Tires Moved tires in rear to wide position.

[defed]

this thread is a bit old, but i have been thinking about reversing the tires (r4) on my 4300. the OM says to reverse the fronts for more stability on hills (despite the debate here about axle pivot), you gain about 4". reversing the rears only gets you just under 1.5"...probably not even enough to get chains on and fit between the tire and fender.

i have a ditch bank that my old ford 600 mowed w/o even feeling like i was on a slope. the 4300 feels MUCH worse in regards to tipping...not sure that it would, but i'd rather not find out the hard way. even the slight slope on the side of the road feels bad, and i know that one isn't close to roll over. i have to measure the widths of both tractors and see how they compare. i think the 4300 sits a little higher as well, so that could add to the tippy feeling.

the little i gain from swapping the wheels might make a big difference, if not, i will have to look into spacers and/or some rear tire loading.

 

[beenthere]

defed
I switched my 4300 R-4's, so I could run chains. The feeling of "tipping" is still there, but also think sitting higher leads to that (compared to my old 2cyl 420U that seemed to crawl around anywhere like the 8N Ford and TO-30 Ferguson). I tiptoe on hills more carefully with the 4300. Weighted tires and ballast box, with loader low has kept the wheels on the ground so far.

 

[Rob-D]

Hi,

You might want to keep in mind that tipping is more a matter of center of gravity than tractor height.

Rob

 

[defed]

Beenthere, you did gain enough for chains? did you reverse the fronts also?

Rob, height may not affect the tipping, but it sure does add to the FEELING that it's tippy when in fact, it may not even be close.

 

[beenthere]

I've run chains for 10 years with the tires turned out.
Now, take into consideration I made up my own chains to fit the tire better than any commercial chains I could find. Longer side chains and shorter cross ladder chains to keep the side chains in the R-4 dip. They work great. Not sure letting the side chains down along the side would have enough room, but figure it was too close to try them. And yes, I did reverse the fronts. Looked a bit wierd at first, but quickly got used to them.
Here is a pic of chains.

 

[Barely Smokin']

I flipped both fronts and rears. Made a huge difference in my mind.

I think swapping the fronts made a big difference, too. Not so much where the surface of the ground is relatively even.

In some cases, though, the front wheels are not on the same type of surface as the rears, or tilting at a different angle, or loaded differently, and having the fronts flipped makes a difference.

Flipping the tires will require some adjustments in your technique on some 3PH attachments, due to the extra width.

I've had no issues with plowing into turns, other than the normal 4WD feel.