Will 1.5" Wheel Spacers Work with RCK60-30B 60" Belly Mower, on B3000?

My Hoe · Jul 29, 2015

Hi folks,

I remember reading, back when I was hunting a B3030, that Kubota makes 1.5" (aluminum?) rear wheel spacers, to widen the track a total of 3", for added stability--especially appreciated on slopes and with cabbed tractors/hoes, etc..., due to their higher centers of gravity.

But I also remember people saying either the 60" or 72" belly mower would NOT work, with the wheels "spaced out," especially with Turfs.

Here are five pics of the Kubota 60" belly mower, mounted on a B3000, which I believe is the exact same frame size/dimensions of a B3030. I do not know if the spacers are already on this machine or not, but they might be, given how close the right rear tire is to the "deck wheel." (In the first pic, it looks the the tire is actually touching the deck wheel/mount, but I see no 'rub-ring" on the tire, to indicate that this is the case. Also, that mower is pinned up in the "transport" position, for those pics.)

View attachment 434744 View attachment 434744

My questions are:

1. CAN you run spacers with a 60" belly mower?

2. Is the issue that you can mow with the spacers, but NOT pin the deck up into "transport" mode, with spacers on?

3. Can you run spacersWith a 72" belly mower?

4. Can those "deck wheels's" mounting bosses be cut off and welded, out on brackets, by a competent fab shop, without a lot of grief/expense?

a) Has anyone successfully done/had this done?

5. Or, is it some OTHER reason the wheel spacers (allegedly) don't allow the use of a belly mower on a B3030/B3000?

6. IF the spacers and deck won't work, as designed, and my "fab shop" idea is no good, has anyone found a "work around" which allows them to run 3" (total) of wheel spacers, with a 60" Kubota belly mower? If so, I'd love to know how they did it/what was involved.

Thanks much!

My Hoe · Jul 31, 2015

Shameless self-bump, due to time pressure to order parts: :anyone:

My Hoe said:
Hi folks,

I remember reading, back when I was hunting a B3030, that Kubota makes 1.5" (aluminum?) rear wheel spacers, to widen the track a total of 3", for added stability--especially appreciated on slopes and with cabbed tractors/hoes, etc..., due to their higher centers of gravity.

But I also remember people saying either the 60" or 72" belly mower would NOT work, with the wheels "spaced out," especially with Turfs.

Here are five pics of the Kubota 60" belly mower, mounted on a B3000, which I believe is the exact same frame size/dimensions of a B3030. I do not know if the spacers are already on this machine or not, but they might be, given how close the right rear tire is to the "deck wheel." (In the first pic, it looks the the tire is actually touching the deck wheel/mount, but I see no 'rub-ring" on the tire, to indicate that this is the case. Also, that mower is pinned up in the "transport" position, for those pics.)

I even included pics--linked below--I thought we LOVED pics on this site? LOL Just scroll down, once pics open in Word--should be 5 pics. Thanks!
View attachment 434744 View attachment 434744

My questions are:

1. CAN you run spacers with a 60" belly mower?

2. Is the issue that you can mow with the spacers, but NOT pin the deck up into "transport" mode, with spacers on?

3. Can you run spacersWith a 72" belly mower?

4. Can those "deck wheels's" mounting bosses be cut off and welded, out on brackets, by a competent fab shop, without a lot of grief/expense?

a) Has anyone successfully done/had this done?

5. Or, is it some OTHER reason the wheel spacers (allegedly) don't allow the use of a belly mower on a B3030/B3000?

6. IF the spacers and deck won't work, as designed, and my "fab shop" idea is no good, has anyone found a "work around" which allows them to run 3" (total) of wheel spacers, with a 60" Kubota belly mower? If so, I'd love to know how they did it/what was involved.

Thanks much!

My Hoe · Aug 10, 2015

Please accept my apologies for another shameless "self-bump" (after about 12 days with no responses), due to time pressure to order parts: :anyone:

My situation is, I don't have the tractor yet, and the Seller, a used equipment dealer, could put the Kubota 3" wheel spacers on, before he ships it to me (which I can't do, because the tires are filled with RimGuard), and I'm too injured to attempt it myself.

So, I'm trying to find out (as you will read below) whether the spacers will cause the TURFS (which, I understand, are slightly larger than R1's or R4's) to hit the mower deck's wheels or...whatever.

I'll repost my query, below, for anyone's easy reference:

Quote Originally Posted by My Hoe View Post
Hi folks,

I remember reading, back when I was hunting a B3030, that kubota makes 1.5" (aluminum?) rear wheel spacers, to widen the track a total of 3", for added stability--especially appreciated on slopes and with cabbed tractors/hoes, etc..., due to their higher centers of gravity.

But I also remember people saying either the 60" or 72" belly mower would NOT work, with the wheels "spaced out," especially with Turfs.

Here are five pics of the Kubota 60" belly mower, mounted on a B3000, which I believe is the exact same frame size/dimensions of a B3030. I do not know if the spacers are already on this machine or not, but they might be, given how close the right rear tire is to the "deck wheel." (In the first pic, it looks the the tire is actually touching the deck wheel/mount, but I see no 'rub-ring" on the tire, to indicate that this is the case. Also, that mower is pinned up in the "transport" position, for those pics.)

