Hubcentric Wheels. Necessary on a tractor?

[Henro]

Hi guys,

I recently bought some cheap, but apparently well-made, wheel spacers off of Amazon for my BX 2200. I bought them because in a thread somewhere they were referenced as working well on the BX.

I have not tried them yet but I assume they will work perfectly since they worked for the guy that posted the link.

But my question relates to my larger tractor, a B2910. The B2910 also has hub centric wheels on it. I would like to buy some spacers but but I’m not sure I want to spend several hundred dollars for them. But I will if absolutely necessary.

Anyway I was thinking if I measure the bolt circle diameter of the B 2910, I could probably find some wheel spacers that had the correct bolt circle diameter, but the wrong hubcentric diameter. So I was thinking, since I have a large enough metal lathe to deal with modifications to the wheel spacers, which essentially would be removing the hub centric portion on the wheel side, I could probably get the thickness of wheel spacers I want, in inches of thickness, without spending a ton of money.

If necessary, since the wheel spacers themselves would be hubcentric to a different diameter, I could double up a pair on each side if needed. And just remove the wrong diameter hubcentric stick out on the wheel side.

But the basic question is: how important is hubcentric wheels for tractors. I know some tractors do not have hubcentric wheels, but some do. I think hubcentric is preferable, but absolutely needed? Do not know...

 

[SidecarFlip]

Bill... What is a 'hub centric' wheel anyway? Do you mean a wheel that locates on the raised axle flange of the tractor? I don't believe it's a necessity in as much as the multiple lug pattern aligns a wheel to the hub anyway. Actually, it's a modified pilot mount. In a true pilot mount the center is located om a raised, tapered hub and the raised portion provides the alignment. while the lug nuts secure it.

 

[Henro]

Yes Flip, the hub has a raised center section that the wheel slips over. Seems like that would hold the wheel on center, while the stud/lug nuts hold the wheel against the hub.

Seems to to me hubcentric would in theory be better than just holding the wheel on with the studs/lug nuts. Perhaps important on a car/truck where wheel RPMs are much greater than a tractor.

My gut is saying I don’t really need hubcentric since some tractors do not have it, but not sure how important it really is.

 

[cthomas]

Automotive applications usually use the hub centric design because the support and centering of the wheel better resists impact loads from being used on typical roads. Other low-speed and low-impact applications use lug-centric designs which are less costly and strong enough for these applications. Golf carts, for example, often use lug-centric designs. That being said if Kubota deemed it necessary for the B series tractors to use a hub centric design I would not change it. The BX series using lug centric due to the lower weight and loading of the tractor(my opinion). The hub actually supports the load of the tractor and the lug nuts just keep the rim tight to the hub. As an automotive technician as soon as I see aftermarket rims I have advisor inform customer that it is no longer warranty(reinforces my theory of "If its not free, then its not for me). Also your tractor will have higher side forces on the hubs then your car(tractor on three wheels). Also don't think I would double up wheel spacers as that is really putting a lot of stress on the outer axle bearings.

 

[Henro]

Automotive applications usually use the hub centric design because the support and centering of the wheel better resists impact loads from being used on typical roads. Other low-speed and low-impact applications use lug-centric designs which are less costly and strong enough for these applications. Golf carts, for example, often use lug-centric designs. That being said if Kubota deemed it necessary for the B series tractors to use a hub centric design I would not change it. The BX series using lug centric due to the lower weight and loading of the tractor(my opinion). The hub actually supports the load of the tractor and the lug nuts just keep the rim tight to the hub. As an automotive technician as soon as I see aftermarket rims I have advisor inform customer that it is no longer warranty(reinforces my theory of "If its not free, then its not for me). Also your tractor will have higher side forces on the hubs then your car(tractor on three wheels). Also don't think I would double up wheel spacers as that is really putting a lot of stress on the outer axle bearings.

Good point about keeping the design the same. Can not dispute that advice.

I think some tractors larger than my B2910 use lug-centric wheels. But I do not know for certain. Theory being the friction between the wheel and the hub locks things in place.

I have not not had the wheels of my BX for so long I did not remember the wheels are lug-centric. Thanks for pointing that out.