Tirs - turf vs R4 (industrial) which ones?

[SpringHollow]

I have had turfs and R1s. R1's destroyed the yard. Turfs helped but the fronts still dig in because my ground is soft. Turfs clog up with mud very quickly and then are useless. However, Light duty chains let me go through soft muddy ground as long as it was not a complete swampy mess. In ground like that, when I was using R1's with aggressive logging chains, would be buried to the rear axle in no time.

Ken

 

[kozak]

Jimmy,

Might as well put my two cents in worth.

Doing pretty much exactly what you will be doing. I have turfs on my machine & am very happy that I went with them. Was originally looking for R4's but tractor came used with turfs. Have approx 550Lbs as ballast on my 3 pt hitch which has made snow / ice traction & FEL work a breeze. I do have to qualify a few things though.

1.) I never go out when it's soft & mucky. Even with turf tires you will still leave ruts....maybe not as deep but ruts just the same.

2.) Don't have any slopes to negotiate at least not during wet or snowy weather.

Therefore, based upon your first post of mud & slopes I would definitely recommend R4's with some kind of ballast. There is a whole other discussion whether you go filled tires or ballast box. Some feel that the fill will eventually corrode the wheels. That's one of the reasons I went with weight on 3 ph. Of course the disadvantage to this is if your constantly changing implements on the back this would become tiresome quite quickly. There are ways around this, i.e. Pats easy change system for one.


Vic

 

[Builder]

Jimmy,

Might as well put my two cents in worth.

Doing pretty much exactly what you will be doing. I have turfs on my machine & am very happy that I went with them. Was originally looking for R4's but tractor came used with turfs. Have approx 550Lbs as ballast on my 3 pt hitch which has made snow / ice traction & FEL work a breeze. I do have to qualify a few things though.

1.) I never go out when it's soft & mucky. Even with turf tires you will still leave ruts....maybe not as deep but ruts just the same.

2.) Don't have any slopes to negotiate at least not during wet or snowy weather.

Therefore, based upon your first post of mud & slopes I would definitely recommend R4's with some kind of ballast. There is a whole other discussion whether you go filled tires or ballast box. Some feel that the fill will eventually corrode the wheels. That's one of the reasons I went with weight on 3 ph. Of course the disadvantage to this is if your constantly changing implements on the back this would become tiresome quite quickly. There are ways around this, i.e. Pats easy change system for one.


Vic

A ballast box won't work if you're running 3 pt hitch implements. I'd go with filled tires and if you're worried about corrosion or portability, go with wheel weights on back, suitcase weights on front.

 

[pat32rf]

Sugarmaple- Don't let anyone from the safety forum hear that you actually lifted those front wheels !!!!
I filled my rears with windshield washer antifreeze. Probably just as poisonous if you drink it but it doesn't rot your rims or kill your lawn if you do get a leak. I found that it was a lot cheaper to do it myself than have a tire-man fill with calcium, just not quite as heavy.