One economical option I don't see discussed here is adding chains. I have a little JD 4100 that I am using to build a lawn and do landscaping around my new house. It came with turfs and the fronts were worn (it was used when I bought it). The turfs would quickly slick-over in the wet clay (we had a lot of rain last summer). They totally sucked for pushing the loader or pulling a rake or blade. Surprisingly they worked fine in the winter for plowing snow.
Eventually I will probably sell the loader, blade, rake, etc and just use it for mowing, so I didn't want to spend the money to replace the turfs (and wheels) just to put them back again later.
Replacing the rears, even on this smaller tractor would have cost a a couple of hundred dollars each, plus I am pretty sure I would have also needed new rear wheels which would add hundreds more.
So instead, I put chains over the turfs for about $150.
Chains wouldn't work on the front of this tractor with the turfs due to lack of clearance to the steering knuckle.
I was resigned to springing for a new set of wheels so I could put R-1's on the front, but the cost of new wheels was outrageous.
Then, a smart tire dealer found some ags in a size to fit the exisiting wheels. I spent $50 each for some Titan Tru-Power (a wider, ag-looking tire) that were the same size as the front turfs and importantly, fit on the same wheels!
The combo works great in the sticky clay I have. I think the chains clear better than a tire would, and the wide spaces between the lugs in the Tru-Powers clear easily as well. Traction is good enough that I have used this ~3500 lb toy tractor to pull a much larger, R-4 equipped, 4wd Snorkel-Lift and a track-equipped Toro Dingo out of some wet spots they were stuck in.
Now, half of my lawn is in and I have been using it to mow. I take off the rear chains. Even with the tractor stripped down to about 2200 lbs (no loader, no 3-pt weight, just the mowing deck and operator), the lugged fronts do leave some marks here and there. Eventually I plan to put turfs back on the front.
If I decide to keep the loader, I think I will spring for an extra set of front rims so I can easily swap the fronts between turf and "real tractor" tires.
- Rick
