Does anyone make wheel spacers for tractors??

[Wyld Bill]

Go to a metal shop, get some 1" steel disks cut to fit your hub and drilled for your bolt pattern. Sort of like a wheel weight mounted inside the rim instead of outside. You might need longer bolts, but other than that you should be good to go. Just have them made as thick as you can lift or need.

You could also make them yourself without too much trouble if you can cut the steel. Around here it costs about $.50 per pound for scrap steel.

I was thinking the same thing today. Just have some disks machined up with a indent on the axle side & a center circle sticking out on the rim side (to center the rim) Then 1" longer high grade bolts.
Anything over $150 & I'm just going to sell the rear chains & go with front chains instead.

 

[jimainiac]

I hope you don't give up and go with chains just on front. I know that people do this, but it seems like it puts excess strain on the front end. I think the front drive is meant to assist the rear and not pull all the load.

 

[PBinWA]

I was thinking the same thing today. Just have some disks machined up with a indent on the axle side & a center circle sticking out on the rim side (to center the rim) Then 1" longer high grade bolts.
Anything over $150 & I'm just going to sell the rear chains & go with front chains instead.

I had some 2" spacers made up for my 2615 Gear. They've been on for over a year now and seem to work fine.

I've attached a PDF of the dimensions I sent to the shop that I had made them. You should probably double check them though - don't hold me responsible if they don't work out right for you.

I think the thing that surprised me most was how expensive the longer metric bolts were. I also had a hard time finding them locally but that may have just been one of those supply/demand things. Just an FYI, I just hadn't considered the bolt issue before I started the project.

I think the spacers cost me something like $80 to have made but I'm not sure.

I got some dimensions from JimR on this site for spacers he had made for his Cub Cadet. I think his were 1" but I want to widen things a little more. I found the 2615 with R4's to be very tight in the 3 pt area and would sometimes have problems with wide set implements.

 

[Wyld Bill]

I had some 2" spacers made up for my 2615 Gear. They've been on for over a year now and seem to work fine.

I've attached a PDF of the dimensions I sent to the shop that I had made them. You should probably double check them though - don't hold me responsible if they don't work out right for you.

I think the thing that surprised me most was how expensive the longer metric bolts were. I also had a hard time finding them locally but that may have just been one of those supply/demand things. Just an FYI, I just hadn't considered the bolt issue before I started the project.

I think the spacers cost me something like $80 to have made but I'm not sure.

I got some dimensions from JimR on this site for spacers he had made for his Cub Cadet. I think his were 1" but I want to widen things a little more. I found the 2615 with R4's to be very tight in the 3 pt area and would sometimes have problems with wide set implements.

Wow this is GREAT! Thanks.
Is that bolt the stock bolt in the picture?
Do you remember the bolt tread size & pitch?
When you say you didn't realize how expensive the bolts would be what do you mean by expensive?
You said double check the measurement. Why is that? How sure are you that those dimensions were correct? I'd prefer to not go tthrough all of what you did just to say "Yup he was right" LOL!
I think I am only going ot go 1" on each side. Right now the chains will fit in there but they are right up against the support frame pieces in the fenders. The reason I'm only going to go 1" is because I want my snowblower to be as wide or wider than the width of my tires. They make a 60" blower, they make a 62" blower,...I THINK they make a 64" blower but not sure. Also wide would mean less fender coverage.
Did you sue grade 5 or grade 8 bolts?

 

[PBinWA]

Wow this is GREAT! Thanks.
Is that bolt the stock bolt in the picture?
Do you remember the bolt tread size & pitch?
When you say you didn't realize how expensive the bolts would be what do you mean by expensive?
You said double check the measurement. Why is that? How sure are you that those dimensions were correct? I'd prefer to not go tthrough all of what you did just to say "Yup he was right" LOL!
I think I am only going ot go 1" on each side. Right now the chains will fit in there but they are right up against the support frame pieces in the fenders. The reason I'm only going to go 1" is because I want my snowblower to be as wide or wider than the width of my tires. They make a 60" blower, they make a 62" blower,...I THINK they make a 64" blower but not sure. Also wide would mean less fender coverage.
Did you sue grade 5 or grade 8 bolts?

I would double check the measurements. I don't trust myself so why would you!

I'm pretty sure you can check the bolt spacing and the offset bit without taking the wheel off.

I honestly can't remember the bolt measurement. I'm not an expert on the metric sizes. I just took one of the bolts off my tractor into the parts store and found a matching thread. My spacers were 2" and I used a bolt that was either 80 or 90 mm long (I think).

Oh yeah, I used Grade 8 bolts or their metric equivalent.

Sorry for not having all the details but I think if the measurements check out that I must have saved you some time.

I have a 60" blower but didn't really think the extra tire width made that much difference. It's just nice to not have things rubbing.

 

[pat32rf]

Those are what I was hoping to buy at the price I expected. I like the raised portion and the cut-out so the bolts don't have to support the weight. I'll check our local machine shop for a price but finding 2" plate steel isn't easy around these parts. Might be easier to go with four one inch "donuts" and stack them, forgetting the cut-outs....

 

[PBinWA]

Oh yeah, I bought two extra long bolts and cut the heads off them and then cut a flat head groove across them. I screwed these bolts in and then used them to support the spacer and the wheel while mounting. Then I just used a flat head screw driver to unscrew them after I got the other bolts in.

The 2" spacers were pretty heavy.

 

[daTeacha]

Be careful with the doughnut idea. If your rim design is such that it uses the hub as a bearing member, the bolts alone may not be able to hold everything in place. On the other hand, the hole in the center of the rim might do nothing as far as carrying the load. You'd just feel bad if the wheel shifted around because the bolts sheared or something. The tractor wouldn't be very happy either.

If your bolts go completely through without being threaded into the hub at all, you might be able to substitute an English measurement bolt and nut of similar size.

Alternately, I found a hardware store here that sells tools and fasteners to industry as well as individuals. The JD dealer wanted a couple dollars each for bolts to hold the blade on our walk behind mower. I got the exact size and grade metric bolt from TriCor Industrial supply in Wooster, Ohio for about $.30 each.

 

[pat32rf]

Yes, I've been told that the raised boss in the center of the axle is just to support the weight of the tires while you are lining up the bolt holes while installing them, BUT even automotive and camper trailer rims and axles are designed that way. Gotta be an extra safety measure should a rim work loose....

 

[Wyld Bill]

I work in the heating & air conditioning field. I think I'm going to get two large flange blanks & use those to make the spacers. ones for 8" pipe should be plenty big & thick enough.