B2650 help on wheel spacers

[BCWoodtick]

Well I decided on some Duo H chains for the B2650 and put them on today a don't have enough clearance.
So obviously I need to get rear wheel spacers, anyone know what exactly I need to get? Also is installation something that I can tackle or do I need to take it in to the dealer?

 

[Rock Crawler]

You can buy factory 1.5" spacers from a dealer for $299, or you can buy spacers up to around 3" from Brotek.

Bro-Tek

 

[BCWoodtick]

I guess the 1.5" would be just enough clearance? Do you just remove the tires bolt on extension and put back on? Or is it more complicated than that? Also is it worth going larger? I currently use the B2650 with backhoe on and is very stable. Thinking that when I start to purchase 3 point implements it will handle differently?

 

[JWR]

There are several sources for very good quality wheel spacers. I bought a set from BORA . See Wheel Adapters, Wheel Spacers, Hub Rings, and much more! | Motorsport Tech or email them at motorsportjr@gmail.com I've been very satisfied. Good quality, perfect fit, had several of the little idiosyncracies for my Kubota all figured out ahead of time. Other brands have good reputations as well including Bro-tek already mentioned, Hansen which is at Tractor Wheel Spacers Hub Extensions, Kubota, John Deere, Compact Tractor, Utility Vehicle and others. Some are machined from a solid hunk of aluminum alloy and others are welded "steel tubes between two end plates" designs. A few comments: 1) I added my spacers, 6" ones, to gain stability and safety avoiding rollover on steeper ground. HUGE improvement. Mine was a B2150. 2) There are compatibility issues to check into. If you have a belly mower the rear tires and MMM become a conflict depending on what spacer size you choose. In my case using the spacers precludes using the belly mower. 3) If you never operate on slopes or steep ground it may not matter to you but essentially ALL Kubotas are made by Japanese who do not understand that America is not completely flat. They come with wheels so close together they are almost totally unsatisfactory on steep ground and worse yet many if not most have no way to spread the rear wheels far enough apart (or at all in many models) to correct the problem. Each application is different.

 

[check]

I use Bro-Tek spacers on my BX25, and like them a lot. Bought them because of the same chains issue that you are facing. They're easy as pie to put on. You just unbolt the wheel, pull it out of the way, bolt these guys on and put the wheel back on. Do read their literature as well, because they point out how their wheel spacers transfer the tractor's weight to the hub instead of the wheel studs, which many wheel spacers don't do, and which many tractors themselves do not seem to do. So, it seems that you are strengthening the whole structure by using the Bro-Tek wheel spacers. I didn't know that until I read it just now

 

[BCWoodtick]

Right on, they may only have a 2" from them but have sent an email to confirm. Still have to contact the dealer and see what they have. Thanks for the help.

 

[HillStreet]

I guess the 1.5" would be just enough clearance? Do you just remove the tires bolt on extension and put back on? Or is it more complicated than that? Also is it worth going larger? I currently use the B2650 with backhoe on and is very stable. Thinking that when I start to purchase 3 point implements it will handle differently?

BC, I have the same tractor and have 1.5 inch spacers installed. I had the dealer install them as part of the buy package, and they work just fine. I previously owned a B2320 and I installed the spacers myself. It is not hard to do but the tires are weighted, and are very heavy to remount but it is doable.

My recommendation is to buy from the dealer, and ask them about any changes that happen with the tractor and what equipment issues might occur. You will have to change the wheel studs, which come with the spacers. You will have to buy a stud extractor ($45 or so) and some thread adhesive.

 

[JWR]

Do read their literature as well, because they point out how their wheel spacers transfer the tractor's weight to the hub instead of the wheel studs, which many wheel spacers don't do, and which many tractors themselves do not seem to do. So, it seems that you are strengthening the whole structure by using the Bro-Tek wheel spacers. I didn't know that until I read it just now

Check -- you do not know it now either ! I do not want to be harsh and we are all in here to help each other! However, what you just posted coming from Bro-tek is pure nonsense. I can't believe they said that. Maybe it is someone's interpretation. Ask any engineer to read it and & they will conclude it is hogwash as I just did. Not sure where to start but:
1) "Transfers weight to the hub instead of the wheel studs" -- Huh ? what the heck does that mean ? The weight of the rear of the tractor is a vertical component about 50% on each side. That weight rests on the studs only if they are loose and rests on the hub if they are tight as they should be and causing the hub/wheel to act as a single unit. Adding spacers will not change where the weight of the vehicle rests. It does change the lever length from the rear bearings on outward to the center line of the tires. That will bother no one and is exactly the same thing regardless of brand of spacer.
2) The topic of where the weight rests is probably some marketing rep bragging about the fact that they have a ridge that fits into (or over) the hub thus preventing any slippage up/down between the hub and the spacer and the wheel. Other brands of spacers brag that they have such a ridge or lip on their spacers too. Big deal. If the lugs are tight you will never know one way or the other.
3) "Strengthening the structure" is a standalone joke invented by marketing.

Note the concentric ridges or rings on the spacers that sink into the hubs on my spacers in this photo. They help to keep the spacers centered in/on the hubs. No doubt that feature is what the marketeers are talking about. These happen to be Bora brand.

