Tires Turf tires to ag tires

[uhmgawa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Ag and R4 tires will have less than half the actual rubber contact surface in contact with pavement or ground.)</font>

On a flat surface frictional traction is independent of
the ground contact area. As the contact area decreases
the load per unit area increases resulting in the same net
frictional traction.

On a compressible surface mechanical traction is developed
which varies depending upon tread configuration, surface
viscosity, shear, etc..

 

[frank_f15]

R4's are avaiable almost anywhere. just remember , no particular type of tire tread is a cure all for every condition. i run R4's and like them 90% of the time.

 

[frank_f15]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( On a flat surface frictional traction is independent of
the ground contact area. As the contact area decreases
the load per unit area increases resulting in the same net
frictional traction.

On a compressible surface mechanical traction is developed
which varies depending upon tread configuration, surface
viscosity, shear, etc..
)</font> EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[keeney]

My experience with the chains has been in pure dirt / mud (wet clay) during the construction of my home.

I had chains on the rear over the factory turfs. I swapped the fronts to some wider ag-style tires that fit on the same rims as the turfs that were on there because the tractor needed new front tires, chains would not fit on the front, and new tires for the same rims was the cheapest option for the front.

I never had any problems on side hills with the rear tires. Mostly, I remember having problems getting the fronts to bite turning uphill with a full scoop in the loader. Using the differential braking was very effective in these situations, so the chains worked good in that regard.

It turned out to be a great way to go because now that I have my yard in, the chains are off and I saved a ton of money. the smaller ag-style fronts don't appear to have much negative effects mowing on grass, but I don't use 4wd and they are not that aggressive of a tread anyway.

- Rick

 

[RalphVa]

Good point about the force on smaller contact area for R1s and R4s. Friction is proportional to contact area, something like coefficient x Force x contact area. When going from turfs to R1s/R4s, you trade off contact area for coefficient on contact area. Think you lose out unless they sink in a little bit in soft soil. Force remains the same, which is the weight of you and tractor. The coefficient in soft dirt undoubtedly goes up with R1s/R4s.

My experience with both R1s and chains are that they dig in dirt. I don't like being bounced around while they do this. They tear heck out of the dirt and what's in the dirt when they do dig. They've lots of traction up to the point of dig, but frankly, I think the turfs will hold more traction and not dig when they lose out.

For snow/ice, chains help a lot. Have had chains hang up on things and break (the chains). Have shucked the chains in favor of metal screws into R1 lugs in the winter.

Ralph

 

[5030]

Ralph:

I know that screws work real good in motorcycle tires for ice racing but I never heard of using them in tractor tires. Every time I got a screw in a tire, it went flat. Basically, I got "screwed" /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif