Turn Front Wheels Out?

[3RRL]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Take this to an extreme. Lengthen the axle to 10 feet wide. You will get the same result.
There is a pivot in the center of the axle. A fulcrum, like a teeter-totter. The width has done nothing for you.)</font>

Take your example even further. Widen the front axle way out ...say 50' or so per side or even wider (say wider...infiinity) so the rotation of the tractor has to occur within the new axle width. In other words, the weight/height of the tractor could pivot within the new axle width before the higher side tire comes off the ground. Kind of like the rubber band on a wind up airplane,

Now, ASSUMING THE PIVOT WILL NOT BREAK when the tractor is tilted, at some time it will hit a "stop" in it's pivot. Or will hit the side of the frame or engine, stopping the tipping of the tractor...but it does not rotate 360°. Then the tractor will never tip over...impossible. At this point the slope would have to approach or exceed 45° for one wheel to come over the other. (If wide enough to wrap around the Earth it would never tip over...ever) The rear axle can tip it all it wants but never get it to flip over when the front axle pivot hits its stop.

If you don't believe me, you can nail a couple of 2x4's perpendicular to another (like a cross) with "u" shaped nails to represent some pivot between them...make them both 4" long. Now flip it over and remember (approximately) the force required. Now take that top 4" long 2x4 and nail it to an 8 footer(the longer axle) and try to tip it over.

So will widening the front stance help in stability? I think Yes. How much?...I can't tell you how much, but I know it helps to some (undertermined but perhaps not practical) degree if the above is true. Better than narrow, that's for sure.

 

[browns40]

PAB_OH,

Sorry all the back & forth tired you of the discussion...

I widened the front tires after 140 hours (my first flat!) as I just didn't have the initiative to try it out previously... I gained roughly 12% increase in overall width... the backs would have gained me ~2% so I haven't done them...

30 hours later, I can assure you that my tractor is noticeably more stable over bumps, carrying loads, working on slopes... an improvement in every facet with the exception of turning radius (without braking) which of course increased.

Extra axle load, probably... but my tractor's producer advertises the numerous mounting capabilities for a variety of applications, so they certainly don't discourage it.

I would say try the configurations it a real world setting doing the same work and see for yourself--like a car "wider is better" /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Av8r3400]

Thats a good point, but if the front axle pitches 15° from side to side, that could be inough to put you non your side. The width will make no difference.

Experiment: Lift your **empty** bucket on the FEL all the way up. By hand, push it from side to side. Get a rocking motion going. There is a lot of movement there. On a small tractor (BX or small B Kubota for example) you could, fairly easily, push it on it's side. Even my L3400 has a lot of motion there.

 

[RobJ]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( I you notice where the FEL is actually mounted, you see that it is not sitting right over the front axle. The mounting brackets are back behind that and the arms extend out over the front wheels, quite a bit different that actually being mounted over them.

Both axles share in the load with this configuration.

John )</font>

Actually not, maybe they do when the bucket is on the ground. But as soon as you lift the bucket, load or not the weight is transfered from the pivot point to the front wheels. More the weight in the bucket the more the weight on the fronts. This is the reason why folks but on a ballast box. I don't think the BB takes any weight off the fronts, just balances out the tractor.

This is a physics project.

 

[beenthere]

I turned my CUT fronts out, and like them better that way. Makes sense to me to turn them out for a wider stance.
(my axle has a stop on it so it doesn't pivot very far).
I'll take the risk that they won't fail in that position. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif