I'm asking for people with experience with these small-ish tractors on less than ideal slopes -- described in the initial post -- running R4 tires, or the still likely too-new R14T tires.
I mowed those slopes with Husqvarna HST lawn mowers, and a blade on the string-trimmer prior to getting the tractor, and prior to my health turning south. I would burn-out one a year until I could convince my wife to let me spend the money on a much larger investment. A tractor payment is/was more than the $2,400 a year it cost to replace the lawn mower. After the second time the lawnmower's transmission burned-out, sending me hurtling towards the deep gully, "brakes" skidding the whole way, and rolling over me, she agreed that the heavier duty machine was worth it, and not just a toy. I'm not looking to repeat that with a larger, more expensive piece of equipment. I also don't want what little flat ground I have to be a churned-up mud-pit from the Ags. The first fall, I tried being careful, but it still turned the side-yard into a quagmire until spring, except for when it was frozen solid. A few days with the landscape rake during a drout that summer, and it was ready for new grass planting that fall.
The reasons for looking for alternatives to Ags that still work reasonably well on slopes are many. I can keep going until I forget which I've already stated, and start repeating. Having a second set of tires and rims are a possibility, but not next year. I have a budget that should allow me to replace the hemi in my truck, chewed-up cam while towing the tractor back from a side-job. My driveway is almost as steep as the steepest sections of the hill. It should also allow for an L2501 or L3301 if the latter is on about a $2 grand discount/sale, a box-blade or scrape blade, and a flail. A tractor without a cutter won't cut the brambles and keep 'em from taking-over again. I can go cheaper and get another rotary cutter instead of a flail, but I used a flail a lot on much flatter Northern Florida, and I much prefer the cut they give, so I'm budgeting for one as best I can.
I don't mean to sound like a pr*ck, but theory-crafting/bench-racing isn't what I'm asking about. Tons of people say that you shouldn't run R4 in wet, mud, snow, slopes, or whatever. Tons of others say you should be able to. Real-world. R4, or R14T on slopes, 14 to 27.5 degrees, or 25% to 52% measured as 24 to 50 inches of drop over 8 horizontal feet, measured. I explain that I'm backing up the slope, and going down, not sideways. I explain that I've driven tractors for the better part of 40 years, but only on flat sugar-sand, and in flat marsh land. I successfully mowed with an L3901 for 3 years with filled R1 tires, loader, and BH-15 60-inch bush-hog. That tractor and implements are gone, sold. I can't afford a new L3901, they're $4,000 more expensive than when I bought it initially, and I'm on a somewhat tight budget. No credit.
I spelled-out the issues I had. I spelled-out how I tested, and what I was told by the local mechanics that I'm supposed to listen to. Yes, some dealers are great. The ones around me don't seem to be all that good. The one I bought it from, especially.
That's why I hit these forums with the very detailed and specific question asking for real-world experience on slopes with specific equipment. I know I'm not the only one asking. I've seen people asking the question, and seen people respond with generic "You should just run Ag", "You can't work hills that steep", or my favorite "I'm tired of answering this question." without any sign that the question was answered with a real-world test.
I've searched youtube, and most of those seem to try to direct me to Ventrac. While I have and am considering that as an option, it isn't my best option. $15,000 for an FEL. $3,400 for a "Tough Cut". $1,200 for the dual wheel kit. $24,000 for the tractor alone and no implements. It would take close to three years of tight budgeting to afford those basics. Two to afford the tractor, wider wheels, and tough-cut/rotary. This economy may be helping some people out, but it's put me out of work twice in the last three years. Seems to be driving prices up quite a bit on Tractors. L3901 was $17,000 new when I bought it, and about $21,000 to replace it with no real changes to the equipment to justify a $4,000 price increase other than the "p" word. (Poly meaning many, and Ticks which are blood-sucking parasites).
Again, sorry to vent, but look back in the thread, and see how many responses include "I tried taking my B/Big-B/L-series with R4 tires up a slope with X% grade, and it worked great or failed to climb in wet/dry/average conditions."
