need traction on 2wd tractor

[Jd401b]

• Hi
  I just bought this older John deere 401B loader. Did some maintenance and everything is working well.
  
  Its 2WD and im finding it gets stuck/spins tires quite a but in my soft land. The previous owner had a box blade on the back and cleared a chunk of land successfully with it. That box blade definitely added some counter weight.
  
  What is the least expensive way for me to add some traction?
• Add 1000lbs or so to the back w a cement box?
• tire chains?
• change tires to bigger tread
  
  (Notice the tires are like street tires)
  
  Just looking to clear some of my own land, no commercial use and would like to keep costs low.
  
  thanks!
  
  
  
  
  

 

[miangus]

Add 600 pounds of rear ballast and single bar tire chains. Nice looking tractor. I put a ballast box on my MF 202 and filled with about 800 pounds. I had been using a three-point hitch bracket which took slip on front weights. Single bar chains will work great with the industrial tires.

 

[Jd401b]

great thank you.

I have only ever rented smaller 4x4 tractors in the past I wasn't sure how much those modifications would help. Sounds like it will make a big difference on this one.

Yes it is a nice looking machine and starts up and works great. once i get it weighted and working well for my land clearing use ill probably put some time in to cleaning up the surface rust

 

[Tony in SD]

A full 55 gal barrel of concrete weighs over 1000 lbs.
A full 30 gal barrel of concrete weighs approximately 600 lbs

Edit: I ordered a brand new JD 4700 with R4 tires. It came with turf tires. Couldn't ever mow the lawn going up hill if the grass was at all damp. Got the R4 tires, Much better.

 

[Jim.ME]

Given what the loader on a 401B will handle, 1000 lbs., or more, on the 3-point would not be out of line.

 

[Jd401b]

Given what the loader on a 401B will handle, 1000 lbs., or more, on the 3-point would not be out of line.

thats exactly what chat gpt said

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

Those are really turf tires I think R3, R4 industrial would be slightly better. But weight and chains would help.

 

[ss55]

• Hi
  I just bought this older John deere 401B loader. Did some maintenance and everything is working well.
  
  Its 2WD and im finding it gets stuck/spins tires quite a but in my soft land. The previous owner had a box blade on the back and cleared a chunk of land successfully with it. That box blade definitely added some counter weight.
  
  What is the least expensive way for me to add some traction?
• Add 1000lbs or so to the back w a cement box?
• tire chains?
• change tires to bigger tread
  
  (Notice the tires are like street tires)
  
  Just looking to clear some of my own land, no commercial use and would like to keep costs low.
  
  thanks!
  
  View attachment 144532View attachment 144533View attachment 144534

Is there fluid ballast in the rear tires now? Fluid is the cheapest ballast, the downside is if leaks are not cleaned up properly the rims may rust out in 20 to 40 years. From the looks of those rear tires fluid would easily add another 1000 pounds. What size are those tires 18.4-24? Those turf tires are designed to spin out before they tear up turf, R1 tires are designed for traction in loose soil, budget close to $1,000 per tire installed for replacement rear tires. Pressed steel rims are the lightest and lowest cost rims. Cast iron weights can bolt on, budget $1 per pound for used weights.

 

[Jd401b]

i dont think there is any fluid in them,

Currently they are:

44x18.00-20NHS
Goodyear softrac Terra-tire

they pack the mud in pretty quick, and its been kind of dry here lately. Its a low wet-ish property

 

[Richard Nixon]

• Hi
  I just bought this older John deere 401B loader. Did some maintenance and everything is working well.
  
  Its 2WD and im finding it gets stuck/spins tires quite a but in my soft land. The previous owner had a box blade on the back and cleared a chunk of land successfully with it. That box blade definitely added some counter weight.
  
  What is the least expensive way for me to add some traction?
• Add 1000lbs or so to the back w a cement box?
• tire chains?
• change tires to bigger tread
  
  (Notice the tires are like street tires)
  
  Just looking to clear some of my own land, no commercial use and would like to keep costs low.
  
  thanks!
  
  View attachment 144532View attachment 144533View attachment 144534

Personally, I would put a blade on the back. That will be something useful for your land clearing. A barrel of concrete would add weight but be useless for anything else and would prevent you from using the 3 point hitch for anything. You can add more weight to the blade if need be. Again, personally, I have some 150 lb wheel weights that could be attached to the blade to add more weight. I wouldn't buy chains until I saw how the added weight worked. You could add fluid to the rear tires but that won't take any weight off from the front tires. The added weight on the 3 point hitch will due to leverage. I'd stay with those tires.

 

[trackrat]

Put a box blade on it possibly change out rear tires to ag or industrial type tires counterweight will let you use loader more but is useless for anything else

 

[rustred]

hard to say ,.. as you say soft land. but get rid of the wide flotation tires, which of course helps in soft land. but ? put on a regular lug tire with fluid and weights and problem solved as for traction. the wider the tire the less psi to ground and there is your spinning. also the post about ballast right above has facts about your problem. so if your clearing some land which is a small tractor for the job , but no idea what u mean by clearing , as for trees and such. a lug tire would be your friend in this case.

 

[ss55]

Put a box blade on it possibly change out rear tires to ag or industrial type tires counterweight will let you use loader more but is useless for anything else

2X on a box blade with teeth or scarifiers to loosen soil before digging it up. The loader looks similar to a standard farm loader meant for picking up loose soil rather than digging out hard packed soil. Keep in mind that tractor is not meant to be a bulldozer.

 

[buickanddeere]

In an ideal world ? Dry radial R1W tires with 1000lbs of cast iron weights on each wheel .
Unfortunately we do not reside in an ideal world .

 

[Mule Meat]

Another thing to consider is rear tire pressure.
If the pressure is to high the tires can't flex enough to get good traction on soft ground.

If you're not sure if the tires are loaded. Just rotate them until the valve stem is on the bottom. Use something to press on the valve core. If they are loaded liquid will spray out. Use caution doing this for you could get a face full of what ever is in them if they're loaded.

I am with the box blade bunch. More useful than a barrel of concrete when clearing land.

 

[rustred]

agree tire pressure is a big deal also. run 6-8 lbs in them instead of fully inflated at 16 lbs. even just slapping the tire you can tell if it has fluid and you get close to the fluid level also.

 

[Tx Jim]

Turf tires don't yield much traction especially in damp soils. Does this tractor have differential lock? If so I recommend adding rear ballast weight & utilizing diff lock. Next option would be installing tire chains.

 

[dbNga]

Get a roll over box blade, it is much heavier and more useful than just a box blade and more $$$ when you find one.

 

[paul]

Long term, ag tires would be the biggest improvement for traction in loose dirt.

Industrial would be an improvement, but better for pavements and hard gravel not real dirt.

Chains on these would help, if you can find a cheap used set.

Weight on the rear in any form will help some, with any tires.

Those smooth tires just gum up and slip way too easy. You need traction more so than weight, tho weight will help.

Paul

 

[Jim.ME]

The rims will need to be changed to use R1 (Ag) or R4 (industrial tires. You should find a set of demountable rims with the centers. I believe 16.9 - 24 and 13.6 - 28 were common sizes used on the 401 series.