B2601 w/ R4's: Getting 2" wheel spacers for back. Get them for front too?
- Thread starter keith204
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North Idaho Wolfman
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Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Definitely only the rear should be done.
Wheel spacers make a major difference and is the best upgrade/modification I have made for my 2601. Only consideration for mounting them/caveat I can think of is that Mid-Mount Mowers might have clearance issues with the spacers, but thats about it. If you aren't mounting a mid-mount mower then I'd also consider ordering a step too (you can order a B2650 step and it fits).
Here are shots of my mount up with 2" spacers.
Half through the install; left tire is stock, right has the spacer:
Tractor back on the ground, spacers mounted
Wheel spacers make a major difference and is the best upgrade/modification I have made for my 2601. Only consideration for mounting them/caveat I can think of is that Mid-Mount Mowers might have clearance issues with the spacers, but thats about it. If you aren't mounting a mid-mount mower then I'd also consider ordering a step too (you can order a B2650 step and it fits).
Here are shots of my mount up with 2" spacers.
Half through the install; left tire is stock, right has the spacer:
Tractor back on the ground, spacers mounted
great! Thanks both for the advice and steering me away from senseless money spending.
jrsavoie
Active member
Equipment
2022 LX2610, 1963 JD4010, 1975 Ford backhoe, 1996 Toro 223D, 1999 Toro Groun325D
Why do you say that only the rear should be done?
Front spacers reduce the tricycle/narrow front tractor effect of having the front narrower than the rear.
What row widths are the LX2610 made for? I haven't measured yet
I'd pay extra for adjustable wheel width, like the old real tractors had.
Adding them to the front doesn’t do anything for stability of the tractor as the back is your lateral tipping point.
People certainly have added them to the front. But it serves no benefit. The only logic I saw was from someone who wanted to keep their wheels in line for loading on a trailer. I would think it would put more strain on your steering assembly as well.
The older tractors had adjustable axles. You didn't add spacers to the wheels to get your row width right. They were also mostly 2wd which made it a lot easier to change the width out front. These 4wd tractors arw a fixed front width. Adding spacers just acts like a lever on your bearings and puts more stress on them, and also changes your steering geometry.
I think that is the real reason to refrain from spacing the front wheels out, the idea that it doesn't add stability makes no sense.
jrsavoie
Active member
Equipment
2022 LX2610, 1963 JD4010, 1975 Ford backhoe, 1996 Toro 223D, 1999 Toro Groun325D
And the older tractors lasted 50 years and are still kicking. I don't think you'll see that out of any of the new tractors
The reason that it doesn't add to the stability is that the front axle is designed to pivot on a center point. Lift the front end of your tractor off the ground with the loader and then push down on the tire and you will see that it is free floating, or at least it is on my BX23S. I believe that almost all Kubota tractors are built this way. My 1964 Minneapolis Moline was the same way, and when one wheel dropped into a hole, the tractor kept pushing forward and flipped over onto its side. I was thrown clear and other than a few bruises I survived. That lesson has never left me and I realize that almost any tractor can flip over.
The front axle has some effect on whether you tip over, but only when the rear end has already left the ground.
Without a loader the rear end is just not gonna leave the ground basically ever, but WITH a loader you can accidentally get one or both rear wheels off the ground, at which point the front axle becomes 'a problem'.
The main thing that's going to cause you to tip over, even if the rear axle does leave the ground, is momentum. Once the rear tires leave the ground there is nothing 'damping' the roll acceleration of the tractor, or the speed at which it tips to either side. If the tractor gradually tilts through the front axle's range of motion over a second or two, you probably have time to drop the loader enough to avert a rollover. If the tractor tilts very fast, it will have so much momentum when it hits the 'stops' of front axle rotation that it will probably tip over.
Spacing the front tires out would change the geometry slightly, but it would be a drop in the bucket. Consider that for the most part the reason your rear tires would ever leave the ground is due to a heavy load in the loader bucket, and when lifted the bucket has a MUCH larger radius from the roll axis the tractor would pivot on, than the front tires do. It would have a MUCH MUCH greater impact to lower the loader bucket. This is why everybody says not to carry a load any higher than you have to. As a practical matter you can't space the front wheels out far enough to counteract unsafe loader use.
I put a small crane on the front of a converted riding mower to move engines and other heavy items before i had a loader tractor. On that thing i fully disabled the pivoting of the axle to improve the safety factor. But the downside of that is it is VERY easy to lose rear traction if your front axle doesn't pivot. It's not a change i would recommend for most uses. Easiest and best thing to do is just operate cautiously with the loader!
Without a loader the rear end is just not gonna leave the ground basically ever, but WITH a loader you can accidentally get one or both rear wheels off the ground, at which point the front axle becomes 'a problem'.
The main thing that's going to cause you to tip over, even if the rear axle does leave the ground, is momentum. Once the rear tires leave the ground there is nothing 'damping' the roll acceleration of the tractor, or the speed at which it tips to either side. If the tractor gradually tilts through the front axle's range of motion over a second or two, you probably have time to drop the loader enough to avert a rollover. If the tractor tilts very fast, it will have so much momentum when it hits the 'stops' of front axle rotation that it will probably tip over.
Spacing the front tires out would change the geometry slightly, but it would be a drop in the bucket. Consider that for the most part the reason your rear tires would ever leave the ground is due to a heavy load in the loader bucket, and when lifted the bucket has a MUCH larger radius from the roll axis the tractor would pivot on, than the front tires do. It would have a MUCH MUCH greater impact to lower the loader bucket. This is why everybody says not to carry a load any higher than you have to. As a practical matter you can't space the front wheels out far enough to counteract unsafe loader use.
I put a small crane on the front of a converted riding mower to move engines and other heavy items before i had a loader tractor. On that thing i fully disabled the pivoting of the axle to improve the safety factor. But the downside of that is it is VERY easy to lose rear traction if your front axle doesn't pivot. It's not a change i would recommend for most uses. Easiest and best thing to do is just operate cautiously with the loader!