custom made wheels ?

[deepNdirt]

I have tried mounting 12 car tires on the front rims and really still cannot get a larger enough of a tire that would help in this situation, I don't like the idea of having to reverse the front wheels to achieve the wider stance do to the effect it will have on the wheel bearings, The FEL I have is 4 ft
and the front wheels of the tractor if set in normal position set at 37". This leaves the center of gravity a bit shaky when the loader is up while turning the tractor sharp one way or the other, so I have went ahead and reversed the wheels for now giving it a 43" wide stance, but do not plan in leaving it this way......

So here is what I have on my mind in attempt to resolve the excessive wear on the bearings, If I can take the center part of the tractor wheel and cut it out I would have the correct bolt pattern needed ,I would then re-weld it into the center of a larger wheel this would then give me more choices in use of a larger tire,.........
Has anyone ever tried and successfully built their own wheels by doing it this way? from say cutting the center from 1 wheel and re-welding into the center of another?
I have took measurements of the wheel center of the 12" tractor wheel and is 10 1/4 .... then measured the area from which would remove the center of a particular 14" car wheel that I have and is 10 5/8 on a 14" wheel this is a difference of 3/8 of an inch, but to center the 10 1/4 up into the 10 5/8 opening would leave a 3/16 gap to weld in all the way around, anyone done this without any ill effects? a 13" wheel might have closer to the same inside fit although I have not yet measured a 13" to find out... anyone have a 13" wheel on hand they could measure for me? I think by me building my own wheels I can adjust the center offset to what ever will be needed for the size tire I will use, the wheel I plan to use would be 6" wide. I would hope that I could simply weld it in at center of the wheel that being 3" This should allow a much wider tires for the front, although I would still have to use a low profile tire such as a 65 or under in order to prevent rubbing against the frame while turning sharply, does all this make since? wouldn't this resolve the issue of the front bearing wear? I know the weight from the FEL is still factored in as a contributor of the bearings failure, but if I limit my use of not keeping the FEL on all the time I think I can prevent the wheel bearings from wearing out,
All input is welcome and took into consideration
Thanks Folks

 

[Kays Supply]

Do yourself a favor, call Hey Wheel. He has made several sets of wheels for my Yanmars and Isekis. 785-594-3311.

That said, if you don't have power steering , you might be in for a surprise with wider tires and a front end loader. You better start going to the gym and get built up to handle the steering.

 

[deepNdirt]

Do yourself a favor, call Hey Wheel. He has made several sets of wheels for my Yanmars and Isekis. 785-594-3311.

That said, if you don't have power steering , you might be in for a surprise with wider tires and a front end loader. You better start going to the gym and get built up to handle the steering.

OK Thanks I will give them a call, No problem about the going to the Gym
I used to spend a lot of time there when I was younger, although I do still keep in shape working out in my business lifting doors windows LVL beams etc, that still keeps me strong,
I can still bench 265 lb.s so turning the wheel of my tractor is no problem,

 

[Kays Supply]

That's great that you are able to handle the load. One more thought. It may be tough to turn under a load but also be ready for the back spin. If you let go it can spin so fast backwards you can loose a thumb. Don't ask how I know.

 

[Lil43]

These arent tractor wheels there for a pickup, but here,s a set of wheels I made last summer.Wheels for a tractor would be a lot less fussy do to to the low speed.With a little patience it is very doable.(Here come the safety police )

 

[Mace Canute]

Those rims look pretty good, Lil43. Good thick spacer, welds look great. What could go wrong? lol

deepNdirt, because the front axle pivots in exactly the same place, moving the wheels farther apart on the front end doesn't change the stability factor at all. It won't start to make a difference until you tip over far enough that you use up all available travel between the axle and the tractor frame, and by that time I think you will have already gone past the point of safe operation and will be well into pucker country.
About the only thing you can gain with a wider tire is better flotation in soft soil. If that's not a problem, stick with a similar sized tire to what you have now with maybe a heavier load carrying capability.

 

[Kernopelli]

Mace Canute is right to a point but the added width could potentially make the difference between the tractor going over the center of gravity or staying up right when the axle has reached its maximum pivot point.The extra "length" that the wider tires/rims offer the front end should in essence lessen the angle of lean, over the "shorter" ( narrower) front end and could make the difference between a frightening experience and a life threatening one. Every little bit helps in this scenario but may not be enough in evey scenario.

I can also attest to the ill affects of wide tires and no P.S. with an FEL. I have found that the use of a spinner on the steering wheel makes a big difference and initiating turns while moving helps tremendously, you still have to watch out for your thumbs during the occasional wildly spinning steering wheel. Also, extra rear ballast goes a long way in both relieving stress on the front axle and steering effort. I see no reason why you couldn't cut two sets of rims to make one out of, sounds like a reasonable idea to me.

Lil43...great job on your rims. This would be an excellent option for someone wanting to convert from R1 to R4 tires ( like Kays Supply did on his iseki) as inexpensively as possible.

