Tires Advice wanted: Swapping Tires

[orlo]

Hi:

My 3320 has the tires on the narrow position and I think I'll gain a little over an inch if I swap them side for side. I'm not worried the front, but I'm worried about swapping the rear.

The tires are the larger R4's but are Unloaded. How heavy are these tires? Will trying to swap them alone (with jacks/stands of course) be a recipe for disaster? I figure I can take them off and roll them side for side.

Thanks,

 

[radman1]

I have removed the R4 rear tires on my kubota and they are larger then the Jd tires your talking about. You should be ok. Just keep them upright and close to the tractor as you move them from one side to the other. With the loader bucket on the ground, you should be able to use a jack under the middle to lift the entire rear end up at the same time. Then use jack stands or blocks under the housing for extra safety. When you rotate the tires you can't lift them onto the hubs, lower the jack just enough to line up the holes. You only really need to line up one hole first, and thread the bolt. Then rotate the tire with the bolt threaded to align the other holes.
If you don't have a loader on the front, it is more difficult. The good places to jack are near the midline and it is more difficult to keep the rear of the tractor from tipping to one side as the tires are removed. If no front loader, you should use 2 jacks under the rear end and jack up together.
However, I don't think gaining an inch of width on each side is much of an advantage.

 

[orlo]

Thanks. I'm not 100% sure I'm going to do it yet. I felt the same way, an inch+ didn't seem like a lot. I also do have a loader on the front. (300CX).

 

[dmp437]

Load the rears and i don't think you'll need to swap them. The stability is greatly increased.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

This shows how shortsighted folks are that don't have a backhoe are. The primary use for one is to allow easy wheel swaps. They also come in handy for a number of other uses.

 

[orlo]

I know. Actually you don't even need the backhoe, just the stabilizer feet. I have a BH6000 on my 2305 and the stabilizers work as great jacks. Ironically the small tires on the 2305 aren't bad to handle even when loaded.

 

[slaveToHorses]

I know. Actually you don't even need the backhoe, just the stabilizer feet. I have a BH6000 on my 2305 and the stabilizers work as great jacks. Ironically the small tires on the 2305 aren't bad to handle even when loaded.

ha! clearly you need a 447 or 448 for your new 3320! Helps with that traction problem too My 3720 has the loader and backhoe AND all four R4's loaded. I still occasionally get a bit of slippage on wet grass and steep hills but it is worth it not to dig up the ground so badly as the R1's do.

 

[ovrszd]

I know this is a terrible drawing, but I also know the engineer types on here will get the idea and maybe do a fancy three dimensional version. The attached file must be opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

This is a drawing of a jack that I first saw as a kid. My Dad had a boughten one from Ford. It fit all of our small Ford tractors. It consists of two devices like in the drawing that have cross bars fastening them together at the correct width for your particular tractor. Also the length and angle of each arm can be built to suit your particular needs. You can build the crossbars adjustable if you like so it would fit multiple tractors.

I built one for my JD 455 SUB-CUT. I use it to put on and take off the tire chains for snow pushing. It's the greatest little tool I have for that tractor. When I get home I'll build one for the Kubota. Very, very stable.

It is such a simple design and works so good it's amazing. Especially when used to swap tires. You can fine tune the height by simply adjusting the 3PT. Depending on how you design the arms, you can raise the rear tires several inches off the ground if so desired. Works great for those of you that use chains!!!

Someone show us pictures if you build one!!!