wheel spacers for BX25?

[Jeff H]

And here is min BX2230 with stock turfs. Either the fender design has changed or turfs are much wider than R4's.

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I have what looks like the same tires as you on a 2008 BX25 and with 1.5" spacers installed. I just measured 47.25" outside to outside of the tires measured at the outermost point of the sidewall. So without the spacers it would measure 44.25".

 

[HeLa]

here are the 1.25" spacers on my BX25 with turfs. they are tight, but don't rub, with my 54" mower deck

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/266754-bro-tek-wheel-spacers-bx25.html

 

[dragoneggs]

Can ya'll tell a difference in stability on uneven ground? If so can ya give me a number from 1-10 with 1 being stock.

It is hard to put a number on it. I just installed the 2in backs and 1 1/4in fronts last night. It definitely seems to be more stable but I still puckered traversing the grade today. If you really want to put a number on it... do some trigonometry. Figure the COG, figure the change in the tangent (height vs. half of axle width) and you have a numerical values. Okay a nerdish way to figure it and it won't give you a number between 1 and 10. That said... looking at the new stance from the rear, I am sure it buys you a significant amount of safety just not much confidence which I think is a good thing!

 

[94BULLITT]

It is hard to put a number on it. I just installed the 2in backs and 1 1/4in fronts last night. It definitely seems to be more stable but I still puckered traversing the grade today. If you really want to put a number on it... do some trigonometry. Figure the COG, figure the change in the tangent (height vs. half of axle width) and you have a numerical values. Okay a nerdish way to figure it and it won't give you a number between 1 and 10. That said... looking at the new stance from the rear, I am sure it buys you a significant amount of safety just not much confidence which I think is a good thing!

Too bad you do not have a inclinometer to see how much more of a steeper hill you feel comfortable on.

 

[wawajake]

I have rear spacers and hilly location and although I dare not use a number factor 1 to 10, I will state my butt does not pucker when I am going down my steep hills anymore. another advantage is that spacers system causes you to have studs to hang your wheel off of instead of inserting bolts into holes, so much easier to take wheels on and off.

 

[Tollster]

Got my extensions on yesterday, poked around a little on a few side hills. Definitely a big improvement. I would say with "0" being bone stock, it raised the bar on side hill traversing to a 3-4.
It was pretty unstable without them, particularly with the BH on. Not to mention there where times when I had to raise and lower the FEL to clear trees, stumps, and rock with a load of logs or brush on the brush forks mounted on the bucket.
I believe they will reduce my side saddling for sure, and give me more options in tight quarters on the side hills, glad I got them.
Thanks,
~Tol

 

[dragoneggs]

Agree that they definitely make a difference. Put 5 hours on my slope yesterday beginning to put a path in the curves up the hill. Very glad I have them too.

 

[Rip]

I put a set of 3" spacers from The Tracks Company on my F-series front mower (which was an odd size) and was entirely satisfied with dealing with Christian and the final product. Made a big difference on the steepest parts of the property (in the 25 to 35 deg range), and this on a pretty stable machine to begin with.

 

[HeLa]

another advantage is that spacers system causes you to have studs to hang your wheel off of instead of inserting bolts into holes, so much easier to take wheels on and off.

BTW, the later BX's have two studs on either rear wheel which really helps with this!

 

[dragoneggs]

BTW, the later BX's have two studs on either rear wheel which really helps with this!

Amen!

 

[Tollster]

I have included a picture of the cracked front left bevel gear case. It was originally though to be a seal issue, but after installing new seal and reassembling, the leak continued. I cannot say the brotek front axle extensions are the direct cause, however, within 2 months of installation, the leak soon developed.
It is my professional opinion as a Nuclear inspector that the added leverage combined with repetitive use of the FEL was a direct contributor to the stress related failure of the bevel gear case.

Crack is approx. 4.0" and tight in nature and seen here using a visible dye penetrant examination.

~Tol

 

[HeLa]

out of curiosity, what size front spacers did you install?

