Which tires for first tractor purchase?

[Tojo4158]

I'm getting ready to purchase my first sub-compact tractor (BX2380) and am confused about which tires to choose - R4 or Turf.

The most frequent use of the tractor will be to mow my grass some of which is on a hill. I don't want to tear up my yard or leave ruts in the dirt when it's a little soft, so I feel like turf tires are probably the way to go. I currently have a Husqvarna riding mower with turf tires that handles the hills so it should be a cinch for the BX.

However, I also intend to use the tractor for a bunch of landscaping and lawn refurbishing. That would include the use of the loader and probable some form of a grader dig into dirt to smooth out high spots, etc. I worry that I won't get the traction I need with the turf tires.

Anyone have any suggestions or first hand experience using the turf tires in landscaping activities?

I assume that if I get the turf tires and I lose traction too easily, I could add ballast, tire chains, or even buy a second set of R4 tires (although I'd rather not stick that cost into it).

Thanks!

 

[Roadworthy]

If mowing is the tractor's primary job I see no choice but to get turf tires. After that you can experiment to see what you can get away with moving dirt. You'll find having four wheel drive is a big help there. Adding liquid ballast to the tires could well be in the cards, too.

 

[Palmettokat]

When buying first tractor had the best tractor salesperson I ever met. He asked me a ton of questions before he would answer many of mine. One was tires. The main use of that tractor was to be mowing lawns. He asked me a question I still not sure of and will pass it along to you, who sells replacement turf tires.

I would ask about radial tire options. To me they flex more so should be easier on a lawn. Again check out replacement options. Your tires may never need to be replaced but you may.

 

[mikester]

If you plan on a lot of loader work you will appreciate the R4s. Turfs under heavy loads bulge and are hard to turn and put undue stress on your steering components. They aren’t constructed to handle heavy loads Like the R4’s.

Try this experiment. Take your wheelbarrow and deflate the tires to 3 psi. Load it with a couple hundred pounds. try wheeling it around on your lawn around trees and up hills. Now inflate your tires to max pressure and try it again. Turf tires are like driving around with the tires deflated.

I initially used turfs on a SCUT with a loader then switched to R4’s and never looked back. If you have wet soggy grass and make sharp turns in 4WD you will get lawn tear up. if you plan to use the tractor without loader 95% of the time get the cheaper turf tires, you will enjoy a smoother ride.

 

[propuckstopper]

I'm getting ready to purchase my first sub-compact tractor (BX2380) and am confused about which tires to choose - R4 or Turf.

The most frequent use of the tractor will be to mow my grass some of which is on a hill. I don't want to tear up my yard or leave ruts in the dirt when it's a little soft, so I feel like turf tires are probably the way to go. I currently have a Husqvarna riding mower with turf tires that handles the hills so it should be a cinch for the BX.

However, I also intend to use the tractor for a bunch of landscaping and lawn refurbishing. That would include the use of the loader and probable some form of a grader dig into dirt to smooth out high spots, etc. I worry that I won't get the traction I need with the turf tires.

Anyone have any suggestions or first hand experience using the turf tires in landscaping activities?

I assume that if I get the turf tires and I lose traction too easily, I could add ballast, tire chains, or even buy a second set of R4 tires (although I'd rather not stick that cost into it).

Thanks!

I too have a BX2380, and went through the same decision-making process as you are now experiencing. I do a lot of mowing, and a lot of snow removal with the FEL in winter. We also just finished a pretty major landscaping project in which we moved 40 yards of dirt around the front yard.

I have turf tires, and have not yet needed ballast or chains to accomplish any task. The salesman claimed the turf tires actually have better snow traction than R4 tires, and i have been happy in this department so far.

The turfs are gentle on the grass, and seem to work well enough everywhere else for me to be perfectly happy.

I would recommend going the turf route, as I think they are going to be a better all around tire for most tasks.

