Tractor stability

[Will]

I've switched from a B2100 with rear mower and no FEL to a B2410 with midmower and FEL. Even with the FEL removed, the new tractor doesn't feel as stable to me as my old tractor. Perhaps this is because the brackets for the FEL have raised the center of gravity? Or maybe I'm nervous after doing some digging with the FEL in uneven ground where the tractor really isn't very stable.

Either way, I'm thinking of adding some water to the rear wheels (there's no danger of freezing here - I keep it in the garage during the winter). For those of you who've done this, did the tractor feel more stable afterwards? Was the tractor any rougher on the lawn afterwards?

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Here's a link with pricing info on Kubota B series tractors.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Will, I have a B7500 and added water to the rear tires only. It helped the stability alot.

 

[GlueGuy]

You can also add water to the front tires. This is semi-controversial. Some claim that front tires are not strong enough (or don't have enough plies) to manage the stress that water (or CaCl) will add. However, many have added it w/o consequence.

The GlueGuy

 

[MarkV]

Will,

I sure felt that loading the rear tires on my B21 helped with stability and traction. Why not add some anti freeze just to be safe?

MarkV

 

[Bird]

Will, my tractor is stored indoors, too, and not likely to be used in sub-freezing temperatures, but I put 2 gallons of antifreeze in each rear tire, then filled to the 75% level with water. I think it helped both stability and traction, and I can't tell that it made any difference on the lawn.

Bird

 

[edgeman56]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but that has never stoped me before. Is there a special valve that you can buy to put on the tire to fill it with water?? I am interested in doing this but I am not sure how I would pressurize the water to fill the tire?? Or am I just missing somthing.

 

[Bird]

edgeman56, yes, there is an adapter you can buy at Tractor Supply (air/water adapter kit, part #01-15384 for $7.69 in my 1997 catalog) and probably most tractor or farm supply stores to hook up a garden hose to the valve stem. You do have to bleed off air as you go.

Bird

 

[rbargeron]

Any tire dealer who services ag accounts has the goober (technical term) for filling them.

The main reason to use CaCl is that about 5 pounds of it will dissolve in a gallon of water without changing the volume very much - so you get water at 13 lb/gal instead of 8.
Pretty easy way to add 1000+ pounds of low-mounted weight to a tractor.

 

[Will]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I called the dealer and found out why my new tractor feels less stable than my old one - the rear wheels aren't quite as wide. (48" vs the previous 53", both with R4's). The trick is that the hubs used to be attached to the inside of the wheels on the B2100, but they were on the outside of the B2410. Maybe I'm using the wrong term, but what I'm calling the hub is a chunk of metal that the wheels are bolted to and which is in turn attached to the axle.

The reason they set the wheels a bit narrower is so they won't bump into the right anti-scalp wheel on the midmower. Right this second, if I were to raise the mower all the way that anti-scalp wheel would bump into my tire. I'll have to figure out what to do with that anti-scalp wheel. I got used to having a stable tractor. If spreading the wheels doesn't get me back into the comfort zone, I'll try adding water/antifreeze/CaCl/lead to the tires.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a link with pricing info on Kubota B series tractors.