JD 3x20 Wheel Spacers?

[Rob-D]

I've voiced this before here, I'm not excited about spacers. Has anyone sent an inquiry to JD?
I have 475 BH and it's about 500# heavier than the 375 with a lot more digging power so I'm not sure I'd want spacers on it.
You have to understand the physics of it, each inch away from the hub adds a lot more force on the axle and bearings. 4" is a lot of distance and the stress on the axle and components could mean a shorter life. You may not see it in a couple of years but in time you might be asking for trouble.
Personally I don't find the 3x20 that tipsy. I was mowing on a hill and it got pretty steep according to my tilt guage and I didn't feel like it was near going over. I just hung on the handle and went slowly. I sent an email to Deere when I got my tractor and they said keep the wheels in the wide position. (valves on the inside) which I did.
A cab does add 500# to a 3000# tractor so you shouldn't dismiss it's affect on center of gravity but still i don't hear a lot about people going over.

The other thing is that I have limiting implements. My snow blower is 59" and spacers would create problems with it along with my 60" rototiller.

Just my 2 cents.
Rob

 

[bennatti]

Deere Dude


Thanks...that's the same concern I had...thanks for the confirmation!

 

[DP Property]

unverferth sent me the 6 inch spacers I returned them when I realized my tires would be wider then my buckett and my 60 " tiller and pulverizer I agree with the early poster. I flipped my tires have 300 lbs in wheel weights and 500 lbs ballast box I feel completly safe in the machine now.

 

[Deere Dude]

I flipped my wheels around before I got spacers but had terrible luck doing that. It seemed to me that the wheel was formed in such a way that there were half a dozen high spots around the hub and the high spots were the places that were seating onto the hub. When I took the wheels off to put spacers on I noticed that all of these high spots were ground to shiny metal from contact so it seemed the wheel wasn't seated by a nice flat backing. I thought flipping wheels might change the width, look and feel, but maybe only changed it 1-2" and that wasn't worth it IMO. Although different tires may have different wheels and some may end up wider, but mine sure didn't. Big R-4's.

Another problem I had flipping wheels was valve stem breakage. Pulling a box-blade through brush, light brush, the brush would bet jammed into the wheel and then between the rotating wheel and the axle. After changing two valve stems in 2 days and losing 30 gallons or so of RimGuard, spacers and the wheels with the original setup was in order. Never a problem since with a lot of brush and box-blading.

 

[Rob-D]

They should work well. A concern I had but others may not have on this forum, is that the original bolts when putting the first set of rings on don't go all the way through the hubs like I would expect. The original position is that the bolt thread takes up the whole thread in the hub, but the spacer is thicker than the original wheels. So I went to Napa and got some metric lug-bolts that are long enough to go through the hubs. I just didn't feel comfortable with only 3/4 of the thread in the hub. For whatever it's worth. Then I blue lock-tited everything up and has been good for a year with a lot of excavating with a 1500# block on the back.
Once it's on there is no way to check it anymore with a torque wrench but I take a visual on it quite often/

It's more than just bolts. Deere uses grade 8.8 on compacts. Which equals a tensile strength of 800MPa or 800 N/mm^2 with a yield strength of 640 n/mm^2. This is approx. a grade 5 SAE bolt. So make sure your bolt has at least 3 dashes placed equally around the head. Persnally I'd use a grade 8 SAE bolt in this application. (5 dashes equally spaced around the head)

I'd also use blue locking compound torquing the bolts to Deere's specs.

Rob

 

[charleyfarmall]

Grade 5's are fine. Grade 8's tend to be more brittle. The issue isn't likely to be failure of studs and bolts, it will be the increased bending moment on the axle if you are fully loading the tractor.

Having the rears wider than the bucket doesn't matter for most material handling but will if you are clearing a path. Same for tiller's and blowers.

I happen to have 4" of spacer on either side temporarily as I lift a lot of bulky equipment and move it around. The outside to outside distance is 67".

I will remove the spacers when I am done with what I am doing so that I can put the blower on. In the summer I am likely to leave one spacer on either side for loader work. I have a 6 foot fine cut flail and tiller so most of the time it doesn't matter if the rear is a little wider.

 

[charleyfarmall]

Pictures of 8" of increased track:

 

[RoyJackson]

Pictures of 8" of increased track:

That looks really good, Charley!
Where did you get those spacers, and how much did they cost...if I may ask?

 

[fuseboxer]

It would be nice to have 4" of overall spacing. Too bad you can not buy 1/2 a set. I would not want 8" but 4" with the tires reversed adding a few more inches over factory ship. The only thing better would be to have the spacer very heavy to add ballast and space. I suppose two neighbors could split a set. Not everyone needs 8".

 

[RoyJackson]

It would be nice to have 4" of overall spacing. Too bad you can not buy 1/2 a set. I would not want 8" but 4" with the tires reversed adding a few more inches over factory ship. The only thing better would be to have the spacer very heavy to add ballast and space. I suppose two neighbors could split a set. Not everyone needs 8".

Fuse, if you look at his pics a bit closer, you'll see he has two 2" spacers installed per side and his wheels are reversed (note the valve stems are inside).
Using one 2" spacer (per side) and reversing the wheel would result in about 4" per side (that is, 2" for the spacer and 2" for the reversed wheel), 8" overall.
Just using one 2" spacer, with those wheels set in the normal (valve stems out) position would give you and I the 4" extra we're looking for.


I'm sure Charley will respond to my question about where he bought the spacers and the cost.