Adjusting Wheel Tread

[Pirate]

I have a Nortrac 204C and think I should adjust the wheels out as much as possible because of the hilly terrain where I live. My owners manual on page 99 has some procedures but they make no sense to me at all. Extension sleeves for the front and flipping wheels for the back. Is this book up to date? Is it possible to widen the tread. Thanks.

 

[RonMar]

Well for the front, you can swap the front wheels. Remember the ag tread always meets the soil "point" first. easiest way to remember this is that when looking down at a mounted tire/wheel, the arrow point formed by the alternating ag treads always points toward the front of the tractor. You will notice that the wheel is dished. if you keep the proper tread orientation and swap wheels from left to right, you will get a wider or narrower front track.

The rear wheels are a little more complicated and have a few different available widths. The center section of the wheel is bolted to the outer rim. The center section is also the portion that is dished. You can also select which side the wheel center section bolts to the hoop/tabs welded around the inside of the rim. So you have dished center section in or out then wheel rim bolted to inside or outside of the center plate for a total of 4 possible positions.

Be carefull, those rear wheels can be a real pain if they fall on you. Definitely not a job to be done with children around.

 

[3RRL]

Your Nortrac can't be much different than my Kama. Here's a thread on how I widened the stance on it.

CHINESE TRACTOR OWNERS CLUB FORUM - WIDEN TRACTOR STANCE

 

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

I have a Nortrac 204C and think I should adjust the wheels out as much as possible because of the hilly terrain where I live. Thanks.

Pirate, I think it would make your tractor safer if to set your tires out and loaded the tires.

You can/could flip the front.

Flip the rear rim centers so the wheel weights will be on the inside.... then attach the tire/rim to the rim center. The valve stem will be on the inside.

Here is a post from CTOA with the same kind of question ... with some color.

Chinese Tractor Owners Association - CTOA Forums - Tractor Operation and Maintenance - The widest stance for 284

The books in my opinion are not the best and lack a lot.

Ronald
Ranch Hand Supply

 

[Pirate]

Well, I've read the links ya'll sent me. Clear as mud. I'm still trying to figure out what it means for the fronts to be adjusted by means of "extension sleeve housing". One person quoted that and another says they won't adjust. I swapped my fronts. Didn't seem to change the stance at all. Still thinking about the rears.

 

[RonMar]

Well if you swapped the fronts right, it should have moved each wheel out about 5"-6". Do your wheels look like the attached pic? Mine are shoiwn here still in the narrowest position. The center section is dished out nearly to the outer edge of the wheel rim. If I took this tire and wheel off and flipped it around right where it sets, it would be setting several inches farther out from the tractor than it is now. If I did that the tire tread would of course be going the wrong way. There are arrows on the tire side wall that shows the proper rotation direction when the tractor is rolling forward(best traction for pulling). If I took this wheel the way it is pictured(proper tread direction) and keeping the arrow pointing in the forward rolling direction and moved the wheel to the other side it would mount with the dished center section pointing inward. If you keep the arrows so they are pointing forward and move the wheels to the opposite side, your front wheel base should increase by nearly a foot if they are mounted like mine in the picture.

 

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

Clear as mud. I'm still trying to figure out what it means for the fronts to be adjusted by means of "extension sleeve housing".

I am going to assume it means ....... extending a two wheel drive front end.


Ronald
Ranch Hand Supply

 

[Pirate]

Ron - I did just that as I knew the tread had to face a certain way. My front wheel does not look like yours. It appears my wheel center is almost centered in the rim, not dished toward one way or the other, thus flipping to other side did absolutely nothing. I called the folks at Nortrac and they seem just as confused. I begining to think that you can't widen these for some reason.

 

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

Pirate, are you running turf tires ??????

Ronald
Ranch Hand Supply

 

[Pirate]

No, ags.

 

[Affordable]

You can widen the stance take the front tires and swap sides turning the dished out part of the rim to the inside which will move the tires out 5-6"
If you look at the pic of the front wheel in the previous pic,that outside of the rim would be inside when you swap them.You have to put the left front on the rightside and the right front on the leftside to keep the direction of the tires right.Do the same with the rear,you can leave the weights on the inside if you want,also on the rears you can unbolt the center plate and reverse it for move width.Take a look,you will see it's not that hard once you swap sides

Tommy
Affordable Tractor Sales

 

[Affordable]

Here is a pic to look at

Tommy
Affordable Tractor Sales

 

[greg_g]

It appears my wheel center is almost centered in the rim, not dished toward one way or the other, thus flipping to other side did absolutely nothing. .... I begining to think that you can't widen these for some reason.

The front rim that originally came on the 4wd 200 series was a fixed offset type, mounted concave side in to help protect the drive assemblies from ground obstacles. I've got an older Jinma 200 series owner's manual that is pretty clear about NOT reversing the front offset rims on 4wd models. That said, subsequent manuals may have changed. A drawing of the 4wd rim I'm talking about can be seen at http://johnstractor.com/files/FrontWheel.jpg

Your description makes it sound like the rim that comes on the 2wd versions, or some of them anyway. I'm out of state now, or I'd post a picture of the 2wd rim from the parts manual.

//greg//

 

[Pirate]

Well, now that I have my eyeballs calibrated, I found that I did indeed gain some distance by swapping the fronts. Funny, they seem exactly lined up with rears now so I don't think I will mess with the rears. In fact, I will probably put fronts back. Guess I need to hire a dozer to level some roads to ease that pucker factor.