Box blade length per hp?

[PAB_OH]

jb,
65" is right on. I currently measure 54" with the the rice tires on it. I may eventually go to R4's but probably not for some time. When I do I imagine I will be about 10"-12" wider.

I don't care to shop particulalry but when I'm spending this kind of money it pays to some times. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks for the advice.

I just got my first "job" tonight. My mother is putting her house up for sale and her drive needs straightened out bad. It's in worse shape than mine but it's not near as long or as steep. I will have a thread for it I am sure.

 

[3RRL]

PAB_OH,

I was curious about this </font><font color="blue" class="small">( I may eventually go to R4's but probably not for some time. When I do I imagine I will be about 10"-12" wider.)</font>

I was thinking of getting a set of R4's but had no idea they would increase OA width that much. In order to gain 10"-12" each R4 would be 10"-12" wider than those Ag tires...is that correct? For example, if your Ag tire is 10"-12" wide now, the R4 would have to be 20"-24" wide per tire? I don't know so I'm asking...

 

[PAB_OH]

Based on what I am seeing the R4's are quite a bit wider. That though is in fact what I want! I want tires that will "float" on the lawn but still be agressive enough to pull these bigger attachments up my steep drive when it needs to be done. Right now my rice tires are maybe 10" wide. I figure you can add 5-6" per tire (12" total) to that easily with R4's. Half of that 12" ends up adding to the Over All Width so add 5-6" to your width.

In addition to this I will probably add another 4"/side with an offset in the wheel. Right now my wheels don't have much offset at all. Basically I will have to have new wheels made or find some US Kubota wheels that are wide enough for the R4's and I have notced some of the US wheels have a huge offset. The mounting surface is located almost completely to one side instead of in the center of the wheel (no offset).

These are just estimates though since I can't do any real number crunching yet. I need to calculate or find out what the axle ratios are first. Then I can zero in on the particular wheels I want. So for instance, I'm at about 54-55" wide right now, if I add 5"/tire for R4's that is an additional 5" over all added to the (2.5"/side per tire) width taking me up to almost 60" (55"+5"=60"). Then add any additional offset that the wheels may have themselves and I could see myself being another 5-6" wider taking me up to ~65" wide overall.

I think the process will be something like this.
<ul type="square">
[*]1. Axle ratio
[*]2. Determine if rear tires are made that will fit on my wheels.
[*]--A. Yes > Find a front wheel that will maintain a 3-5% front axle lead
[*]--B. No > Find US Kubota rims that will work with my tractor
[*]---1. Select tires that fit on US Kubota rims and maintain 3-5% lead
[*]-----a. No Kubota rims available
[*]-------1. Select front and rear tires I want to use that maintain my lead
[*]-------2. Have rims made to fit my tractor and tires
[/list]

Like I said this all speculative though. I was thinking "worst case" would be an additional 10-12" width and maybe I should plan on that when I buy my box blade. Especially if I plan to change the tires relatively soon.

 

[john_bud]

PAB,

If you look closely at the current wheels you should have the ability to separate the center of the wheel from the rim as well as separate the wheel center from the tractor's axle. The center should be dished and the mounting points on the rim should be off set from center. By changing the dish of the center (from dish down to dish out) and / or from changing where the center attaches to the rim, you can usually add about 12-18" of overall width.

If you do get R4's, be VERY careful to measure the ratio of the tire sizes. You want the front tires to be 3% (+/- 2%) FASTER than the rear tires. That is called 3% lead. The tires that are on it now, may not be correct! A lot of people are reporting that the L3830 and larger seem to have a lag condition where the front tires are covering less ground than the rears. You want the tractor to be "stretched out" by the front tires pulling harder than the rears, not squished together by the rear tires pushing the fronts.

You can check your tractors lead/lag condition easily yourself. Chalk mark your tires with a vertical line on the bottom of both the front and back tires. If you don't have a helper, also chalk the tread so you can see it while moving and reference the top of the tire not the bottom. Then in 2wd, go forward in a straight line on flat level ground (but not pavement). Determine where the front tire chalk mark is when the rear tire has gone 1, 2 and 3 revolutions. Do it several times. Then repeat it with the tractor in 4wd. The front tire should be rotated a bit more that it was before. By measuring the circumference of the rear tire and multiplying that by 3% you will be able to calculate the amount of "extra" rotation to expect. There are some good posts on this if you search.

For example, my 420-70x24's have 138" rolling circumference. 3% of that is 4.14 inches. So, I would expect the front tire chalk mark to be 4 or so inches farther around for each revolution, if I have 3% lead.

By the way, this is why you don't drive the tractor on dry pavement in 4wd! The front tires have to slip or skid that 4.14 inches every time the rear goes around once. The front tires will wear out as they are going to slip, not the rears.

jb

 

[PAB_OH]

jb,
thanks again. I knew about the 3-5% lead on the front wheels and how to calculate the current ratio by marking the wheel etc... I read a thread on it about 2 weeks ago and that honestly was the first time I had ever realized that was what was taking place when you went into 4WD. Makes perfect sens now though.

Anyway, attached is a picture of my rear wheel. I don't see any way to do what you're talking about. I think the US market tractors might have this capability but over in Japan, they don't need the ability to widen their stance I don't think. They are always looking for ways to make them more narrow and shorten up the turning radius. For instance, mine has a linkage from the rear up to the front wheels and when you reach a certain turning angle with the front wheels, that linkage activates something in the rear axle that causes the inside wheel to basically stop spinning or it might even begin to spin backwards ever so slightly in order to make the turning radius tighter.

Anyway, look at the pic and let me know if I'm missing something. Sure would be nice to get a wider stance right now without having to change over to R4's right away. I'd like to for the sake of my lawn in the spring but I don't know if that is feasible or not though. Let me know your thoughts on my rear wheel though. I appreciate it.

 

[john_bud]

PAB,

I stand corrected! You have some non-adjustable single purpose wheels. I don't know what size tire you are looking for, but the Firestone 420-70x24's that came on the L3410 are holding up well. They are much wider than the 16.9x24 Goodyear 10ply R4's that are on my loader/hoe. But, you really will need to start saving up your pennies no matter what you get, as you need new centers, rims, tires and probably fill too! Ouch!

Kinda a shame too, as those tires you have on now look to be in great shape! Rims look very good too.

Enjoy the ride,

jb