Front 4-lug wheels

[deepNdirt]

Found some direct bolt on wheels for the front of my 1700, after over a year looking for wheels that I could use to convert to a larger tire on the front of my 1700 I finally found a pair on the rear of a small scut tractor at the salvage yard last week, I looked this tractor over to find some sort of name on it so that I could share as to what these wheels came off of, however the hood was missing and no name to be found, this tractor was the size of a lawn tractor and had a gas 2 cyl engine, was not ordinary lawn tractor, it had 3ph and a PTO was setup like a small tractor, it had rear wheel weights along with liquid in the tires, anyway! the wheels are 7 x 15's with the correct 4-lug hole pattern, although the center hole is about 5/16 larger then the 3" hole on the original wheels, I'm wondering if this will be OK ? I have read where there are such center hole rings to take in this space.. the wheels have a center mount, meaning 3 1/2 inches center of mount,
I'm thinking this should resolve the stress and any concern for having wheel bearing wear problems, the tires that came on these rims were much too large being 9.50 x 29 so I'm certainly not going to use them, I have temporarily trial fitted a 205 x 60 x15 onto one of the rims to give me an idea of what size i should use, the 205 width and 60 tall is still a bit large although do not rub at any position, but with the rims being 7" wide I'll need to keep in mind the tire width should be close to this 7 inches,
I'm thinking a 195 x 60 might be just the size to use, but I don't want a car tread design, and not sure I'll find a A/T in this small of tire, anyone know of a smaller 15" A/T tire? or something more suited for a tractor?

I estimate that these wheels will give a total of 5" more of much needed wheel span, I have'nt done the exact math on this, but will when getting them mounted,

 

[clemsonfor]

I sold tires at one of my prior jobs. You wont find an AT tire in that size. A/T tires rarely exist in a side profile smaller than 70 series, at least on a 15 inch rim that is.

You may find a snow tire but thats it.

 

[clemsonfor]

One of the best and about the cheapest tire sites i have foud is Tireseasy.com

They have all the major brands and off brands of chineese tires etc. There is something for every price. Even if there not the cheapest its a good resource as it lets you compare different brands side by side on one site then you can search the best deal for your tire you choose. IE you can look at a BFG next to a knock off chineese brand. Its real easy to search by size as well and you can organize them by price etc.

I have purchased tires from them to so i know there a good company, i got them cheaper than i could have locoally and got a far higher mileage tire too. My only regret is that in checking with a buddy on tires the week i wasted they went up $30set!

 

[LBrown59]

Found some direct bolt on wheels for the front of my 17

Won't the larger front tires throw off the ratio ?

 

[deepNdirt]

Won't the larger front tires throw off the ratio ?

only if were a 4wd tractor,
My 1700 is 2wd, I think the only ill effect I'll have to deal with will be the steering of the wider tires,
The factory tires are somewhere around 4" wide x 21" tall so the new tires will be around 3" wider and 3" taller, making them a total of 7" wide and 24" tall,
Some day my plans are to put larger/ wider tires of the rear, If i cannot find wider rims for the rear, I can at least go up 1 size larger rear tire from a 8.3 to a 9.2 on the current rims,

 

[clemsonfor]

My concern would be what you expressed in your last post. Id be concerned with the extra ground contact and traction with them. Turning without any foward or reverse momentum would be next to impossible and may even be hard at slow speeds.

Dont you have a loader now too? I would think that when loaded it will be extra hard to turn as the tire is larger now? Maybe this is one of those mind/math games where it wont matter as there is only so much weight on those two tires regardless of contact patch. So even though the others are skinny and dont have a large area they are so heavy in that spot, vs the large tires with a larger contact patch that spreads the weight out more and thus less effort is required per sq in to make that tire move. Maybe they will be equal? May be a little counterintuitive thing? I dont know but id think it would be hareder but cant tell you.

 

[deepNdirt]

Clemsonfor,
When I first got the tires home I had to make sure the wheel lugs did in fact work so I mounted both wheels & tires onto the tractor and found it was a bit more difficult to turn, with 27" tires the front of the tractor was so high the bucket lack 1 1/2 inches from reaching the ground.....
I should back up and also say that these tires were full of liquid and were very heavy, Guessing at around 125 lbs. each, I figured the tight steering had to do with the extra weight along with the size of tire of course, and i was right in thinking so, because when I actually mounted the smaller car tire on to the tractor I again drove it around the yard and it steered almost as it always has, there was a bit more resistants when having to start off turning although once moving were hardly any noted differences,
and the tires I plan to use won't be as wide as the 205 width car tire, that tire measure out at being 8" wide, and a 195 size should be around 7" wide, Ideally would like to have some turf tires or the AG ribbed tire, but I think the ribbed tires to fit a 15" wheel are very large ... like 30" for the larger tractors,
Yes i do have a FEL on my tractor and is one reason I have always sought out way to alleviate the stress on the front end components, I have always run the wheels turn around simply to gain better front end stability when maneuvering with a load, I tried turning the wheels around one time and lost the assurance of control of front end tipping, the front wheels span was simply to narrow, so I chose to run with the wheels turn outward and just lift lighter loads and go slower with the load,
even if the steering does prove to be a little tighter I think i can deal with the trade out, I was told when the idea of installing a FEL onto my tractor the steering would be the major factor by not having assist power steering
but my tractor has never been really that difficult to steer, I don't know if its the particular model i have or what! or either I'm just a strong person

in this picture you can see the gained overall width with this particular size tire it still measures 2" inch inside the rear tire track, this is a 4" span difference from the 49" rear to front tracking,
the official differences,
factory front wheel setting with wheels turned in factory measure 38" wheel span
when factory wheels turned outward measures .........................41" wheel span
adding the wider 7" wheel provide measurement of .......................44" wheel span
a 7" total gain from the factory wheel & setting, is exactly 3 1/2 inches wider each side,

 

[clemsonfor]

Is that last picture photoshopped? The ground is all blurry and the perspective makes it look like the front tire is 1 foot farther out that the back tire on that side, meaning it looks like it has 70+ " wheel stance in the front!

 

[deepNdirt]

Update - .....
Even though I couldn't find the Ag tires I had hoped for, I wound up using a car tire 185/60 with a load rating of 1100 lbs each, I put them through the test on Friday when working the tractor for 5 hours with the new wider rims/tires, and boy what a difference they made in stability, I had been bushhoging thinning undergrowth in some very uneven terrain mostly of holes and mounds of 2 acres of woods, I've done much thinings of woods in the past while having the smaller rims and could tell when the front wheels would drop off in a hole or on side of a mound, would be a uneasy feeling when dropping off unexpectedly, Although Now with the wider wheels/tires its hardly noticeable the tires are now wide enough to roll over a hole rather than to fall into it,
The type holes I'm referring to would be that of old rotted stumps, if anyone has ever run their tractor in the woods you know what I'm talking about when the skinny tire drops off into one of these stump holes,
and to also mention how when the skinny tires would drop into the holes the steering wheel would snatch, and as far as the steering control itself it is hardly noticeable, only the instant of turning when tractor is not in movement do I feel the difference, I also test the tractor on mowing a hillside and it feels much more stable, the front dont tend to slide down hill as before,:thumbsup:

 

[Brake Weight]

I would speculate that they may not have as much turning capability on disked or tilled ground.