Yet another 3000 series wheel spacer thread

[toddler]

OK Agree on the tracking portion, however, by the time the front hits the pivot stop, one of the rear wheels is going to be seriously in the air, perhaps to the point of no return.

I think he was referring more to putting a front wheel in a hole or it going over an object, which might not affect the rear wheels as much. On a slope, I'd agree. I figure it's worth swapping the fronts to wide for the track overlap. The fronts will since they'll still be under the bucket width by a touch which is convenient at times.

 

[greg_g]

You're over-thinking this Cindi. I ballast my fronts too, each is holding about 75# of RimGuard. Plus, hitting a pivot stop will NOT raise a rear wheel that's loaded with at least 400# of RimGuard. Even with a bucket brimming with dense grade. Been there, done that, wore out the t-shirt.

And yes; with the front rims reversed - and the addition of 2.5" spacers - my front track now measures 60" behind a 61" bucket, and is completely within the 68" rear track.

//greg//

 

[jimgerken]

I love my 3720 widened in the rear, 4 inches per side, been that way for several years, doing all manner of jobs including disking and backhoe work. However, I would not widen the front for loader work. I think that would eventually catch up to a guy. Those look like expensive parts there in those front spindles.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

You're over-thinking this Cindi. I ballast my fronts too, each is holding about 75# of RimGuard. Plus, hitting a pivot stop will NOT raise a rear wheel that's loaded with at least 400# of RimGuard. Even with a bucket brimming with dense grade. Been there, done that, wore out the t-shirt.
//greg//

Picture driving sideways on a hill - for example with a mower. Unexpectedly the angle of the hill increases (or the lower rear wheel hits a hole) and despite ballasted tires the rear starts to lift and the tractor starts to trip.

Is the pivot on the front axle going to stop the roll over or just let it go?

 

[toddler]

Here's an interesting article for the engineers out there.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...=qMO6RhexW5etSB49-HT6HQ&bvm=bv.59568121,d.cWc
Given we don't know the height of the JD3x20 center of gravity, using the data in this article is not precise, but it does point out some interesting facts.

Looking at Table 3, you can see that increasing your slope 5 degrees more has a greater effect on your stability index at higher slopes. So going flat to 5 degree tilt is a 21% drop in TSI overturn, 15 to 20 degrees costs you 32% of your remaining stability 20 to 25 degrees costs you another 40% of your stability.

By 20 degrees tilt, you only have 30% of your stability left, so if you are moving and that up slope rear wheel hits a bump, you could be in serious trouble.

Now go down to Figure 4 on widths. Look at the width effect graph (bottom left) and use the line with dots as that one relates to the TSI for overturn.

You'll see that it's not a straight line, but that near the middle of the curve, a 10% increase in width increases your TSIo by around 12%. That's only worth a couple of degrees even at shallow slopes, meaning it may make 10 degrees as safe as 8 degrees tilt. At high angles, say 30 degrees, it does almost nothing.

Granted when you do hit a bump with your upper wheel, the increased tilt of the tractor is a little less with spacers, but table 3 should make you very careful!. Bottom line is we need to keep in mind that adding width is more effective at low angles, and it doesn't make a huge difference in stability as you approach your critical point.

Go slow and be safe guys

 

[greg_g]

Picture driving sideways on a hill - for example with a mower. Unexpectedly the angle of the hill increases (or the lower rear wheel hits a hole) and despite ballasted tires the rear starts to lift and the tractor starts to trip. Is the pivot on the front axle going to stop the roll over or just let it go?

In my case, the front pivot stop does its job. Without the 400+ pounds of liquid ballast inside each rear tire, I did in fact raise a rear wheel more times than my pucker factor cared for. The fronts are ballasted too, but - due to the smaller size - only hold about 75 pounds each. Anyway. Ballast helped, but was not 100% effective. There were a few challenging spots on my property that would cause even the ballasted tire to try and lift. The addition of 4" rear spacers to ~850# of rear ballast resolved the issue once and for all. Impressed by the effectiveness, I subsequently added a pair of 2.5" spacers to the front. The addition of these four spacers behind my R4 rims has now given me the approximate max width otherwise only available with R1 rims.

980# of RimGuard + 4 MotorSport spacers = 100% improvement in lateral stability for one 3720.

Oh, and toddler; adding width without changing height effectively lowers the center of gravity. Lowered COG shifts your "critical point" in favor of the operator.

//greg//

 

[cartod]

My 3320 with loaded rears and 2" per side of bro-tech aluminum wheel spacers is the perfect solution for this sometime treacherous WV terrain. The worse thing about spacers is putting them on by yourself with loaded tires. Someone mentioned tightening the hubs occasionally. There is no way I'm going to remove the wheels again to do this. Looking back maybe I should have used lock tite on the spacer bolts.

Has anyone had a problem with the actual spacer coming lose from the hub? I guess I could jack up each side and check for wabble..?

 

[toddler]

Draw a line across the visible bolt end that faces in, and extend it onto the axle hub. Use paint or something that won't go away. That way you'll be able to see if anything moves. If it does, it'll be time for a wheel pull and bolt torquing BBQ at cartod's, so you can have a bunch of friends around to help remove those 500lb wheels.

 

[cartod]

Draw a line across the visible bolt end that faces in, and extend it onto the axle hub. Use paint or something that won't go away. That way you'll be able to see if anything moves. If it does, it'll be time for a wheel pull and bolt torquing BBQ at cartod's, so you can have a bunch of friends around to help remove those 500lb wheels.

Thanks, that will give me peace of mind. Oh, and it's not the removing of the wheels I have a problem with, but the remount. I will fire up the grill!