I even included pics--linked below--I thought we LOVED pics on this site? LOL Just scroll down, once pics open in Word--should be 5 pics. Thanks!
View attachment 437162

My questions are:

1. CAN you run spacers with a 60" belly mower?

2. Is the issue that you can mow with the spacers, but NOT pin the deck up into "transport" mode, with spacers on?

3. Can you run spacersWith a 72" belly mower?

4. Can those "deck wheels's" mounting bosses be cut off and welded, out on brackets, by a competent fab shop, without a lot of grief/expense?

a) Has anyone successfully done/had this done?

5. Or, is it some OTHER reason the wheel spacers (allegedly) don't allow the use of a belly mower on a B3030/B3000?

6. IF the spacers and deck won't work, as designed, and my "fab shop" idea is no good, has anyone found a "work around" which allows them to run 3" (total) of wheel spacers, with a 60" Kubota belly mower? If so, I'd love to know how they did it/what was involved.

Thanks much!

TimP · Oct 25, 2019

My Hoe,

Did you ever get any answers to these questions, of install the spacers?

I have a B3000 and have the same questions.

Thanks.

JWR · Oct 26, 2019

My Hoe said:
Hi folks,

I remember reading, back when I was hunting a B3030, that Kubota makes 1.5" (aluminum?) rear wheel spacers, to widen the track a total of 3", for added stability--especially appreciated on slopes and with cabbed tractors/hoes, etc..., due to their higher centers of gravity.

But I also remember people saying either the 60" or 72" belly mower would NOT work, with the wheels "spaced out," especially with Turfs.

Here are five pics of the Kubota 60" belly mower, mounted on a B3000, which I believe is the exact same frame size/dimensions of a B3030. I do not know if the spacers are already on this machine or not, but they might be, given how close the right rear tire is to the "deck wheel." (In the first pic, it looks the the tire is actually touching the deck wheel/mount, but I see no 'rub-ring" on the tire, to indicate that this is the case. Also, that mower is pinned up in the "transport" position, for those pics.)

View attachment 434744 View attachment 434744

My questions are:

1. CAN you run spacers with a 60" belly mower? Yes, but beyond some spacing size you need to modify the mower deck gage wheel frames to clear the turf tires. Any good metal fabrication shop can make you a set of those frames to allow clearance. I can send pictures if you want.

2. Is the issue that you can mow with the spacers, but NOT pin the deck up into "transport" mode, with spacers on? No, that isn't the main issue. You just have tire to deck frame clearance issues that make the arrangement untenable without mods.

3. Can you run spacers With a 72" belly mower? Sure, if you have the modified gauge wheel frames made.

4. Can those "deck wheels's" mounting bosses be cut off and welded, out on brackets, by a competent fab shop, without a lot of grief/expense?

a) Has anyone successfully done/had this done? I literally went to a good fab shop with a scheme and drawings for making "sleeves" with a bend in them to fit over cut-in-two wheel mounting frames. The shop said, hey, it is way easier to just make a new set of frames. And he did.

5. Or, is it some OTHER reason the wheel spacers (allegedly) don't allow the use of a belly mower on a B3030/B3000?

6. IF the spacers and deck won't work, as designed, and my "fab shop" idea is no good, has anyone found a "work around" which allows them to run 3" (total) of wheel spacers, with a 60" Kubota belly mower? If so, I'd love to know how they did it/what was involved. I went with 6" on each side to get me some real stability improvement on steep ground. Very glad I did. The 1.5" per side total of 3" spacing improvement is not worth it in my opinion. I suppose it might help a little but for around $300 I solved the steep ground issue and that was just over half the cost of the spacers.

Thanks much!

There are several threads on this topic (spacers, Kubotas, MMM decks, ) I have posted comments in several of them. I have not located the old posts & the ones I did had lost their photos for some strange TBN reason... I use 6" spacers, Bora brand, one on each side, for a total foot of better spread in rear tires using a B2150. HUGE improvement on steep ground from scary to very comfortable. I will re-post some by insertions in your quote above. My notes are from B2150 experience but should apply to your 3000 series too. My renters have a 3400 with 6 inch spacers as well as a 6040 with them. All great improvements but they are not using MMMs.

TimP · Oct 27, 2019

Hi JWR.

Thanks a lot for the insight.

I loved my B2150, it was a real workhorse..... but it was time to move on to a cab.

I wish I could have had BOTH tractors.

JWR · Oct 27, 2019

Tim: I have two B2150s. One I use with turf tires on a farm for belly mowing around/in close the farmhouse and some 5ft bush hog work. It has the spacers. The other B2150 has AG tires and I keep it in the mountains for snow removal and summer mowing using a 4ft hog. If only those B2150s had synchnro transmissions they'd be THE best small tractors ever made.

TimP · Oct 27, 2019

JWR,

I was fortunate that mine had Hydro AND Bi-Speed Turn.

I had Turf tires, FEL, a 60" belly mower and a 5' rear blade and also had a 5' rear snow blower.

It paid for itself over the 20 years I owned it.

I ended up selling it to my neighbor so I still get to see it once in a while. :.)