 

[flingwing1969]

What JWR said! Dead on.

 

[BCWoodtick]

Still waiting for dealer to call back... Don't to talk to them much and always seems to be a little painful?? So Bro Tek only had 2" but said you can put on 2 sets if I want more? Are the Kubota spacers able to do the same?
Is it the same procedure remove studs (with extractor) for Bro Tek aand Kubota?

 

[Rock Crawler]

My factory ones go onto the factory studs and have new studs sticking out of the spacer.

 

[Deere Dude]

Still waiting for dealer to call back... Don't to talk to them much and always seems to be a little painful?? So Bro Tek only had 2" but said you can put on 2 sets if I want more? Are the Kubota spacers able to do the same?
Is it the same procedure remove studs (with extractor) for Bro Tek aand Kubota?

I put 2 sets of 2" spacers on my JD and got them Skid Steer Solutions if I recall correctly. Took the wheel off carefully so you don't drop it if it is filled. Bolt on to hub using bolts with the spacers and put wheels on. Best with two people in case the tractor has to be raised a little bit to get wheels aligned up.

Others may not do this, but I used Locktite 242 and every bolt. One reason is so they don't loosen up, but also once the wheel is on, all the spacer bolts are hidden and cannot be re-torqued unless you take everything off again, and that would not be fun. I put mine on 6 years ago and the wheel bolts never came loos and I am assuming the spacer bolts didn't either. Me, personally, I like 4" spacer on each wheel mostly for the stability factor and of course it looks better.

I did mine by myself but I did some things dangerously that I should not have.

 

[BCWoodtick]

Yes I have the backhoe on so should be fairly easy to get on and off but they are filled so will have to be careful.
Also sounds like most should just bolt over existing studs so not sure if stud extractor would be required?
Will probably just go with 2" initially and if get into 3 point attachments and another 2" later.

 

[JWR]

To my knowledge Kubota (nor any of the tractor manufacturers) make spacers. Most dealers will acquire a set and install them, for a price, if you want. The Kubota nearest my farm was about 50% higher than just buying them and doing it myself.

I was shopping for 6" spacers so paid less attention to the shorter ones. Frankly, no one in their right mind would put on two sets of spacers to get a given amount of spread. [Mechanically foolish as well as nearly twice as expensive!] If you check with the various spacer manufacturers you can get whatever spacer addition inches per side you want in the range between very thin and 6 inches. Depends on what spacing you want. Your spacing needs might exclude 1 or the other of the manufacturers.

At least with my Kubota I had no stud extraction to do. Your B2650 is not much different in size than my B2150 and probably has the same "normal Kubota configuration." By that I mean the hub has 2 studs sticking out on which to mount the wheel and 4 threaded holes where lug bolts go in. The spacers are made (see photo in my post #8 above) so that you put the spacer on the tractor hub just exactly the same as you would a wheel/tire. Fits over the 2 studs and then you have 4 bolts to install into the threaded hub holes. Once the spacers have been installed, the wheel/tire assembly faces exactly the same interface on the outside of the new spacers as it did on the tractor hub -- 2 studs sticking out for the wheel and 4 threaded holes for the lug bolts. The spacer manufacturer normally supplies the added set of lug bolts.

 

[Rock Crawler]

If you go to the Build My Kubota site, Kubota has OEM spacers for the B2650/3350.

 

[BCWoodtick]

Well dealer finally got back to me and said he would end up getting the Bro Tek so doesn't have a Kubota spacer. Also said wasn't good to run them year round with backhoe on as they are really hard on the bearings? Any thoughts on that? Actually recommended to only use with the chains and then remove them?

 

[Rock Crawler]

He's completely wrong. Kubota has spacers for your tractor.

 

[BCWoodtick]

You have been running your 1.5" spacers since new with backhoe? No issues or concerns from your kubota dealer? Really surprised to hear him say to actually remove the spacers when chains would be removed?

 

[Dan33Klein]

Kubota part number B8785 1.5” wheel spacer kit.

Your dealer needs an education... lol

 

[JWR]

Like I said, the dealer will be glad to supply you with a set of spacers and install them, for a price. Nothing wrong with that as long as you know what is going on. Another user of these OEM spacers gotten through Kubota (in another TBN thread) notes that "The kit is supplied to kubota by RAD Technologies out of Thetford Mines Quebec." That's for the B8785 spacer kit. RAD supplies lots of things for Kubotas with a Kubota model number including snowblowers, etc. , ...not like Kubota makes snowblowers. You have many choices in a good competitive market.

Like anyone else, your dealer probably has some good advice and some not so good. As for taking the spacers on and off when you take chains on and off ... use your own judgement but in my opinion you will cause more trouble doing that than you would by just wearing them year-round. Might want to check bolt tightness once in a while just as you do or should with your wheels without spacers.

Suggest a look at pp 6-23 of the 2015 price book at http://www.kanequip.com/assets/StateContracts/Kubota-B-Series-March-2015.pdf They describe 2 kits -- one compatible with B20 series tractors and one not. Both are footnoted to be incompatible with MMM decks.