R1's or R4"s???

[dennis5150]

I am considering a new Kubota 3901 and have a question. Which tires would be better the Ag R1's or the Industrial R4's. My primary use would be brush hogging (mowing) a pasture, and clearing a couple of wood lots that have about 20 years of overgrowth i.e., saplings, blackberry bushes (lots of those),blowdown, and general brush. For traction I would probably want the R1's but for driving over cut saplings and black berry vines I would think the R4's would be better against puncture. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[Katahdin]

I have R1s and have only had punctured the fronts in similar situations, the rears seem pretty rugged. I use Amerseal from TSC in the front tires and haven't had any flats since. I use Amerseal because its not corrosive to the wheel rim.

 

[tcreeley]

I have R1s and no problem. Never used R4s so no help there. You can always add chains if you need more traction. I think they use different rims. May need to check that out.

 

[mddorange]

I have been doing enough brush hogging of 11.5 acres of small trees, blackberry bushes and other brush and have never had a problem with the tires, but the bush hog is fairly wore out.

 

[puckgrinder85]

I've had both on a similar sized tractor. The R1's will have more traction hands down, especially in soft ground like woods. If you're really not pulling anything I don't think you'll benefit from the added traction of the R1's so much. The R1's will give a bit more ground clearance however but also raise COG as well. Its all kind of a trade off on what you really need. I've never punctured an R1 tire and that was mainly in the woods driving over brush and broken sticks etc. I never really worried about it because a tire that size is pretty darn cheap to be honest. The R4's do give good traction and I like them on our newer tractor, they are beefy and hold a lot more liquid ballast in them which offsets the traction difference a bit between them and R1.

Keep in mind the R1 is a soft ground tire, its made to push the lugs into the ground to get the most bite, and it will on all but really hard surfaces. If it cant plunge the lugs into the soil the traction goes down with that.



R1's

Pros:
usually the cheapest
greatest traction in most cases
ground clearance

Cons:

Tear up the ground more
Thinner rubber on small tires
Less capacity
Wear out faster on hard surfaces
Rougher ride


R4

Pro:
Thick and heavy
Hold more ballast
Most desirable for resale
Pretty common sizing
Less ground destruction (If you don't spin)

Con:
Less traction than R1
less ground clearance
Not great in snow

 

[Thomas]

Any wet areas you be passing thru?

 

[pmsmechanic]

I've had both on a similar sized tractor. The R1's will have more traction hands down, especially in soft ground like woods. If you're really not pulling anything I don't think you'll benefit from the added traction of the R1's so much. The R1's will give a bit more ground clearance however but also raise COG as well. Its all kind of a trade off on what you really need. I've never punctured an R1 tire and that was mainly in the woods driving over brush and broken sticks etc. I never really worried about it because a tire that size is pretty darn cheap to be honest. The R4's do give good traction and I like them on our newer tractor, they are beefy and hold a lot more liquid ballast in them which offsets the traction difference a bit between them and R1.

Keep in mind the R1 is a soft ground tire, its made to push the lugs into the ground to get the most bite, and it will on all but really hard surfaces. If it cant plunge the lugs into the soil the traction goes down with that.



R1's

Pros:
usually the cheapest
greatest traction in most cases
ground clearance

Cons:

Tear up the ground more
Thinner rubber on small tires
Less capacity
Wear out faster on hard surfaces
Rougher ride


R4

Pro:
Thick and heavy
Hold more ballast
Most desirable for resale
Pretty common sizing
Less ground destruction (If you don't spin)

Con:
Less traction than R1
less ground clearance
Not great in snow

One more con on R-4's. They are rougher riding than any other tire out there.

 

[Yamaha2112]

I never fully understood R4's. Maybe they'd be nicer than R1's for just mowing and doing palette type work. But for me, traction is king. Tilling, rocky/rooty trails, and snow stuff my R1's, even worn, still grab fairly well. I couldn't imagine going with any less traction for my uses. The only thing that makes me consider R4's is that they seem like they might be more stable off-camber and (likely?) more puncture resistant.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I think it comes down to how much of the tractors life is spent on pavement or hard road surfaces. If your time is majority fields and woods then go R1s and certainly so if you plan to pull any tillage equipment in freshly turned up soil. If on the other hand your tractor spends most of it's time plowing a paved drive or moving pallets in a hard parking lot the R4s are a better option.

 

[nybirdman]

I have 800+hrs bush hogging
with R1's with no problems.For serious off road R1's will win every time.