tractor,quad or lawn mower

[Meadowcopse]

Talking of getting stuck...

[Dexter's Shed]

we popped back into our woods today, as sadly our 15 year old JRT passed away yesterday, and of course we wanted to bury her there, but to cheers the mrs up, I let her learn to drive the "little donkey" well she rides a motorbike, so no probs, we took it right to the back of the woods, where we followed the public footpath to the services, so I could run over whilst she waited and get some go go juice (petrol) the path there runs for around 200mtrs, slight downward slop, very,very muddy and rutted, and the tractor did it no problem, the problem arose after turning around to come back,lol
twice I needed to jump off and push as the wheels lost grip and just spun, pushing downward on the bench seat over whichever wheel had lost grip had us out quite easy, but we deffo need rear mudflaps as I got covered
I think with forward thinking on where you go, grass tyres will be ok, if a set of chevrons come up at a cheap enough price, I may just get a set, but we deffo want another one now

[smudge]

Hi dexters shed sympathy to you about your dog my springer spaniel died Friday aged14 & buried him up woods Saturday had from a 7 week old puppy great memories will be buried close to him when my time comes,

[oldclaypaws]

Commiserations to you fellow pouch-lovers. Have done a bit of searching for best off-road tyre deals. My current lawn rears are 20 x 8.00 -8, so I presume 18 x 8.00 -8 's will also fit. Best new deal I found is £46.80 each here;

http://www.allterraintyres.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1584_1585_1590&products_id=90601

Doesn't seem to be a huge choice for this type of tyre.

[Tarrel]

Sorry to come in a little late to this thread, but here's my "2-cents":

We started off with a 4WD Utility vehicle (a Quadzilla CUV500). Chinese, about half the price of a similar Kubota or John Deere. It served its purpose for around five years, but has literally fallen to bits now. Parts are difficult to get and expensive, and maintenance is difficult. Great functionality, but not recommended due to the above. False economy in hindsight.

For lugging I use a 1981 Series 3 Landrover. Negotiates the rides in all conditions and happily pulls a 6x4 trailer. I've only got it stuck once, when it literally got grounded and ended up with all four wheels off the ground! Cost me £1400. I keep it MOT'd and taxed as a back up vehicle.

For ground care we bought a Mountfield scythe mower. This has a blade around a metre long, so it makes short work of mowing the rides. It's self-propelled and walk-behind. Easy to store and move on the trailer or in the back of the Disco. This has proved a real workhorse. It has the advantage of being modular. You can get a Rotavator attachment for it (although we don't have one yet).

HTH.

[Dexter's Shed]

here's the latest video, so much fun,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Ar0VU ... e=youtu.be

we really should get another one with a cutting deck, to keep the rides in trim

[Dexter's Shed]

Have done a bit of searching for best off-road tyre deals. My current lawn rears are 20 x 8.00 -8, so I presume 18 x 8.00 -8 's will also fit. Best new deal I found is £46.80 each here;

http://www.allterraintyres.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1584_1585_1590&products_id=90601

Doesn't seem to be a huge choice for this type of tyre.

a tip I got from the usa guy's, look at quad tyres on e bay, I reckon some there would fit, and just as much added tread

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quad-bike-tyr ... 23397e8b04

[Dexter's Shed]

I stupidly did not note down the size of my rear wheels/tyres, so will have to pop back over to check, but just going on paw's sizes, am finding quite a few that I reckon will fit, if they are good enough for quads, I'd add though that even if advertised as tubeless, I'd put a tube in

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TQU07-8-QUAD- ... 54039a170b

[oldclaypaws]

I'm no expert on tyres and would appreciate anyone who is chipping in which range of sizes will fit these beasts.

The correct manufacturers factory tyre is a 20 x 8.00 -8, which is what I have. Thats apparently 20" diameter, 8 inch wide tread, and the key measure 8" rims. As I understand it the diameter and tread can be varied a bit, maybe 18"-20" diameter and 8 (< ?) to 11 tread, but the 3rd digit, the rim size has to be 8". 'Westwoodtractorspares' have there 'Chevron' or 'cleated' treads at 18 x 9.5 - 8.

If its grip you're looking for, I'd have thought going for a 7" tread from a quad bike is a bit self defeating, wider treads will give more grip, so you should be going to 9.5 or even 11. More than 11, you'll scrape the chassis.

[oldclaypaws]

I suspect you're trying to go the 'Chinese' route on this Dexter. Yes, there are Quad 18 -8's available, but the reason they are £30 and garden tractor places sell theirs for £45-50 is the wall thickness; quad ones will fall apart in no time. Spoke to a specialist, 7" treads won't fit well and won't give much grip, 9.5" will have the right fit and a third more grip.

The ones sold for the job by the likes of Westwood agents specifically for this job are 18 x 9.5 - 8, and they're about £47 a throw, (or £75 with the wheel). They always use tubeless and fill it with 'slime', that way punctures are sorted. You'll pay extra for a tube and cant put slime in it. Dunno why you're keen on a tube, 'sno advantage.

Seems a bit of a sting to fork out best part of 2/3rds what we paid for the tractors to get offroad tyres, but that seems to be the best kit for the job. I'll try without at first as my wood is dryish, but when pulling a full trailer I think we'll need that extra chevron grip.