Tires Should I do this tire swap??

dirtworksequip · Jan 20, 2007

John, I really wish you would quit all this back and forth on the R1's vs R4's and just let me make the trade. lol. Here's my take on the swap. Advantages of R1's:1) Better traction in all conditions.2) Better on and off road ride and comfort.3) More stability with wider stance.(R1 wheels are adjustable to several positions)

I would think that with the R1's set at the narrow postion on your tractor is going to become quite unstable, but this could be remedied by moving them to a wider position. I think you would also like the looks better. The only problem being you stated that you had some narrow areas you needed to access.

I myself would not even consider running R1 wheels in the narrow position. Its just going to make the tractor super unstable. In fact I felt that my 3520/cab was too unstable with the R4's even set in the wide position. So I added 4 inch wheel extenstions giving me 8 more inches of rear wheel width. If you have some pics of your tractor with the R1's post them for us to see.

Here's a couple of pics of my 3520 with the rear wheel extensions.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/dirtworksequip/P1010793.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/dirtworksequip/P1010794.jpg

LBrown59 · Jan 20, 2007

Real Tractors have AG tires.

With out ag tires it's less of a tractor.

AndyM · Jan 20, 2007

LBrown59 said:
Real Tractors have AG tires.

With out ag tires it's less of a tractor.

That's a rather silly statement.
It's like saying it's less of a tractor if it has hydro or a cab.

dirtworksequip · Jan 20, 2007

I don't know? When I run the JD 3520/cab eHydro with R4's my wife says I'm on the sissy tractor,but when I run the old JD 870 OROPS geared trans.with R1's she says that's the "manly tractor" So there must be something to it. I personally have turned into quite a sissy. Albeit, comfortable sissy.

Sincerely
Dirt

Superduper · Jan 21, 2007

dirtworksequip said:
I don't know? When I run the JD 3520/cab eHydro with R4's my wife says I'm on the sissy tractor,but when I run the old JD 870 OROPS geared trans.with R1's she says that's the "manly tractor" So there must be something to it.

I disagree. Let's see, back in the day, hot rods had big fat rear tires (ala R4's) with small front tires and that would be way cool, and of course manly. In fact, when I peer at my 3120 with the R4's the profile looks quite hot rod like.

Tall skinny tires did not, a hot rod make. Rather, I think back then, tall skinny tires would have been rather nerdy or sissy.

Oh but I forget, tractors rarely make it to the drag strip.

LBrown59 · Jan 23, 2007

AndyM said:
That's a rather silly statement.
.

But I Like It

jcmseven · Jan 26, 2007

Well folks, I now have had a week to work with my tractor and the R1 tires. I like them. Box blading my steep gravel driveway I can now do in two wheel drive what I would have definitely needed four wheel drive to do before. In four wheel drive, my tractor will pull a box blade to overflowing with gravel and road bond up the gradient which I estimate is greater than 20%. I am happy with my decision. I still am not thrilled with the appearance of the tractor (I liked the R4's better here) but I seemingly am the only one. The people who have seen me working have commented I now have a real tractor. I remain a little concerned that my resale value is taking a hit, but the tractor works so well, I suppose I will deal with that when the time comes. My question: is there any way to set the wheels wider without inverting them? I would like about one or two inches more width on either side, but not a full inverted amount. Thanks.

John M

Partsman2 · Jan 27, 2007

I'm not sure where yours are set now but typically they are set a the narrowest setting from the factory. You should be able to change the width by attaching the rim to the other side of the wheel. In my manual it says when the valve stem is to the outside that is the wide position. If it is to the inside that is the narrow position. This is because the mounting flanges on the rim are offset to one side. You have to move the each wheel to the opposite side of the tractor to keep the tire rotation right. You can also change which side of the mounting flange is against the wheel which gives you an additional couple of inches of adjustment on each side. Clear as mud?

This is without inverting the wheel. Inverting the wheel is how you get the widest position which on my tractor with the flanges mounted at the widest position increases the total width by 20".

I wouldn't worry about resale value. I don't think most people buying a used tractor will care one way or the other IMO.

dirtworksequip · Jan 27, 2007

John, the ag wheels should have 7 different positions you can set them at.Take your pick. It will take a little work though. Probably swapping sides and turning them is the least amount of work,because you will not have to change the inside of the wheel to another position. I'll post some pics later of the different positions.

dirtworksequip · Jan 27, 2007

John, here are the 7 positions that you can acheive with the AG wheels for varying the rear wheel width. The easiest is just swapping sides and keeping the tread in the correct direction. The other positions require you to move the inside portion of the wheel to one of the other blocks. It will drive you nuts trying to figure what width you want. Hope the drawing make sense to you.

JD 7 position AG wheels

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/dirtworksequip/agwheelposition.jpg