oldpilgrim
Elite Member
I got my 3016 last July and with a Summer, Fall and now several weeks of real Winter use, I figured some of you might like to know how they perform. I;ve read where R4's are not good in snow, so here's my experience.
I preface this with the fact that I have had over 20 years of driving another tractor with Ags on it, so I feel that I can make a good comparison.
First, Summer:
I drove it all over my property, including the lawn with no lawn damage. I was working in the woods and had to drive over my lawn every time I went to/from the woods. After a few days in the woods, I decided to put ballast in my rear tires as it did feel a little tippy. After the ballast addition, it felt much more stable and the additional weight gave it a tremendous increase in traction. I felt like I was driving a dozer compared to the unweighted tires. I was concerned about the lawn. Still no issues. Lawn suffered no damage at all even with many many more trips across it.
Next, Fall:
one of my projects was to clear out about 1/4 acre of overgrown brush, saplings, rocks and other bad stuff. I put on my ratchet rake and went to work. Very good traction and I wasn't worried about punching holes in the tires like I used to worry with my Ags. The cleats cover a lot more of the surface of the tire, minimizing exposure to sharp sticks, etc.
With this project, I spread over 80 yards of loam and gravel on the adjoining driveway. Without the backhoe on it, I was able to fill the bucket to overflowing without any rear end lift using only the ballasted tires. The wide stance of the tires compared to the Ags, made the machine feel very stable compared to when I was using Ags. I don't think Ag tires would have held the ballast that the R4's do, so the R4's win this contest.
Now, Winter:
We are having a late winter, with no snow until last week. Since then, we've had 3 storms totaling nearly 3 feet of snow. Two storms it was was dry and fluffy, another was wetter, and stickier. I've plowed and dug out my 700 ft , more or less flat, driveway and my brother's similar length, but hilly driveway, three times. I do not have chains. I do have a 6ft back blade.
I can truthfully say that I see no problems with snow moving with industrials. They work just as effectively as my Ags did, with no chains. I have put over 14 hours pushing, lifting and otherwise moving snow, most of it on top of a frozen, ice slick ground and have not been in the least bit disappointed in the R4's performance. I really feel that even though the R4's cleats are not as deep or as 'aggressive' as the Ag's, the overall extra with of the R4s compensates for the traction that might be lost due to a shallower cleat than the Ag tires have.
I have to say that there were times when I could have pushed more, or pushed further thru deep snow if I had chains, but for the way I handle snow, I see no reasons for chains.
Several times, I actually came close to stalling the engine while pushing into a snow bank. That means there is pretty decent traction.
Once I drove the front of the tractor into a low spot off the edge of the drive way. Stupid me, I was pushing some snow with the bucket and had the backblade dragging some snow behind me. I pushed the loaded bucket into a pile I was building and then went down off the driveway, and I had pulled a pile of snow up behind me with the blade. In 4WD, with the diff locked, I couldn't go forward over the pile or reverse over that pile in the back, so I had to bucket myself out. If I had chains, I probably wouldn't have had an issue.
If I had a front plow, maybe I would have chains, but with a bucket and a black blade, I see no reason for them.
I am very satisfied with the R4's. I much prefer them to R1's.
I preface this with the fact that I have had over 20 years of driving another tractor with Ags on it, so I feel that I can make a good comparison.
First, Summer:
I drove it all over my property, including the lawn with no lawn damage. I was working in the woods and had to drive over my lawn every time I went to/from the woods. After a few days in the woods, I decided to put ballast in my rear tires as it did feel a little tippy. After the ballast addition, it felt much more stable and the additional weight gave it a tremendous increase in traction. I felt like I was driving a dozer compared to the unweighted tires. I was concerned about the lawn. Still no issues. Lawn suffered no damage at all even with many many more trips across it.
Next, Fall:
one of my projects was to clear out about 1/4 acre of overgrown brush, saplings, rocks and other bad stuff. I put on my ratchet rake and went to work. Very good traction and I wasn't worried about punching holes in the tires like I used to worry with my Ags. The cleats cover a lot more of the surface of the tire, minimizing exposure to sharp sticks, etc.
With this project, I spread over 80 yards of loam and gravel on the adjoining driveway. Without the backhoe on it, I was able to fill the bucket to overflowing without any rear end lift using only the ballasted tires. The wide stance of the tires compared to the Ags, made the machine feel very stable compared to when I was using Ags. I don't think Ag tires would have held the ballast that the R4's do, so the R4's win this contest.
Now, Winter:
We are having a late winter, with no snow until last week. Since then, we've had 3 storms totaling nearly 3 feet of snow. Two storms it was was dry and fluffy, another was wetter, and stickier. I've plowed and dug out my 700 ft , more or less flat, driveway and my brother's similar length, but hilly driveway, three times. I do not have chains. I do have a 6ft back blade.
I can truthfully say that I see no problems with snow moving with industrials. They work just as effectively as my Ags did, with no chains. I have put over 14 hours pushing, lifting and otherwise moving snow, most of it on top of a frozen, ice slick ground and have not been in the least bit disappointed in the R4's performance. I really feel that even though the R4's cleats are not as deep or as 'aggressive' as the Ag's, the overall extra with of the R4s compensates for the traction that might be lost due to a shallower cleat than the Ag tires have.
I have to say that there were times when I could have pushed more, or pushed further thru deep snow if I had chains, but for the way I handle snow, I see no reasons for chains.
Several times, I actually came close to stalling the engine while pushing into a snow bank. That means there is pretty decent traction.
Once I drove the front of the tractor into a low spot off the edge of the drive way. Stupid me, I was pushing some snow with the bucket and had the backblade dragging some snow behind me. I pushed the loaded bucket into a pile I was building and then went down off the driveway, and I had pulled a pile of snow up behind me with the blade. In 4WD, with the diff locked, I couldn't go forward over the pile or reverse over that pile in the back, so I had to bucket myself out. If I had chains, I probably wouldn't have had an issue.
If I had a front plow, maybe I would have chains, but with a bucket and a black blade, I see no reason for them.
I am very satisfied with the R4's. I much prefer them to R1's.
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