ON EDIT: I just went to Hey Wheels website, thats a great bit of information, thanks Reed... http://www.heywheel.com/

 

[deepNdirt]

The pictures were quite helpful in showing the separate parts of a wheel,and you have done a great job, You are obviously a pro at this,
actually I thought there were only 2 parts of a wheel,the center and the rim, or perhaps what the picture show are the parts to widen a rim? I wouldn't have any need of splitting the rim and adding to the width,as I think a 6" width be be plenty, the procedure I use will only take 2 part step, right? please correct me if I'm wrong....
1- simply welding of the center 2- back into the rim/wheel....
I have explored other possibilities of using wheels from a car that might perhaps fit and found that the older 4 lug V/W's are a direct bolt on however the wheel was 15" and still had the shallow offset which wouldn't help any, plus the center hole is much larger and I think would eventually cause problems to the stud bolts, I could just buy the wheels i need but will they be any larger diamiter?...13" 14" etc, so I could simply buy a tire off the shelf? or would they still be 12" wheels only wider? if this is the case then somewhere down the road I'll be buying the hard to find 12" tires again,
after all this is just for the front of the tractor and as long as I get a strong 6 or 8 ply tire I think a car tire would be alright to use,....................................................................................
as far as the front symmetric of the tractors center of balance it is evident that it helps some by widening the wheel/tire span and by me reversing the wheels has much improved the balance... Yes! there might be a trade off from maneuverability to balance but I think it would help on the bearings in the long run to build a wheel that does not put outward stress on the bearings, and if I need a tractor for more use other then its designed purpose? then of course things need to be modified and improved upon, Besides I'm only thinking in terms of 2 inches more to each tire totaling 6" rather then the 4" original tires, the real benefit is going to be from centering the hub part of the wheel in the rim,............ Although this is just my thinking and again please corect me if I'm wrong

 

[Lil43]

The pictures were quite helpful in showing the separate parts of a wheel,and you have done a great job, You are obviously a pro at this,
actually I thought there were only 2 parts of a wheel,the center and the rim, or perhaps what the picture show are the parts to widen a rim? I wouldn't have any need of splitting the rim and adding to the width,as I think a 6" width be be plenty, the procedure I use will only take 2 part step, right? please correct me if I'm wrong....
1- simply welding of the center 2- back into the rim/wheel....
I have explored other possibilities of using wheels from a car that might perhaps fit and found that the older 4 lug V/W's are a direct bolt on however the wheel was 15" and still had the shallow offset which wouldn't help any, plus the center hole is much larger and I think would eventually cause problems to the stud bolts, I could just buy the wheels i need but will they be any larger diamiter?...13" 14" etc, so I could simply buy a tire off the shelf? or would they still be 12" wheels only wider? if this is the case then somewhere down the road I'll be buying the hard to find 12" tires again,
after all this is just for the front of the tractor and as long as I get a strong 6 or 8 ply tire I think a car tire would be alright to use,....................................................................................
as far as the front symmetric of the tractors center of balance it is evident that it helps some by widening the wheel/tire span and by me reversing the wheels has much improved the balance... Yes! there might be a trade off from maneuverability to balance but I think it would help on the bearings in the long run to build a wheel that does not put outward stress on the bearings, and if I need a tractor for more use other then its designed purpose? then of course things need to be modified and improved upon, Besides I'm only thinking in terms of 2 inches more to each tire totaling 6" rather then the 4" original tires, the real benefit is going to be from centering the hub part of the wheel in the rim,............ Although this is just my thinking and again please corect me if I'm wrong

Ya Deep your correct about the three pieces, you only need to pop the center out (which by the way is challenging there in pretty tight you,ll need a press and lots a heat), not cut the outer piece in half like I did.
Just to let everyone know I dont use these on public highways there offroad use only.Had I been able to buy a wheel for the application I WOULD have but they dont make any with the back spacing I need.
As far as the wheel locating on the hub and not relying on the studs I agree with you ,but on truck sites I frequent this is an often spoke about topic and many tend to believe the studs are sufficent but I prefer to locate on the hub.
About the center positioning in the outer rim, having centered will obviously put the least amount of stress on your hubs but isn,t always necessary.If you wanted to keep your front end geometry perfect (which most tractors aren,t when new from the factory).Your camber should meet the ground at the center of the tire.Meaning when looking at the front of your axle, the axis that the spindle pivots on should be slanted out.If you draw a staight line continueing that axis to the ground ,it should hit the ground at the center of your tire.This will give you the least amount of steering effort and best wear on tires,but like I said before front end geometry on tractors usually arent that good from the factory anyways (My JD 4300 is terrible) so its not that critical.
I hope this makes sense Im not that good at explaining things.

Jeff

 

[Johnagain]

DeepNdirt,
I think you are going to so much work for a problem that doesn't exist. Turning the wheels around doesn't put any more wear or fatigue on the bearings than keeping them in the narrow position. Here's why. When you bolt the wheel to the hub the leverage is still in the same place as before right next to the hub. The attachment place does not change, it stays right next to the hub in either narrow or wide stance. Now if you put 3 inch spacers in between the wheel and the hub then it would put added stress on the bearings because the mounting of the wheel would be out another 3 inches from the hub.

I moved my wheels to the wider position the day I bought my JD 4310 and have over a 1000 hrs and have had no problems with the wheel bearings.