Many years ago, shortly after college, I was working as an insurance adjuster after a hurricane. At the time, local agents often rode with us. Agent and I were inspecting a farmer’s property that didn’t have major damage anywhere but had minor damage on numerous buildings. We ended at the main machine shed/shop. When we first walked inside, I couldn’t help but notice an older 2WD open station Long tractor, no loader, that looked to be around 100HP with the rear tires backward. I wondered what in the world the farmer used it for being it had a standard 3 point hitch and drawbar, but it wasn’t relevant to the business at hand so I didn’t ask.
It was so long ago, we hand wrote estimates and checks. The farmer preferred to wait while I wrote it all up on the spot (which I also much preferred). After we agreed on the scope, I sat at one of the workbenches writing it up while the farmer and agent, who clearly had known each other for many years, talked.
Farmer was telling the agent he’d recently bought the Long from the estate of a neighbor who passed away. Ran great. Had about 100 minor leaks but it was a Long so that was expected. He was really disappointed with how it pulled. If his dog pissed in front of the shed on a dry day, that Long would get stuck in the wet gravel pulling an empty grain cart. Tires were filled and weren’t worn out. Just didn’t know why it would t pull. First Long he’d owned. Apparently they were bad tractors and he was going to have to dump it at an auction since he couldn’t sell such a POS to a local.
Eventually I couldn’t stand it any more, so I stopped writing and asked him what he used the tractor for. He said, well I hope you know more about buildings than you do about tractors. Tractors pull things: grain carts, disc harrows, plows, all manner of stuff. Told him from what I overheard, that one didn’t pull worth much. He said it didn’t. Told him I bet it pulled like a champ in reverse. He thought for a few seconds and said come to think of it, it did seem to do better in reverse. Told him that’s because the rear tires are backward. He asked if I was trying to insult him. Told him if he didn’t believe me just compare it to the other dozen tractors in the building. Then went back to my writing.
There was dead silence behind me for at least a full minute (which is a long time when you count it out). Agent busted out in a belly laugh. When he was able to pull himself together enough to talk, he asked the farmer after over 50 years of farming you were really about to send that Long to auction and take a loss on it because the tires are backward and you never noticed. Farmer said @&$, now I’ve got to get the tire man out here to pull the tires and remount them in the right direction. Without turning around, asked him with all the various lifts and cranes around his shop why he wouldn’t just swap the rear wheels. He pondered on that one for a good five minutes. Finally said it had been a long time since felt as stupid as he did right then. Swore us both to secrecy. I’ve long forgotten his name, and if he was still alive he’d probably be about 120 by now so I doubt he cares now.
Anyway, R1’s, R4’s, or any other directional tires pull better in one direction than they do in the other direction. If you need the machine to pull better in reverse but not forward, maybe consider turning the fronts around but know you’ll be sacrificing some forward traction. If you turn all of them backward, yes you should expect folks to ask why you did that and if your answer is to get better forward traction, you should expect them to laugh at you.
, Laughed at! 
