worn in 5 years.

EDIT TO ADD: The these tires have 1600 hours on them and they look like they'll last for a while longer.

 

[rontaki]

The fronts on all except the Cub LoBoy have worn much faster than the rears and I don't believe grooving had much to do with it. I blame it on other things:

Most of all, the (what I think is) excessive positive camber runs the load on the outer edges of the tires.

Then the scrubbing when turning in 4WD doesn't do them any good. Whatever difference in travel needs compensated for that can't be made up with drivetrain slip does happen somewhere. If one or more tires can't slip, something expensive and metal will break. Although many believe that it's fine to put the tractor in 4WD the day it's delivered and leave it that way forever - I don't.

Then it's the common sense that the fronts get a lot more "miles" on them that the rears. They might rotate twice or more as much as the rears. My tractor gets run on the road into town for snow removal and to help with various projects. That can a round trip of 3 miles or 6 miles depending whether it's for the church or the gun club. Those trips are made with the FEL or heavier 8' plow on the front. The road guys here do a great job of spreading "car dissolver" here, so the roads are often only wet when there are parking lots to clear in town..

The first picture below is from January of 2019 when the tires were grooved on the 977 hour new-to-me L4240. I don't have record of the hours when the next two pictures from January of 2024 were taken when they were regrooved. Probably around 1400 hours. This shows how much camber it has. The insides were barely worn in 5 years.

EDIT TO ADD: The these tires have 1600 hours on them and they look like they'll last for a while longer.

Does the "car dissolver" work on your tractor?

 

[chim]

Does the "car dissolver" work on your tractor?

It tries to! At 17 MPH saltwater and cinders end up on the roof. After returning from trips through the salt, the 20V DeWalt pressure washer and a 5-gallon bucket or two take pretty good care of it. Saves dragging a garden hose out.