I have included a picture of the cracked front left bevel gear case. It was originally though to be a seal issue, but after installing new seal and reassembling, the leak continued. I cannot say the brotek front axle extensions are the direct cause, however, within 2 months of installation, the leak soon developed.
It is my professional opinion as a Nuclear inspector that the added leverage combined with repetitive use of the FEL was a direct contributor to the stress related failure of the bevel gear case.
Crack is approx. 4.0" and tight in nature and seen here using a visible dye penetrant examination.

~Tol

 

[Tollster]

out of curiosity, what size front spacers did you install?

They were the standard 1.5" thick ones up front.

 

[Leejohn]

I would think adding spacers on the front and doing loader work would sure do like what it did on yours. I changed the offset of the center of the wheel so that it in turn didn't make the axle longer as bad as wheel spacers. Now center of the wheel runs in the middle of the ring of the wheel. Hope you can understand what I'm tring to say?

 

[4shorts]

I have included a picture of the cracked front left bevel gear case. It was originally though to be a seal issue, but after installing new seal and reassembling, the leak continued. I cannot say the brotek front axle extensions are the direct cause, however, within 2 months of installation, the leak soon developed.
It is my professional opinion as a Nuclear inspector that the added leverage combined with repetitive use of the FEL was a direct contributor to the stress related failure of the bevel gear case.

Crack is approx. 4.0" and tight in nature and seen here using a visible dye penetrant examination.

~Tol

Man I don't know. There are hundreds of these BX tractors out there with wheel spacers installed on them mine included that haven't had an issue. Actually yours is the only one that developed a crack that I know of and where a wheel spacer was mentioned in the same sentence. Maybe you just had a bad casting? Maybe something else? I realize that you said you don't know if the wheel spacers were a direct cause of your problem but when you mention nuclear inspector and saying the crack appeared two months later you sure are insinuating they were the cause when in actual fact you have very little evidence that the spacers had anything to do with it at all. :confused3:

I've hauled at least 12 tandem loads of heavy gravel with my BX at long distances and never had an issue. If the spacers were going to cause a crack they sure would have done it on my job. (See photos)

Now I appreciate the fact that you are a Nuclear inspector and I am a licensed vehicle inspector and in my opinion the wheel spacer had nothing to do with it.

Remember, this is someone's lively hood and good reputation here we are dealing with. I think you should have had more definitive evidence before dragging Bro-Teks good reputation through the mud.

I'm running 1.25" front and 2" rears.

 

[thirdroc17]

I'm not anything to brag about when it comes to titles, but I do know this. The front axle PIVOTS. Widening the front foot print adds nothing to stability until the pivot stop is reached. Everything up to that point is done by the rear wheels.

Personally, I'd have no problem adding spacers to the back. They are "only" adding stress to the axle and bearing. The front, however, has all kinds of things that turn and pivot, and spacers on the front is adding a lot of load to a lot of things. Your exposing a lot of expensive components to extra stress, and not gaining one iota of stability, unless you're running around with one back tire already in the air.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm not anything to brag about when it comes to titles, but I do know this. The front axle PIVOTS. Widening the front foot print adds nothing to stability until the pivot stop is reached. Everything up to that point is done by the rear wheels.

Personally, I'd have no problem adding spacers to the back. They are "only" adding stress to the axle and bearing. The front, however, has all kinds of things that turn and pivot, and spacers on the front is adding a lot of load to a lot of things. Your exposing a lot of expensive components to extra stress, and not gaining one iota of stability, unless you're running around with one back tire already in the air.

