I'll have to go with what seems a majority. Get the R4 tires and go with the CK30. From what friends with similar soil compostion tell me, a tractor of half the weight will mark up the yard a lot when it's really wet on that clay, so you may as well go ahead and get the one you want and just be careful about when you mow.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you mow with the tractor in 4WD, you'll stand a better chance of tearing up the soil. Best to stay in 2WD when mowing nice lawn.
I think, if you don't have TOO many obstacles, that a rear finish mower would serve you quite well, and would be less costly. You'd be surprised how well you can cut with one once you're mastered the turns and foward/reverse movements, being careful to realize that you have a long machine and that one end goes the oposite way really quick when you turn.
I don't have the same soil you have, mine being mostly sandy, but except for the extremely saturated grounds of the last month, I've almost never had any marking problems with my R4s on the CK20HST, even with the backhoe on. Now, it's so wet that my ZTR ruts things up and that's only about 500 pounds I think.
John
One thing to keep in mind is that if you mow with the tractor in 4WD, you'll stand a better chance of tearing up the soil. Best to stay in 2WD when mowing nice lawn.
I think, if you don't have TOO many obstacles, that a rear finish mower would serve you quite well, and would be less costly. You'd be surprised how well you can cut with one once you're mastered the turns and foward/reverse movements, being careful to realize that you have a long machine and that one end goes the oposite way really quick when you turn.
I don't have the same soil you have, mine being mostly sandy, but except for the extremely saturated grounds of the last month, I've almost never had any marking problems with my R4s on the CK20HST, even with the backhoe on. Now, it's so wet that my ZTR ruts things up and that's only about 500 pounds I think.
John
