Turf Damage Prevention

Gary · Jun 24, 2001

This may be a stupid question, but I figured I would check anyway. I just upgraded from a B7300HSD to an L3010HSD. Both units have turf tires and FEL's, the rear tires on the B7300 had ballast. I never had an issue with turf damage with the B7300 (except when I accendtly left the 4WD on) in any conditions. I had originally ordered the rear tires on the new L3010 to be filled as well, but the dealer talked me into wheel wieghts instead. To make a long story short, the dealer said he couldn't get wheel wieghts to fit the new turfs and urged me to try the unit without ballast, which I'm doing. Stability wise the tractor does seem fine, but I'm now having an issue with turf damage. This past weekend in semi-moist conditions I tried my first mowing with L3010 and my Land Pride FDR1560 mower. Strait-lines are fine, but it seems the front wheels are tearing it up a bit on turns. What I'm wondering is if this is because of the lack of ballast in the rear tires, or something inherent in the newer tractors size that I'll have to get used to ? Or something else ?

Thanks,
Gary

HR_Mutt · Jun 24, 2001

Gary
Not sure if this'll help, I always mow a path around the exterior perimiter first, enabling a gentler turn when approaching the end of the path I'm mowing. I have 2 turf tire equipped tractors(all 8 tires loaded/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif) and have never torn up the turf. I've seen posts before about wheel weights versus the loaded tires, what I don't understand is how the wheel weights are easier on the grass!You're still putting X amount of weight on the ground/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.
regards
Mutt

hayden · Jun 24, 2001

I can't imagine how skidding front tires would be corrected by adding rear balast.

Asuming you're not accidentally in 4WD which of course woudld cause what you describe, you probably just need to turn more gentley. As you suspected, you are probably seeing the difference in tractor size.

Gary · Jun 24, 2001

Paul,
Thanks for the tip. The 4wd is the first thing I checked after doing it once on my old machine. The rear ballast is just a guess on my part, I was figuring a ballance issue due to having a much heavier FEL on and no rear ballast may be putting more pressure on the front tires.
Thanks again,
Gary

Gary · Jun 24, 2001

Hi,
Thanks for the mowing tip, I'll try it. The ballast is just a guess, I was looking at it on a ballance issue. What size machine are you mowing with and is you FEL on ?
Thanks,
Gary

JATO_RaT · Jun 24, 2001

Unless you use your loader daily or several times during the week, I would take it off for the weight, visibility and clearance reasons. They do come off quite easy especially once you learn the little nuances with it. As mentioned, gentler turns are always a good idea, using reverse can be an aid to when turning as it is easier to redirect the tractors path reducing turf tear up or tire marking on a driveway, you would do this in a "Y" turn pattern, Rat...

Von · Jun 24, 2001

Gary,
One thing I noticed from my B8200 to my B2710 is that the new one turns alot sharper. And in doing so I will rip up the turf. Just have to turn a little wider and you should be all set.

hayden · Jun 24, 2001

Considering the weight of tire balast is directly over the wheels, it wouldn't provide any counter balance either forward or backwards, just more downward pressure in the rear tires.

Sure sounds like it's just the difference in machine size. Have you tried removing the FEL while mowing? It's not obvious if it would help or make matters worse, but it might be worth a try.

glennmac · Jun 24, 2001

If your front tires are doing the damage, as is almost always the case in my experience, there are three possibilities: (1) you are in 4wd on your turns, (2) you are cutting your turns too sharply, and/or (3) you have too much weight on your front wheels. The solutions to 1 and 2 are self-evident and have been mentioned.

The solution to having too much weight on the front wheels is twofold: (1) remove your FEL when mowing (which also improves maneuverability), and/or (2) hang a counterweight on the rear of the tractor to offset the downward pressure on the front wheels caused by the FEL. Loaded rear tires, while good for traction and stability, will have no effect on "lifting" weight off the front tires. Only a 3ph counterweight will have that effect. (Think of your rear wheels as the fulcrum point. Making the fulcrum heavier will not have the effect of lifting one end of the lever.)

So, your choices boil down to removing the FEL or adding 3ph counterweight. I do the former, since the latter, while reducing the relative weight on the front wheels, adds significantly to the total footprint weight of the tractor, which is inconsistent with the overall objective of not making imprints on the lawn. The latter choice also adds a lot of length to the rig, resulting in the least maneuverable configuration.