Kubota B2710, R4 Tire conversion questions

mismith

New member
I have a 2000 year B2710 that came with R3 Turfs. It currently has Firestone field and turf 13.6-16 "on 10" rim" stamped on tire and the best I can tell the rims are 10" Wide. The rear rims themselves have Titan 16W X 10L stamped in them. The fronts are 23 X 8.50-12. I have went to 2 different Kubota dealers and they think I'm crazy for wanting to change them out and say it will be very expensive. They also tell me that I will have to buy new rims as well. Well, I would like to change the fronts to 23 X 8.50-14's anyway. Do I have to change the rear rims? My owners manual says that if my tractor came with R4's then the size would have been 12.4-16 but does not say what rim width they would have been. I don't mind spending the money and I want R4's but I also want to order the correct rims if needed. The dealers don't seem to want to research this info. for me and both have tried to discourage me. I also am having a hard time finding a 12.4-16 R4. Any suggestions, help?

Thanks,
Mike
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Hi Mike,
Welcome to Net Tractor Talk.
The type of tire you run depends on the work you want to accomplish. The dealers might be right if you primarily use your tractor for mowing and lawn work. if you are part mowing and part brush hogging / box blading etc. Then maybe R4's would be the right fit for you.

I always admired the R3's that I saw. They were kind of an inbetween turf tire. A little bit of meat to them but they won't hurt your yard. My R4's will tear up my yard when I turn (especially if it's wet). But they do great for an all round tire. I use mine more for brush hogging than mowing so it is the right tire for me. I can use it to mow if I have to, but nowdays I have a ZTR for the mowing duties.

My tractor had Ag's on it when I bought it new in 2002. I wanted the R4's as a compromise between turf and Ag's. Yep, I had to get new rims. The tractor sure sits lower with R4's compared to Ag's ... but I 'thought' turf and R4's were about the same height. Why they would use different rims for all three different types of tires gets me. I'll dig into it and see if I can find out for sure for you.

Any chance of getting a pic of your tire so we can see what you currently have?
 

mismith

New member
I mainly use it for bush hogging my pines and light duty loader work and gardening with roto-tiller. I spin a lot with the turfs and somehow will get these swapped out. I just can't believe that I'm willing to spend money and the dealers act like they don't care. I even had one dealer tell me that unless it was a really nice tractor then it wasn't worth it and my tractor was several series behind now. I was shocked and thought to myself, it's my money and my tractor so what do you care? This little tractor is all I need and will probably last me many many years. I just need some help making sure I order the right thing. The problem is that none of the dealers want to take the time to research exactly what rim size I need for my model. It is a HST 4WD and I know the ratios have to be right for the 4WD to work properly. I got further confused when I was reading that the 13.6-16's all came on 12" rims and mine seem to be on 10". The R4 12.4-16 recomendation is an 11" rim.:pat:This shouldn't be this confusing.

Mike
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
That is sad. Check out Neil Messicks site. He is one of the roating banner ads at the top of the screen. He sells Kubotas. I know your tractor well. It iis the one I just about bought. The Grand L 3010 was on close out because the 3130 was coming out so the 3010 was discounted to close to the same price.
I paid 600 extra because I got R4's instead of Ag. Theh dealer kept the Ags. Neil will work you up a price. Tell him doc from Net Tractor Talk sent ya. He'll also be able to ship them to you. I suspect you are looking at a 2k price tag (just a guess).

Nei's web site: http://www.messicks.com/

Here is a link to their contact form. Fill it out and they'll get back to ya.
http://www.messicks.com/locations.aspx

Please post back here with what you find out.
 

Erik

Member
you might google or check craig's list - every so often I see someone trying to trade their R4's for turf tires - might be a low cost alternative to new.

good luck!
 

mismith

New member
Thanks, I'm hoping there is a larger diameter rear wheel that has a lower tire size to equal my total diameter now. The bolt pattern and center hole has to be right too of course. There has to be some newer models that use a better wheel tire combo on the rear to get that same height. The biggest problem is those impossible to find 12.4-16 R4's. The fronts are not an issue. WOW! $2K would kill my dream for sure. I just couldn't see it. I was planning on spending no more than $12-1300.

Mike
 

DieselDen

New member
You might google 'tire groover tool' as an option to buying new R4 tires if you still have plenty of tread on those turf tires. I cross grooved a set of ribbed implement flotation tires I used for jeeping in the sand dunes.
Dennis
 
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