What tires to get on my first tractor?

[canoetrpr]

Interested in how you guys think Ags do for punture resistance compared to R4s. The average acerage / hobby farm owner like me does all kinds off stuff with his cut - from rotary cutting a pasture, the odd bit of running a cultivator, harrowing , snow clearing AND.... driveway maintenance.

Until the weekend I had convinced myself that if I had to do it again I'd get R1s (I have R4s). The R4s have been just fine - I think that comments about them being useless are greatly exarrated. However, I'm not doing anything on a lawn and I find that they tear up grass if things are wet anyway - so why not have more traction for the other things.

This past weekend, I was box blading my drive and ran into my first puncture. This is the type of work I would guess R4s are well suited for. Puncture was probably just bad luck but it has me thinking how Ags would hold up for working on a gravel drive.

Do those of you with ags do much driveway work?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I use my tractor 50% of the time doing loader work with gravel, sand, and dirt. I average about 200hrs per year. My neighbor has a 4 wheel drive JD with a loader around 38HP. My tractor with R1's and 28 HP will out work his any day of the week. Last year we had a blizzard and he gave up and called me to clear his drive with my FEL and 7' rear blade. He could not pull a 5' grader blade through the snow we had and his FEL was slow going. My tractor was up the the head lights in snow and still going.

I mow my 3 acres with mine and a 6' Caroni 3 point mower and have no problems. Yes if its wet it will leave ruts but any tire is going to do that when you have a 4,500# machine going through.

My decision to buy R1's was simple. I had used a 40 HP Ford with a FEL and turfs and it was a joke. My neighbor already had the JD I talked about above and I watched him struggle so that made up my mind.

Chris

 

[N80]

Interested in how you guys think Ags do for punture resistance compared to R4s.

I couldn't say since I've never even driven a tractor with R4's. But, I've had my tractor for 3 years now and I've done a lot of brush, stump and tree clearing. I've also got black locust trees all over my place. The tread on my ags are cut in many places but I've never had a puncture. So R4's are better, but I wouldn't call puncture problems a liability for ags

I think that comments about them being useless are greatly exarrated.

You are right. But for those of us who often find ourselves needing more traction even with our R1s, it is hard to imagine getting by with R4s.

The only time I wish I had a wider, higher flotation tire is when I'm getting sand out of my creek bottom. Ags aren't too good in sand. Of course turfs would be the best in sand by far.

 

[IslandTractor]

So i was wondering, how many tractors come with spring loaded seats? Mine is a 1994 JD 1070

All the new Kioti's (CK and DK lines) have very nice adjustable suspension seats standard.

 

[PAB_OH]

Interested in how you guys think Ags do for punture resistance compared to R4s.
Do those of you with ags do much driveway work?

R4's generally have a much higher ply rating than ags. They are inherently more puncture resistant.

I do a lot of driveway maintenance (1/4 mile drive, all uphill, one way anyway) and I've never had a puncture. I had a whole bunch of tons of slag delivered 2 years ago and I'm still finding shiny stuff in it.

 

[pitt_md]

I got R4's on my MX5000 which is too much tractor for any kind of yard work. I bought into the hype and took what the tractor came with. Match your intended use to the tires you get.

 

[daTeacha]

My DX 29 has Ags with 600 hours of running around doing woods cleanup, driveway work, a bit of road travel, lots of FEL work moving logs, branches, firewood, gravel, mulch, manure, dirt, etc. Tires are not loaded, no punctures yet at 300 hours. The previous tractor was a B7100, an early one. It had Ags, lots of hours when I got it. No punctures in the same type of use described above. I replaced 2 tires on it when I got it because the lugs were worn off, but there was no sign of punctures then, either.

It depends on what you drive over, obviously. I run 35 psi in the front, 10 psi in the back. I carry 130 lb on each wheel and 900 lb on the 3 point when working with the loader/grapple in the woods.

 

[porky69]

With the mention of turf tires and chains for when you need more traction, and the R4's being a compromise of traction vs damage, why not R4's with chains for really high traction requirements. This seems to me to be a good solution for mowing, tillage, driveway maintenance, etc.

 

[BTI]

R-4's with Chains work well.
Then you always have option's without alot of cash invested.
R-4's are worthless in mud.

BTI

 

[txdon]

I agree with N80. For sand, sugar sand, my R4s don't dig in and get stuck as fast as the R1s. However when I go to the lower land, in the black gumbo, R1s work better. Since I need most of the power to push brush in the sandy area I went with R4s, and they work well.

Does this count as 1/2 vote, or did I just cancel myself out?