Frustrating, given that talking to most dealers, including the two near me, and others in surrounding states like TN, KY, VA, SC, GA, or dealers with YouTube channels like Messick's and some others, and they all emphatically state that the most common tire sold with their tractors, Kubota or not, are R4.
I appreciate the responses, but I keep stressing "real world", and Roadworthy was the only one who responded as having taken the L2501 on hills as I described, but with Ags unfilled. That's helpful to know that the L2501 can handle the slopes with the HP. HP moves a geared tractor, some of which runs the hydraulic pump that handles the FEL and steering. HP turns the PTO that turns the rotary-cutter/flail. So that's a help for knowing the machine can handle it, but that's with Ags, and I'd like to know about R4/R14T on a specific grade of slopes as the remainder of the question. An L3301 could be an option, as I've seen some people claim that they bought one from dealer x or y for a few hundred over the MSRP for the L2501. But the hypothetical and "common knowledge" answers aren't helpful, which is why I didn't add this to a similar post a couple pages deep in this sub-forum about an L2501.
It's common knowledge that you urinate on a jellyfish sting . . . the common knowledge is wrong, just ask any marine biologist or medical personnel with real-world experience treating jellyfish/man-o-war incidents. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-urinating/ )
I don't know if common knowledge is wrong when it comes to various tires and slopes. https://www.youtube.com/user/neilrmessick/search?query=traction They tested their "Bar-Turf" tires, and they pulled harder, broke-free and dug a hole, a mild form of what I described, mine getting 8 to 12 inches deep before I could safely get out of the situation. If you watch the "Surprising traction differences between R4\\R14\\Bar-Turf" passed the long blank section, you get the monkey-wrench in how hard the Bar-Turf pulled, and how the R4 didn't break free, but whined until the tractor nearly stalled. I've written to Messick's asking for more testing on slopes or with a geared tractor. No response, no surprise. Who am I to them? But that's at least a real-world scenario. In that test, the R4 and R14T were essentially pulling the same numbers, but that was a limited test.
I'm just expressing frustration and why. I'm not directing it at y'all. Thanks for the responses. I'm a very blunt person. I try my best to communicate differently, but most of the time, my wife has to tell me when and who I'm supposed to apologize to, and often why.
I mowed those slopes with Husqvarna HST lawn mowers, and a blade on the string-trimmer prior to getting the tractor, and prior to my health turning south. I would burn-out one a year until I could convince my wife to let me spend the money on a much larger investment. A tractor payment is/was more than the $2,400 a year it cost to replace the lawn mower. After the second time the lawnmower's transmission burned-out, sending me hurtling towards the deep gully, "brakes" skidding the whole way, and rolling over me, she agreed that the heavier duty machine was worth it, and not just a toy. I'm not looking to repeat that with a larger, more expensive piece of equipment. I also don't want what little flat ground I have to be a churned-up mud-pit from the Ags. The first fall, I tried being careful, but it still turned the side-yard into a quagmire until spring, except for when it was frozen solid. A few days with the landscape rake during a drout that summer, and it was ready for new grass planting that fall.
The reasons for looking for alternatives to Ags that still work reasonably well on slopes are many. I can keep going until I forget which I've already stated, and start repeating. Having a second set of tires and rims are a possibility, but not next year. I have a budget that should allow me to replace the hemi in my truck, chewed-up cam while towing the tractor back from a side-job. My driveway is almost as steep as the steepest sections of the hill. It should also allow for an L2501 or L3301 if the latter is on about a $2 grand discount/sale, a box-blade or scrape blade, and a flail. A tractor without a cutter won't cut the brambles and keep 'em from taking-over again. I can go cheaper and get another rotary cutter instead of a flail, but I used a flail a lot on much flatter Northern Florida, and I much prefer the cut they give, so I'm budgeting for one as best I can.