 

[Tojo4158]

Thanks for the information and recommendations. I think I will stick with my initial gut and go with the Turf Tires. Worst case scenario is I have to stick a little extra money into ballast, chains, or an additional set of R4s that I would swap on-off depending on need.

 

[Henro]

Thanks for the information and recommendations. I think I will stick with my initial gut and go with the Turf Tires. Worst case scenario is I have to stick a little extra money into ballast, chains, or an additional set of R4s that I would swap on-off depending on need.

When I bought my BX, I bought a set of ag tires and a set of turf tires. I figured I would just swap between the two according to what I was doing. Well I never swapped them, just too much trouble. I ended up using my ag tires all the time, which I had Foam filled, fronts initially, and rears later after getting a rear puncture while liquid filled.

I guess I am suggesting that you figure on the likelihood that whatever you end using initially will likely be on the tractor most, if not all of the time.

I do not have a loader on my BX. I think foam filled ag tires would work well with a loader though.

I have R4s on my B2910 with loader/backhoe and do not like the way they pack up with mud and turn into slicks.

I have 4 or 5 acres of “grass” that I mow with the ag tires on my BX and they work ok for me. But it is just a lawn, not a show piece.

For my purposes, the ag tires hit the sweet spot. As expected you milage may vary.

Perhaps the only thing I am saying here is, it is easy to think you will just swap one set of tires for the other when you want too, but in reality you may not find you choose to do that.

 

[BigG]

I too have a BX2380, and went through the same decision-making process as you are now experiencing. I do a lot of mowing, and a lot of snow removal with the FEL in winter. We also just finished a pretty major landscaping project in which we moved 40 yards of dirt around the front yard.

I have turf tires, and have not yet needed ballast or chains to accomplish any task. The salesman claimed the turf tires actually have better snow traction than R4 tires, and i have been happy in this department so far.

The turfs are gentle on the grass, and seem to work well enough everywhere else for me to be perfectly happy.

I would recommend going the turf route, as I think they are going to be a better all around tire for most tasks.

You are flirting with danger if you use a front end loader without ballast. You need to lower the center of gravity of the machine whenever you raise the bucket up. There is also the problem of the rear tires being light thus poor braking performance. Also there is extra wear and tear on the front end and steering that can be prevented on a tractor with the proper ballast.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I run turfs on a L3901 that I use for a mixture of lawn, field and woodland use, I have ag tires on my other 2 tractors that I don’t run across the lawns as they make large indents. I also use my L3901 in the winter with snow clearing, overall turfs do great,
I have no issues in the field doing tilling, or pulling other attachments, I don’t plough or disc with this tractor as l have a MX series for heavy work.

I do agree with Big G you need ballast, my turfs are loaded and I will use a ballast box when using loader, it’s a safe practice.

I think you will be happy with turfs based on your stated uses. I am very happy with turfs on my tractor and they leave no damage the good looking lawns.

 

[BigG]

I would like to as a question in this. Why does everyone think R1 or ag tires will tear up a lawn on a garden tractor. I grew up in SE Ohio and almost every lawn tractor had ag tires on them. You can not mow up and down the beautiful hills without them and the hills are to steep to go sideways.

I mean if you are running 40 hp and up farm tractor across the lawn you might show the bars in the grass but without spinning the tires there is little or no damage unless the lawn is wet.

I run a 314-8 Wheel Horse with bar tires and I know I would be stuck in the mud with turf tires. The bar tires let me mow down to the lake without to much worry and they leave no marks on the dry ground at all.

A lot of the commercial mowers, with zero turns, in this part of the country are buying the nearest thing to ag tire as they can because with the daily rains they get stuck in every ditch they try to mow.

