Wheel spacing.

[JTS51]

I've got a 5100M with an MX8 cutter. I cut slopes & ditches. The rear wheel tread spacing is 59.6" CtoC. If I increase the spacing to 63.7", will I gain a lot of stability? Or doesn't it make much difference?

 

[sunnyside360]

I can't speak for your exact model tractor but can tell you when I widened the wheels by 4 inches on my 3720 cab tractor it made a world of difference for stability on the steep hills I mow. I'm really glad I added 2 inch spacers on each rear wheel. This was done after adding Rim Guard to the rear tires. The "pucker factor" is near zero now when working on the steep hills.

 

[greg_g]

Om my 3720 cab I went with RimGuard all around, reversed fronts, reversed rears PLUS a pair of 4" spacers and fender extenders. There are still a few places I cannot traverse, but its a helluva lot safer than the stock configuration.

If your 5800 is open station, you might get by with 2" per side. Depends on the lay of your land. Personally I'd go 4"/side, especially if a cab has raised your center of gravity

//greg//

 

[vtsnowedin]

The spec sheet on that says it will go out to 80.9" C-C . I think that is with two 4.1 inch extensions from the factory like I have. A world of difference from being set to the narrowest.
5100M Utility Tractor 5M Series Utility Tractors JohnDeere.com

 

[JTS51]

Thanks all for your advice. I'm going to move each side out 2" and see how that works for now.

 

[Nuru]

Thanks all for your advice. I'm going to move each side out 2" and see how that works for now.

Just adding Turk Special Tires on my unit increased the stability quite a bit too. I am now considering adding 4 inch spacers to each side, to see if that will allow me to run a 72D Auto-Connect MMM on my unit with my Turf Specials. If not then I guess I will just switch to my R4s and then run with spacers to recapture the stability.

 

[JD3520Turbo]

I widened my 5083 wheels out as far as they would go when I got it. I like it much better than it was before. Putting some rear end weight would help mine for sure.

 

[greg_g]

Adding weight behind the rear axle - for anything other than front loader work - will actually decrease the amount of traction assist you get from the front drive.

//greg//