Tire Selection Turf or Industrial tires

[LD48750]

Most everything I read says turfs are good in snow.

I have turfs on my Ford 1510 and they suck in winter.
I read more.... load the tires, front & back.
Same result, tractor doesn't like MI snow.

Put a set of cheap lawn tractor chains on the front & I get around in 10"-12" of the wet stuff.
Even plowed uphill & down.

I think I would rather have R1's but never had them on a 4x4 tractor that is mainly used to mow grass weekly all summer.

 

[PILOON]

If U look closely at TURFs (R3's) , they more closely resemble your average snow tires.

 

[Will_C]

Turfs and chains are a great combination for a SCUT.

On a side note, just don't understand the popularity of R4. They are sold as a compromise tire, but I find they have the worst features of R1s-tear up and indent turf, and the worst features of turfs-don't have a lot more traction than turf tires. R4s are rugged- I guess if you are doing heavy loader work constantly they make sense.

Will

 

[Ford850]

I like R1's for my all around use including snow, but I can see how turfs would work well in snow. I think the key is to air them down quite a bit from where most people run them. For some reason, people tend to air up their tractor tires to the maximum PSI listed on the sidewalls. Air them down so they squat a bit, and you'll get a much larger footprint for better traction.

 

[mercdv]

I have turf (R3) on mine. I do not get much snow (mainly ice) where I live so the R3's are good enough for me in the snow and on ice the chains work great. I do way more FEL work with mine than I do snow removal. The sidewall on the R3 is softer and makes the wheel get squishy under heavy FEL load. You just have to make sure you keep the front tire pressure higher than stated on the side wall for comfortable FEL work. The recommended pressure will be listed in your manual. It is 4 PSI higher on mine. If you do that, it works just fine and makes turning easier. When the pressure gets low in the tire you start having problems turning with a heavy load. I'm running 4 ply right now but will be switching to 6 ply to see if there is a noticeable difference in sidewall softness when heavy lifting. Overall, I've been happy with my choice.

 

[Texasmark]

Traction requirement is R1. I took 6 ply R4s off my 2400 and installed R3s... softer ride and didn't notice any traction loss....Titan R3s 4 ply. I do little if anything with that tractor requiring much traction.....running into a pile of sand or gravel to load...there I add 4wd, OEM R4s on the front and do what it takes.

On the OEM tire, a rant.....6 ply tire, stiff sidewall, rated 2450#/tire (x2, one per side) at 35 psi on an 1800# tractor. An absolute mind boggling, back breaking JOKE!

 

[Ford850]

Traction requirement is R1. I took 6 ply R4s off my 2400 and installed R3s... softer ride and didn't notice any traction loss....Titan R3s 4 ply. I do little if anything with that tractor requiring much traction.....running into a pile of sand or gravel to load...there I add 4wd, OEM R4s on the front and do what it takes.

On the OEM tire, a rant.....6 ply tire, stiff sidewall, rated 2450#/tire (x2, one per side) at 35 psi on an 1800# tractor. An absolute mind boggling, back breaking JOKE!

I run my front R1's at 25psi, and the rears way down to 8 or 10psi. That makes a huge difference in both traction and comfort.

 

[mikester]

R4s excel at loader work and are good all purpose tires. Turfs are useless for everything IMHO. I really can’t understand people claiming turfs are better in snow. I can take my R4s and drive around in a field where snow is deeper than the front axels - even without chains on. You can’t do that in turfs without getting stuck every 5 seconds. If most of your work is in the mud then AG tires are the ways to go.

 

[DMW]

Strictly my opinion. Industrials are for those that want a sub compact to look like the big boys. Not a lot of use on a SCUT, primarily cosmetic. I've been running R1s on a GC2300 for 12+ years now, wouldn't hesitate to switch to turfs. The biggest drawback with R1s in snow is they have no lateral traction. Get too close to the edge clearing snow along a ditch and it will slide sideways into the ditch. Same type of issue with industrials on slopes w/o chains. If your getting a MMM, turfs for sure. Loader work on a SCUT isn't affected as much as the bigger tractors when using turfs.

 

[RProv]

R4's suck in the snow (and mud) - treads fill quick and you're done! Chains are heavy to install and hard on the driveways. I went with R1's and never looked back...don't need chains. add as much weight as you can to your tractor when pushing snow - front & back.

I couldn't agree more. I even find that R1's are fine when I'm on my lawn. Obviously I don't drive on it when it's soft and squishy. As far as snow goes they are great with no chains needed.