Tires How Round Are Your Wheels and Tires?

[billfires]

GregJ, one problem I had was uneven tire pressures. It mimics the problem you described. Just a thought. Bill C

 

[GregJ]

Thanks Bill,
That's something that I haven't checked in a while. I am hoping to rip into this problem real soon... However my wife seems to think that remodeling our bedroom has priority over my tractor right now..... I just don't understand women sometimes. So, it might be a week or so before I can tackle this project.

Greg

 

[GregJ]

I snuck out this evening and pulled a wheel and hub. I verified that the axle was true. Then I cleaned up the hub and shims and reinstalled it on the axle. That is when I could see what was happening. When I snugged up the bolt on the shims, it pulls the hub to the side of the shims, maybe about 1/32". This, in turn, magnifies as it goes away from the center of the axle. I loosened the bolt to check the amount of play between the hub and axle. There is some, but it didn't seem to be too much. There has to be some play in order to slide the hub on and off. Although, there is the possibility that the hub is worn from when the tractor was new and the hub loosened in the first 2 months. I was one of the pre "Ernt,Ernt,Ernt" posters. It was really loose. I'll give my dealer a call and see what he says the tolerance should be on that hub.

Thanks for all the posts.

Greg

 

[GregJ]

I had a nice talk with my dealer today and he assured me that my situation was not a major problem. In some cases where there has been significant wear on the axle, it is possible to use some shim stock to straighten out the hub. Axle replacement is not a huge job either. He did bring up a good point. I have loaded rear tires and that will increase any bouncing at full speed on a hard road. So.... I guess the lesson here is to keep your hub bolts tight.

Greg

 

[chim]

Greg, the "errnt, errnt, errnt" problem will force you to do an involuntary hula dance while seated. Slop in the plane that makes the wheel wobble is magnified as you move away from the hub. If you're bouncing up/down, tightening the hub won't do much.

I wouldn't worry about the axle being 1/16" off center when tight. That only makes the tractor travel up and down inside a range of 1/8". The tires aren't perfect, and road is likely "unlevel" by much more than that over the distance it takes to complete a rear tire rotation.

Does your B7500 have R4's? Mine does, and when it was delivered the tire pressure was way higher than I needed. I tried pressures as low as 7PSI to see what would work. At 10-12PSI I haven't had any trouble, but at 7PSI I managed to spin a rim inside the one rear tire when the rotary cutter got caught on something and the tractor wanted to keep movin' on. Rear tires on mine are loaded w/ antifreeze.

Good luck and let us know how you make out...............chim

 

[GregJ]

Chim,
My tires are loaded with windshield washer fluid. I have to keep them at 30lbs. I spun a rim at 20lbs., so I keep them firm. Actually, this issue is sounding like it is a bigger deal than it really is. I do only have a small fluctuation in "wheel wobble", and I think the dealer hit it when he said the fluid can magnify the side to side wobble on hard surfaces at higher speeds. Quite honestly, after removing the hub, cleaning and retorquing, I'm not too worried about it. There might be a small amount of wear on my axle, but definitely not worth doing anything about. The important thing is that I have learned something out of this process. It once again reinforces the importance of torquing those hub bolts on a regular basis. When I see a potential problem, I look at it as an opportunity to learn more about my tractor. Someday I may understand it.

Thanks,
Greg