number9L
Gold Member
How about some after pics and a report of how you like the spacers all around?
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question about wheel spacers to increase width of tractor
- Thread starter rbtjr
- Start date
DarkBlack
Veteran Member
Wheel spacers on solid rear axel...Logical if you need it.
Wheel spacers on front pivot axel. you're fooling yourself.
Wheel spacers on front pivot axel. you're fooling yourself.
vtsnowedin
Elite Member
Ah the old "it rotates around the center pin so it is no more stable then a tricycle front end tractor" argument. Clearly wrong as before you will ever get a tractor to roll sideways the front axle will come to it's limit stops and the line of rotation runs from the outside edge of the rear tire to the outside edge of the front tire. Keep the center of gravity on the correct side of that line and a rollover will not occur.
http://www.sdstate.edu/abe/extension/hosta/task-sheets/upload/4-12-Tractor-Stability.pdf
DarkBlack
Veteran Member
Only a fool would advocate relying on machine internal mechaincal limits as as safe, reliable, repeatable method of life safety.
vtsnowedin
Elite Member
Knowing what the actual limits of the machine and using sound judgement to stay well on the safe side of those limits is the most reliable path to safety. Increasing the size of the stability platform of a tractor by the use of wheel spacers or tire position choices increases the limits of the tractor. That gives the operator more room to work before he reaches the margin of safety he works with. You can flip any tractor no matter how wide but a wide tractor can do more work safely then the same tractor set up narrow. If you don't need narrow to fit through some restriction why not go wide and reduce the worry factor and the safety factor.
sdkubota
Platinum Member
Don't have any pics but the factory wheels had the ability to be spread in and out by changing the rims. I believe four (4) different configurations. It is all explained in the owners manual and I believe from narrow to widest is around 8 inches difference. Doesn't sound like much but is really huge. The other thing for stability is having your rear tires filled with fluid.
Gem99ultra
Veteran Member
I have a L3400 with 2" wheel spacers; total increase of 4", with loaded rear tires. I "think" it's a bit more stable with the spacers but have nothing but the feel of the seat of my pants to validate that.
Compared to my old Fordson-Dexta, the L3400 feels a lot more tipsy. Having learned on my Fordson though, ignorance may have kept me unaware of how easily tractors will turn over.
I have also read all the stories warning about how spacers can cause wheel bearing failure, broken axles, etc. but I've never actually witnessed that myself. It seems that running dual rears would cause a lot more stress than spacers.
vtsnowedin
Elite Member
Good point. As the rims of the duals come together at the hub and the load of the tractor pushing down is the same I doubt if the shock load is increased much with duals but the twisting load on the axles in sticky going must be doubled. Wouldn't the highest stress on a hub bearing come from pounding down a rough paved road at speed where you get the wheels hopping in and out of pot holes.
I am the OP and came back to this thread to get updated. I went with 4" spacers on each rear wheel. The spacers definitely added stability. I have had no problems with the spacers, but then again I don't put a lot of hours on the tractor these days. I thought about putting 4" spacers on the front wheels as well but have not done so. Every now and then I reconsider but thus far have decided not to put the spacers on the front. After a fair amount of reading on the subject, I think that the odds of damaging the front bearings are not great. I also think that the spacers on the front could help prevent a rollover, since it appears to me that the angle the tractor is at when the front stop is hit by the axle on the downhill side is a little less than the angle at which a rollover would occur--but I don't know that for a fact (and would not want to come close to a rollover to find out). For me, though, the real question about the spacers on the front has been whether or not I would ever get myself in a position in which the front spacers would prevent a rollover which would have occurred without the front spacers. I sincerely hope not. I don't want come close to operating the tractor in a manner that results in the front downhill axle hitting its stop. I operate the tractor conservatively, so I think it would take extremely unlikely circumstances for the front spacers to make a difference (assuming that the front spacers would in fact make a small incremental difference). However, as I said, the rear spacers definitely made the tractor feel more stable.
Mace Canute
Elite Member
Don't forget, when you are traversing a sidehill, the front axle is still at the same angle to the tractor as it was on level ground. If the sidehill is steep enough that the uphill rear tire lifts off the ground, the tractor body will have to continue through several more degrees of roll before the front axle hits the limiting stop.
Ask yourself now, since the rear tire has already lifted off the ground and the tractor is well on it's way to rolling over, will that front axle stop arrest the momentum of the tractor and prevent a rollover? Consider also that the width of the rear wheels is usually greater then the width of the front wheels and that extra width didn't prevent the uphill rear tire from leaving the ground.