Duals vs 4 wheel drive

Do you have a pull type planter, or a mounted 3pt planeter? You'll need the duals to carry the planter on 3pt.

Are you spinning out in the mud? The 4wd will help you a lot there.

If you are looking to trade tractors, go for the 4wd.

But be prepared to get duals for it as well.

Depends if you need the traction, or the floatation.

--->Paul

We really only bought the 38's to help with the flotaion aspect of it, because the springtooth we use for finishing the seed bed does not level out the tire tracks if the duals aren't on there. The 285 has had duals since before I was around. When we get new tires mounted on the 1855, the ones on it now (Coop radials) will go to the dual rims, and the other ones will be disposed of properly for a small fee. Then there should be quite a bit more traction.

They definatley help get through the wet spots too, but if they start to spin your screwed, unless you got a bigger tractor to pull you out.

I know they can be a pain for things like hauling down the road, and also making too sharp of a turn. I did the latter this last spring with the manure spreader on the 285 and put a 10" gash right in the tread. We have the old Goodyears that were taken off of that tractor about 15-20 years ago due to carcass seperation, so we had one of them mounted. Still plenty of tread, and more than whats on the other side.

I know, a little more than you needed to know...

Donovan from Wisconsin

Now, a 2wd tractor that's ballast correctly, should not have problems.

Before the 4 wheel drive term is thrown around too much, lets correct that. Front Wheel ASSIST. Only assistance. You should have slippage with the front axle is you have a tractor that is FWA. If you load the front rack on a FWA tractor, you are asking for power hop. If you are getting good traction in the rear, FWA may help more. But, the ballasting the tractor correctly is the most important part.

Now your implement. How many shanks does it have on it? Around my parts, 10 hp per shank is the norm.

Just a few things to think about.

I run rear duals on a front wheel assist tractor, and a friend runs duals on all 4 corners of a FWA tractor. Generally, yes, duals do make a big difference, particulairly in the flotation department. I'd say if you go to a heavy FWA tractor with good tires, you won't notice much difference in traction compared to what you've got now with poor duals. Good duals should pull more than the FWA. I'm not sure I'd cut the power back though, unless you feel the tractor simply has way more power than needed now.
What I wouldn't do is expect some new lightweight fluff with FWA to pull the same load as the old Deere. Much of the answer to your question lies in the proper placement of ballast as much as where the wheels are spinning. Don't get me wrong. I love FWA, and I wouldn't buy a tractor without it, but I dual them up too....
In short, you'll probably get away with what you want to do if you get a heavy enough series of tractor and adequate power. I'd be looking at a 6000 series Deere to fill those boots. Good luck.

Rod