Ventrac dual wheel removal tool

[Chris616]

Thanks to YouTube's video suggestion algorithm, the following video was offered up to watch after I viewed the official Ventrac dual wheel installation and removal video. Has anybody purchased this tool and can comment on how well it works? I usually have the duals on all the time, for slope mowing, but take them off for using the blade for snow plowing (which might not be every year). The duals are a pain to remove, involving using ratchet straps to anchor a piece of lumber to the outside of the wheel in order to get enough torque to unscrew the "axle extension" of the dual from the "inner hub" bolted to the inner wheel.

 

[Bill63]

I don't have the tool, but i have the same problem with removing the outer wheels. Thanks for sharing your method to remove the wheels! I'll try that next time.

 

[MountainBuck]

I have a different take on the problem.

With so much clay in my property, I try my hardest not to use the tractor when it is wet outside but sometimes I have to run the machine and clay will pack between the inner and outer wheel. I've tried using a hose to spray it out and a long piece of steel to scrap it out but this is time and labor intensive.

What I do now is simply take off the lug nuts to the outer wheel which does not involve splitting the torque shaft (axle extension).

 

[Maine Hills]

I have the wheel removal tool and it works well. It is also nicely made from plate steel. I don't have experience with removing the duals without the tool.

 

[Pacificoast]

I used to have trouble with removing the dual wheels which I do once a year when storing the tractor in a shed for the winter as it can’t fit it through the door of my shed without removing one side of the duals. So now I use an extra long ratchet and a long socket extension to remove the bolts and then use a big hammer to really wack in the draw bolts. Next I grab the wheel with both hands and use my body weight to start the twist to loosen the wheel. I now never have a problem, but I make sure when reattaching the dual wheels to clean the muck from the threads and overly grease them and then I don’t over-tighten them making sure that I can still pretty easily twist them off if needed. I think that not over tightening them is really key even if the gap between the tires isn’t quite a finger width as instructed in the manual.

 

[Chris616]

I went ahead and bought one of these tools. It arrived yesterday, so I tried it out today and it worked very well. I only tested it with one wheel, doing the usual routine of loosening the “draw bolt” 5 turns, then whacking the end of it with a mallet to release the “draw cone”. Then I grabbed the wheel and tried to rotate it counter-clockwise to remove it. I couldn’t get it to budge. Then I slipped the dual wheel removal tool into place and tried using the same 17” breaker bar that I used earlier when releasing the draw bolt. I was anticipating needing a long snipe to get some extra leverage, but that wasn’t the case. I was able to loosen the wheel with just the breaker bar, because I could put all my (modest) weight on it to apply force, as opposed to using muscles to turn the wheel when not using the tool.

Here’s the website for the manufacturer:
Homepage - Dual Wheel Tool