Ventrac Dual Wheel Removal and Installation......

[TNMark1]

Time for winter and decided to take the duals off. They seem to keep you from pushing as much as you should with a blade... For that matter, I have a 60" blade (width of the single wheels) and with duals the extra width gets you sucked off the edges of what you are trying to plow....

For this winter along with a 60" blade, I have a broom I'm going to try, and I got the snowblower to insure that NO SNOW FALLS...

I watched the official video on dual wheel installation and removal...

Ventrac 45 Dual Wheel Installation & Removal - YouTube

Jack it up, loosen the center axle thing (use a 1" socket and breaker bar), wack it with a hammer and unscrew the outer wheel... Sounds easy? Yeah it worked for one of the four....

I did not look at the videos below before I did the job....

Should have worked like this.... (not my video)
Removing Dual Wheels on a Ventrac - YouTube

Once I loosened them I found out they were NOT easy to turn... When you turned them, the inner wheel turned too... There are no brakes on the wheels and there was not enough weight to keep them from spinning. I thought about it and figured I needed a "strap wrench".... So I wrapped a nylon tie down strap around the wheel, and twisted a 2x4 about 3' long into it and used that to turn the outer tire. To keep the wheel from slipping, I drove the front of the tractor (when I was doing the front wheels) on to a pallet. it was wide enough so that the outer wheels were in the air and there was enough traction (more than smooth concrete) to keep the inner wheel from turning... Put the strap and 2x4 on it and it turned right off....

Video someone made with a shovel putting the wheel on ..... (not mine)

Ventrac dual wheel installation. - YouTube

I do think that this user is screwing the wheels in too far, not enough gap between the tires...

Torque... Book says 120 pounds. Mine may have had 80 pounds on it. I'll put more torque on it when I put them back on...

Not hard to do with a pallet and a "strap wrench" .....

Mark H

 

[prs]

Mark, you are some kind of lucky that all four were not that way. Our dealer's mechanic put the axle extensions on with a BIG pipe wrench. The guy in the shovel video did put them in too tight, but NO WERE NEAR as tight as Tim did (does). If you look at the painted surface of the extension, you may see the distinct teeth marks of the wrench jaws. I happen to have a medium sized pipe wrench (3 foot) and I put a steel pip onto the end of that and the trampoline jump on it to get all four of mine loose. When I put them back, I followed Ventrac method. The collet is what locks it, not tightness of thread. I purchased an Ego snow blower as assurance that there will be no plowable snow. Keep your fingers crossed.

prs

 

[JackIL]

Another consideration to make sure the collet releases properly is to have grease on all of the surfaces when installing the duals. In addition, when installing a dual, it is only necessary to tighten it up with moderation using both hands. No strap wrench is needed to do this--it is only done by arm wrestling. As prs points out, the real locking occurs when the long rod through the collet is tightened to 120 lb ft.

 

[TNMark1]

PRS..... Thanks BUDDY.... I bought a snowblower, you have one... That means its not going to snow and I'm not going to get to play with my snow blower... There was one video on the web (maybe 2 or 3 there) on changing duals and they really screwed the outer wheel in close to the inner one.... I think there needs to be some room for the tires to flex.... As JackIL says, they don't have to be on tight... For that matter I doubt I had 80 FTPDs of torque on the extensions.. Maybe there was 60, they loosened easily.. I think I can hand twist the 120pounds without a torque wrench (which I need to buy)...

There was a lot of grease and dirt between them.... I cleaned them up with degreaser... When its time to put them back on I'm using antiseize on them to hopefully keep them from sticking...

As I've said before ... My Brother has a Steiner... His has a box setup between the wheels... I've heard Steiner "axles" aren't as strong as Ventrac (they improved theirs)... Steiner tends to bend.... I'm not sure exactly what bends (axles or extensions?) I can say this the system Ventrac uses appears to be a LOT of overkill, they look really strong......

 

[prs]

Well, my snow blower is no where near the Ventrac, it is a little path clearer that I can hand toss into the truck for home or office sidewalk. I use the JD tractor and blade to clear the driveway and parking lot.

I suggest NGLI 2 grease instead of antisieze. Takes good teaspoonful full to fill each seat of threads and the translucent red, blue, or green types are not so messy. I use John Deere's polyuria type which does not dry-out or cake and stays put really well. Following Ventrac instructions, there is a nice gap between the sidewalls of the tires. That is good for flex, but a little bit of a PIA about getting vines and brambles wrapped around the extensions, but they always seem to work their way out again.

prs

 

[TNMark1]

PRS Thanks for the suggestion on the grease... Appreciate it.... Hope we that 17" of snow on Thursday night.....

Mark H
(Just Kidding on the snow.... NOT!!!!!)

 

[splotch]

I know this is an old post but I would like to comment. I was on the side of a hill onetime mowing and I actually had a dual wheel come off and rolled down the hill into a trailer underpinning. After that day I used a large pipe wrench and a cheater bar to put the wheel back on... I dont know if that is the correct way to do it but after seeing that wheel roll out from under me, it was enough to scare the ..... out of me.

 

[prs]

splotch, another West, by God, Virginian!

If it was a current model Ventrac, then what failed you was the center collet bolt. That is wheat locks the outer wheel/extension into the main axle. That 120 foot pounds takes a good amount of force upon a typical 1/2" drive torque wrench and the way the collet is set up, that force is mechanically multiplied against the walls of the axle (multiple inclined planes working together). Relying upon tightness of the extension threads is a sure way of spinning off an outer wheel on a steep WV hill.

prs