You may have a point about how much stability the front spacers add... but I wouldn't claim 'nothing'.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I'll add my two cents. I discussed spacers with the service manager at my dealer. He stated he does not officially recommend them as Kubota does not supply them and they would raise a question mark if the tractor was still in warranty and had an axle problem. That is the party line answer naturally. He also stated that he has a lot of clients that use them with seemingly no problems. He goes on to say that most of the rear and front axle bearing and seal problems his shop sees are clients that use spacers, especially the 4" ones. That dealership does not sell or install after market ones for liability reasons. All that said; I have the pieces I need to fabricate my own 4" rear spacers when I get around to shop work again. 2 ford ranger rear axle shafts, some 1/2" plate, and two pieces of 3" schd. 80 pipe. After my discussion with the SM I came to the conclusion that front spacers are probably a bigger potential problem with minimal stability affect.

Ron

 

[Tollster]

Man I don't know. There are hundreds of these BX tractors out there with wheel spacers installed on them mine included that haven't had an issue. Actually yours is the only one that developed a crack that I know of and where a wheel spacer was mentioned in the same sentence. Maybe you just had a bad casting? Maybe something else? I realize that you said you don't know if the wheel spacers were a direct cause of your problem but when you mention nuclear inspector and saying the crack appeared two months later you sure are insinuating they were the cause when in actual fact you have very little evidence that the spacers had anything to do with it at all. :confused3:

I've hauled at least 12 tandem loads of heavy gravel with my BX at long distances and never had an issue. If the spacers were going to cause a crack they sure would have done it on my job. (See photos)

Now I appreciate the fact that you are a Nuclear inspector and I am a licensed vehicle inspector and in my opinion the wheel spacer had nothing to do with it.

Remember, this is someone's lively hood and good reputation here we are dealing with. I think you should have had more definitive evidence before dragging Bro-Teks good reputation through the mud.

I'm running 1.25" front and 2" rears.

I posted this in an effort to make others aware of the potential failure and only stated the facts of the inspection, duration, usage, and changes made. how you interpret that is up to you. I stand behind 28 years of inspection, identifying and determining how the failure may have originated, those range from thermal fatigue, stress corrosion, fatigue, cyclic stress or inherent. Do to the nuclear safety involved it is not only imperative to identify it, but to identify the root cause.
That can be done by knowing parameters of use, temperatures, stresses, and possible inherent discontinuities with in the material, as well as various inspection techniques used to identify the indication, many times requiring a long paper trail.
While you show your tractor being used on a somewhat level grade in an urban environment, my unit is used in an undeveloped area in an effort to establish access, consisting of side hills, and uneven terrain to shuttle stones to the job sight. This reflected in uneven lateral loads being placed on the front axle assembly. Whether those stresses acted on an inherent casting flaw is anyone guess without a paper trail to identify if they where ever inspected, we can continue to assume that they where most likely not. However, the use of the extension would place additional leverage to the same area of the indication due to the bevel gear hub design.
Which takes us back to my first sentence "I posted this in an effort to make others aware of the potential failure and only stated the facts of the inspection, duration, usage, and changes made".
Much the same as one pointing out it could be a coincidence that it failed after installing the extensions..
I merely stated the facts based on my expertise, knowledge, and training.

Rich turns out quality stuff and I do not aim to discredit him, I personally performed a visual inspection on all the items I received from him, belly pan, thumb, claw for thumb, brush forks, and the extensions. The quality of craftsmanship is first rate, welds are comparable to that of what I am accustom to seeing in a power plant.

None the less, I felt it important to share with others if in deed it becomes more evident with other kubotas, or those using extensions. I don't aim nor ever have to drag ones good name through the mud, only create the speculation that it could have been and let the end user decide for themselves based from the facts stated here.
~Tol

 

[thirdroc17]

You may have a point about how much stability the front spacers add... but I wouldn't claim 'nothing'.

Until the axle pivot hits it's maximum rotation, the front axle adds nothing to stability. Up until that point of contact between the axle and the limit, it's free to rotate, regardless of how far apart the wheels are.

Spacers add stress, no matter how you figure it. More stress means shorter life. It's all in how much you want to risk it. More stability VS long life. As with anything, sometimes things live very long under high stress, sometimes they don't. Just understand the potential risk of spacers vs a different potential risk of no spacers.