Smaller rear tires to lower tractor ROPS so I can fit into my trailer when hauling

[pretendfarmer]

I have a JD 790 I recently purchased. The ROPS is 3-4 inches too tall to clear the header on my enclosed trailer. In order to even fit, I took the ROPS crossbar off and had to try to flatten the tires to get it into the trailer. That worked, but getting it out turned out to be a nightmare. For some reason it "grew" once inside and it was again too tall. I did everything I could short of removing the rear wheels to lower it to just barely clear the door header, but the tractor still caught and did some minor damage to the trailer. I cursed myself for shoehorning the tractor in there and will never do that again. I was thinking that maybe I could purchase some smaller rear tires and wheels to put on when I need to haul the tractor somewhere, which is only a few times a year. Does this sound like a good plan so that I can utilize my enclosed trailer?

 

[Have tractor did travel]

If you change rear tire size, do not operate in 4 wheel drive on dry pavement. It's a real Rube Goldberg solution, but maybe you could cut out the floor boards where the tires rest while traveling. Support the tires with planks screwed to the underside of the floor. That would pickup some extra room -minimum of thickness of the floor boards, and maximum as "Rube" as you dare. That would only do some good if the ROPS clears the top of the trailer before the tires have to cross over the metal threshold of the trailer.
Regarding your solution of letting air out of the tires. Any chance heat in the trailer increased the tire pressure, causing the "growing" you experienced ? If addressing that solves the problem, I'd stick with letting air out and re-inflating on arrival at destination.

 

[newbury]

First of all-what do you have for tires? Turfs?
If you've not got Turfs would switching to turfs work?
Second - what about bare wheels? If you swap the rears to a set of bare wheels when you've got to transport you could drive in on the rim if you don't drag.
Have you seen this?

 

[CH4Ohio]

I'd rent or buy an appropriate flat bed trailer rather than modify my tractor to fit. You only need to tow it a few times per year -- your tractor will be modified with sub-par tires 24x7.

Does your trailer have a rear ramp door? Isn't the tractor pretty heavy to drive up that ramp door?

How are you properly strapping or chaining it down once inside the trailer? It's not secure just because it's loaded and the door's closed.

 

[CobyRupert]

Are you the only owner and operator?
Safety Police may issue a warrant for this advice, but I’d take off the ROPS crossbar, cut the posts down a couple inches and tap some new holes to reinstall the crossbar.

 

[pretendfarmer]

If you change rear tire size, do not operate in 4 wheel drive on dry pavement. It's a real Rube Goldberg solution, but maybe you could cut out the floor boards where the tires rest while traveling. Support the tires with planks screwed to the underside of the floor. That would pickup some extra room -minimum of thickness of the floor boards, and maximum as "Rube" as you dare. That would only do some good if the ROPS clears the top of the trailer before the tires have to cross over the metal threshold of the trailer.
Regarding your solution of letting air out of the tires. Any chance heat in the trailer increased the tire pressure, causing the "growing" you experienced ? If addressing that solves the problem, I'd stick with letting air out and re-inflating on arrival at destination.

Hahaha. No, I'm not cutting the floor out of my expensive enclosed trailer. And yeah, I know all about the 4 wheel drive thing.

 

[pretendfarmer]

First of all-what do you have for tires? Turfs?
If you've not got Turfs would switching to turfs work?
Second - what about bare wheels? If you swap the rears to a set of bare wheels when you've got to transport you could drive in on the rim if you don't drag.
Have you seen this?

Yes, I've been looking for a folding ROPS to swap out but didn't see one for the JD790.

 

[pretendfarmer]

I'd rent or buy an appropriate flat bed trailer rather than modify my tractor to fit. You only need to tow it a few times per year -- your tractor will be modified with sub-par tires 24x7.

Does your trailer have a rear ramp door? Isn't the tractor pretty heavy to drive up that ramp door?

How are you properly strapping or chaining it down once inside the trailer? It's not secure just because it's loaded and the door's closed.

Gee, ya' think? C'mon, this isn't about "how do I strap a tractor down?" for crying out loud. I've been hauling trailers and equipment for almost 35 years. I'm trying to figure a way to not alter the ROPS at all, but haul and store my tractor INSIDE my enclosed trailer. I need to leave it in there at times. Sitting outside on a flatbed screams "HEY, STEAL ME!"

 

[pretendfarmer]

Are you the only owner and operator?
Safety Police may issue a warrant for this advice, but I’d take off the ROPS crossbar, cut the posts down a couple inches and tap some new holes to reinstall the crossbar.

This is the last resort.

 

[jyoutz]

Gee, ya' think? C'mon, this isn't about "how do I strap a tractor down?" for crying out loud. I've been hauling trailers and equipment for almost 35 years. I'm trying to figure a way to not alter the ROPS at all, but haul and store my tractor INSIDE my enclosed trailer. I need to leave it in there at times. Sitting outside on a flatbed screams "HEY, STEAL ME!"

I would guess that 90%+ of us haul our tractors on open flatbeds.

 

[pretendfarmer]

My sig tractor is a slightly modified JD 790. It has a folding ROPS. Not sure if the mounts are the same, but maybe you can change yours out or if not too much trouble, remove for transport. Battery impacts are awesome and fast.

I have called John Deere and all they offer is the replacement non-folding. Any information you could provide on your folding system would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pretendfarmer]

I would guess that 90%+ of us haul our tractors on open flatbeds.

I always have, too. But in this case I want it inside of my trailer, hence why I posted in the first place. If somebody said they were having trouble clearing the door to their garage, a comment of "well I just park mine in a pole barn" wouldn't really be helpful, would it?

 

[pretendfarmer]

Another option is to sell this tractor and buy one with the folding ROPS. This thing is mint, but I want something that I can haul inside my trailer. I love the tractor but the lack of a folding ROPS is a major hassle in my opinion. My old Yanmar didn't even have ROPS and was easy to deal with.

 

[jyoutz]

I always have, too. But in this case I want it inside of my trailer, hence why I posted in the first place. If somebody said they were having trouble clearing the door to their garage, a comment of "well I just park mine in a pole barn" wouldn't really be helpful, would it?

Then you have an equipment mismatch with no satisfactory solution.

 

[pretendfarmer]

Then you have an equipment mismatch with no satisfactory solution.

Kind of. I may just sell it for something with a folding ROPS. It's looking like the best solution.

 

[jyoutz]

Kind of. I may just sell it for something with a folding ROPS. It's looking like the best solution.

I always liked those old JD 790s. Simplicity that works

 

[Root Cause]

OK, you asked for outside-the-box thinking.

Find some ramps, or a hump, or make one with some dirt to see how high you need to lift the front wheels to lower the ROPS 4 inches. If it works on the ground then you could buy two sets of ramps bolting 2 together. This works in theory but you would need some dimensions or just test it out on the ground to know for sure

BTW, if it doesn't work, its a bad idea.
If it works, 4 ramps is a cheap fix that takes little effort to execute.
Good luck.

 

[newbury]

That looks like (with some practice) you could quickly take it off and put it back on.
May I suggest a battery powered impact wrench?

 

[ultrarunner]

I’ve had to greatly reduce tire pressure to get antique cars in my enclosed trailer.

These are tube tires and my trailer has a built in air compressor to make it work.

Another option might be to build a ramp to raise the front tires if the tilt tips the ROPS back thereby lowering the height…

 

[tacticalturnip]

If a Yanmar folding ROPS will fit on your 790 that would be the best way to go; the 790 is a solid machine, they're well loved.