 

[cthomas]

A quick google search shows that Goodyear now offers the R14T tires in the sizes of the R4's. I have these on my LX2610 and I am impressed with the traction and no ruts(unless I am not careful about spinning tires). Had the R4's on my BX2370 and the R14T's on the LX2610. I believe the R14T's are a much better choice(have not tried them in snow yet). Google reviews for this tires are not many due to the tires being so new, but the ones I have watched are good reviews. I agree on the ballast, tires need loaded(not drunk) as I like to keep my three point open if needed. “The vast majority of compact tractors on the market are being sold with R-4 tires, but there’s a drawback when it comes to traction. If you go with an R-1, then you have more traction, but more vibration on hard surfaces. Up to this point, there hasn’t been a tire as versatile as the compact tractors they’re going on,” said Jacob Sherman, Kubota product manager, compact tractors. “After testing the R14T's, we knew it could perform equally as well in the variety of snow, field, yard, loader and pasture applications our customers expect from our machines. Kubota conducted testing on the Goodyear R14T tire, which features a new-to-market hybrid tread design combining elements of an ag tread (R-1), turf tread (R-3) and industrial tread (R-4), the company says.

 

[PaulL]

On my older BX (2350) I've had turf tires from when I got it. I use my loader for moving and digging, including moving probably 20 yards of dirt when I dug out space for the tractor shed. Never had an issue, key is really how wet it is. If it's dry then turfs have same or better traction than R4 or R1. If it's wet, turfs on a hill can become slick, and you get less push into a pile of dirt or mulch. But not enough to make the machine unusable in my experience.

My experience with lawn damage is that I have two cases where I damage the lawn, both only when it's damp/wet (our lawn drains pretty freely, so it's never a swamp).
- The HST pedal is touchy, when it stops it jerks. This chews up the lawn if in 2WD, putting in 4WD resolves
- Turning tight circles in 4WD (around trees for example) chews up the lawn. Putting in 2WD resolves

For loader work you'll need some sort of ballast, but a ballast box is cheap, and you'll no doubt end up with some rear implements like a snow blade anyway, that'll take care of your ballast, and therefore any problems with load on the front axle. I do often use my FEL without ballast, and it's a case of being careful - the BX has small front tires that you can squish all the way flat if they're not well inflated (I run mine reasonably low pressure on the lawn).

 

[BigG]

"I too have a BX2380, and went through the same decision-making process as you are now experiencing. I do a lot of mowing, and a lot of snow removal with the FEL in winter. We also just finished a pretty major landscaping project in which we moved 40 yards of dirt around the front yard.

I have turf tires, and have not yet needed ballast or chains to accomplish any task."




Watch this video about ballast:

 

[Henro]

I’m my previous post I was not implying that rear ballast is not important with a loader. It is. End of story.

The Ag tires on my BX are foam filled and quite heavy. I don’t have a lawn, just short weeds that look pretty nice pretending to be grass. BUT I can say that my AG tires do leave impressions at times.

If I were in the OP’s shoes I would choose tirf tires and get the fronts foam filled for loader work. Just me maybe.

I have R4s on my larger tractor and like them until I get into mud, when they turn into slicks.

Turfs would be best for grass cutting I think.

 

[bx tractorjoe]

When I mowed with my bx23s, with the hoe and loader off it didn't put much of a dent in the grass even when wet with the r4 tires. when it was heavily saturated it did though.. but then again my 36 inch scag liberty zero turn does to a day or so after we get 3 or 4 inches of rain in the low spots of my property..

 

[chim]

Here's a shot of our yard from the cab - L4240HSTC, Caroni 7-1/2' RFM, loaded R4's. Hard to see any tracks from the previous pass.

 

[Freeheeler]

I went with the turfs, loaded rears. I don't use my tractor to mow, mostly loader and backhoe work and boxblade use. I've not had any traction issues, or issues with sidewall flex on the fronts with loader work. The load is limited more by the loaders lift capacity than by the tire choice as long as the tires are properly inflated. If it's raining, I'm not on my tractor so no issues there. I would recommend the turfs unless you need to work in wet, muddy conditions.