Tire Selection School me on tractor/tire width

[MAD777]

This DIAGRAM, posted by LD1, really opened up my eyes on this subject. So it seems a fair amount of adjustment can be made using parts that come standard, without buying additional spacers.

Let's say we want to run 60" wide 3pt implements, then we should set up the rear wheel track at 60" from the beginning, before filling the tires.

You guys really know your tractor stuff. This has been most informative. The dealers I visited did not mention this, probably because they thought it was common knowledge. Now I need to get a manual for Kioti CK2610HST, as that is the tractor in my near future.

 

[LD48750]

Understand here, we are talking about R-1 tires on standard rims here.

Also on 2 wheel drive tractors, the front axles are usually adjustable to widths to closely match the rears.

R-3 & R-4 rims are ONE (1) piece and DO NOT have all these adjustments to them.
These rims can usually (but not always) be mounted with the offset in or out giving you TWO width options.

 

[jeff9366]

This DIAGRAM, posted by LD1, really opened up my eyes on this subject. So it seems a fair amount of adjustment can be made using parts that come standard, without buying additional spacers.

Let's say we want to run 60" wide 3pt implements, then we should set up the rear wheel track at 60" from the beginning, before filling the tires.

Three Point Hitch implements have at least two widths: 1) overall width and 2) operating width.
In most cases you would want implement operating width to be at least as wide as rear tire spread or a little wider.

My tractor rear tire spread is 60". In order for my Field Cultivator to scratch out rear tire tracks I had to order 66" overall frame width.

Some adjustable implements, like Disc Harrows, have varying widths depending on how aggressively the gang angles are set. With a Disc Harrow doing field work you would want the minimum operating width (when the gang angles are set as aggressively as possible) at least as wide as rear tire spread.

 

[newbury]

I would add - if you are thinking of loading your rear tires with some form of liquid, then choose your width ( rim offset ) BEFORE having the tires filled.

As an example - I have R1 tires on my M6040( 16.9 x 28 6PR, rears ). The rears are fluid filled - set at one step short of max width - each rear tire weighs over 900#.

I'm not in any position to "wrestle" a 900# tire into some other offset alignment( I have a choice of eight differing offsets). I'm pretty sure the local Les Schwab tire dealership would want to remove the Rimguard from the tire before fiddling with alternate offsets. An expensive decision on my part.

Definitely space them first.
My rears loaded weigh about 700lbs each. The first one I changed with 2 other guys. Set the M4700 up on the lawn, jacked it up, got one tire off, laid it down, swapped the dish around (lots of banging and PB B'laster), lifted it up, used a farm jack from HF to lift it to get it on to the axle hub. REAL pain. We tried several different hub settings and a couple were too narrow because of inside clearance.

I could have drained and refilled the tires but that would have doubled the time at least.

The second one I moved the tractor onto a concrete drive and had one adult son help me. Much smoother on concrete and I had pretreated with PB B'laster. But it was still a minor pain lifting the tire up to align with the hub. And a major weight.

If I do it again I'll use an overhead hoist or an engine hoist working over a concrete floor in one of my workshops and I'll drain and refill the tires. I'm pretty sure I can do all that by myself.

 

[kthompson]

A safety note here on rear tractor wheels and changing the width of the rear wheels. Be very careful when jacking the tractor, you need two jacks and not just one under the center of the rear end even if can lift it easy. The front axle pivots and jack the rear tires clear and remove one wheel the other wheel will drop suddenly due to no weight to counter balance it and can cause the tractor to move enough to come off a single lift point. Or worst it may happen when the second wheel is removed and there is now no rear wheel on there. I KNOW, I WAS THE DUMMY WHO USED A SINGLE JACK. Was fortunate my BIL was able to help wrestle the rear tire back on and keep it from falling. Lord looked out for this dummy that day. Now single jack is fine on the front axle for the rear end is fixed with no pivot, at least on all tractors I have seen.

 

[scdeerslayer]

No need for two jacks, but you do need a jack and two jack stands.