I don't mean to sound like a pr*ck, but theory-crafting/bench-racing isn't what I'm asking about. Tons of people say that you shouldn't run R4 in wet, mud, snow, slopes, or whatever. Tons of others say you should be able to. Real-world. R4, or R14T on slopes, 14 to 27.5 degrees, or 25% to 52% measured as 24 to 50 inches of drop over 8 horizontal feet, measured. I explain that I'm backing up the slope, and going down, not sideways. I explain that I've driven tractors for the better part of 40 years, but only on flat sugar-sand, and in flat marsh land. I successfully mowed with an L3901 for 3 years with filled R1 tires, loader, and BH-15 60-inch bush-hog. That tractor and implements are gone, sold. I can't afford a new L3901, they're $4,000 more expensive than when I bought it initially, and I'm on a somewhat tight budget. No credit.
I spelled-out the issues I had. I spelled-out how I tested, and what I was told by the local mechanics that I'm supposed to listen to. Yes, some dealers are great. The ones around me don't seem to be all that good. The one I bought it from, especially.
That's why I hit these forums with the very detailed and specific question asking for real-world experience on slopes with specific equipment. I know I'm not the only one asking. I've seen people asking the question, and seen people respond with generic "You should just run Ag", "You can't work hills that steep", or my favorite "I'm tired of answering this question." without any sign that the question was answered with a real-world test.
I've searched youtube, and most of those seem to try to direct me to Ventrac. While I have and am considering that as an option, it isn't my best option. $15,000 for an FEL. $3,400 for a "Tough Cut". $1,200 for the dual wheel kit. $24,000 for the tractor alone and no implements. It would take close to three years of tight budgeting to afford those basics. Two to afford the tractor, wider wheels, and tough-cut/rotary. This economy may be helping some people out, but it's put me out of work twice in the last three years. Seems to be driving prices up quite a bit on Tractors. L3901 was $17,000 new when I bought it, and about $21,000 to replace it with no real changes to the equipment to justify a $4,000 price increase other than the "p" word. (Poly meaning many, and Ticks which are blood-sucking parasites).
Again, sorry to vent, but look back in the thread, and see how many responses include "I tried taking my B/Big-B/L-series with R4 tires up a slope with X% grade, and it worked great or failed to climb in wet/dry/average conditions."
Frustrating, given that talking to most dealers, including the two near me, and others in surrounding states like TN, KY, VA, SC, GA, or dealers with YouTube channels like Messick's and some others, and they all emphatically state that the most common tire sold with their tractors, Kubota or not, are R4.
I appreciate the responses, but I keep stressing "real world", and Roadworthy was the only one who responded as having taken the L2501 on hills as I described, but with Ags unfilled. That's helpful to know that the L2501 can handle the slopes with the HP. HP moves a geared tractor, some of which runs the hydraulic pump that handles the FEL and steering. HP turns the PTO that turns the rotary-cutter/flail. So that's a help for knowing the machine can handle it, but that's with Ags, and I'd like to know about R4/R14T on a specific grade of slopes as the remainder of the question. An L3301 could be an option, as I've seen some people claim that they bought one from dealer x or y for a few hundred over the MSRP for the L2501. But the hypothetical and "common knowledge" answers aren't helpful, which is why I didn't add this to a similar post a couple pages deep in this sub-forum about an L2501.
It's common knowledge that you urinate on a jellyfish sting . . . the common knowledge is wrong, just ask any marine biologist or medical personnel with real-world experience treating jellyfish/man-o-war incidents. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-urinating/ )
I don't know if common knowledge is wrong when it comes to various tires and slopes. https://www.youtube.com/user/neilrmessick/search?query=traction They tested their "Bar-Turf" tires, and they pulled harder, broke-free and dug a hole, a mild form of what I described, mine getting 8 to 12 inches deep before I could safely get out of the situation. If you watch the "Surprising traction differences between R4\\R14\\Bar-Turf" passed the long blank section, you get the monkey-wrench in how hard the Bar-Turf pulled, and how the R4 didn't break free, but whined until the tractor nearly stalled. I've written to Messick's asking for more testing on slopes or with a geared tractor. No response, no surprise. Who am I to them? But that's at least a real-world scenario. In that test, the R4 and R14T were essentially pulling the same numbers, but that was a limited test.
I'm just expressing frustration and why. I'm not directing it at y'all. Thanks for the responses. I'm a very blunt person. I try my best to communicate differently, but most of the time, my wife has to tell me when and who I'm supposed to apologize to, and often why.
