To fill or not to fill...also, spacers

[OntheRidge]

I recently traded my L2501 for an L47TLB (lightly used). The tires were supposedly filled, however they are not. My question(s) to the group:
Should I get them filled? According to the manual when the BH is attached ballast should be removed from tires. Thoughts?
I also am considering 2.5" spacers, as my property is very hilly. Would this put undue stress on the rear axle? Thanks in advance!

 

[85Hokie]

Fill them and space them!

Both may save your life!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Per Kubota No and No
As both can break axles.
But real world.
Reasonable spacers should be fine.
But I think there is more than enough ballast with the BH unless you want to do a lot of loader work with the BH removed.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Simple question.
Does Kubota offer 2.5" wheel spacers for your tractor ,or any size ??
If not,they have a darn good reason to NOT have spacers.
While some say the tractor is more stable, mechanically it may fail, and YOU will have a HUGE repair bill to pay.
If your tractor from the factory ,isn't stable and safe then it's the wrong tractor for you.

 

[Fladogman]

I vote no on the spacers and yes on the fluid in the tires. The backhoe alone is sufficient ballast but without the hoe you'll be light in the rear. Fluid combined with a decently heavy implement will help take the place of the backhoe.
Spacers add additional stress to lighter weight axles that fluid doesn't in my opinion.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

I would venture the warnings has to do with some extreme use cases…my guess is most of us could not process some of the warranty claims that are most likely a result of customer abuse. As a regular consumer it’s really hard to know what all the components are really designed / spec’d and what the failure points really are. Honestly what is the definition of ‘normal use’? I bet that’s a little different to each of us in our own minds….some may match big orange thoughts, I bet some don’t.

 

[OntheRidge]

Simple question.
Does Kubota offer 2.5" wheel spacers for your tractor ,or any size ??
If not,they have a darn good reason to NOT have spacers.
While some say the tractor is more stable, mechanically it may fail, and YOU will have a HUGE repair bill to pay.
If your tractor from the factory ,isn't stable and safe then it's the wrong tractor for you.

Ahh, but if we lived life according to "manufacturers recommendations", how boring that would be.

 

[Lencho]

I filled my tires and don’t remove the fill when using the backhoe. If the backhoe was on all the time I would not have filled them but it makes no difference when it is on. Actually the little tractor gets tossed about a bit by the backhoe so I think the extra weight is good.

 

[jimh406]

Assuming you have a trusted dealer, talk to them. Fwiw, I have the OEM 1" spacers on my L2501 with loaded tires. Both were installed/recommended by my dealer.

If Kubota makes spacers for it, then I'd say at least spacers are ok for it. Likewise, if they have offset wheels, maybe you just offset/reverse them more.

Maybe the dealer can shed light on why spacers and loaded aren't recommended by for your model.

 

[GrizBota]

How about wheel weights that can be installed/removed as needed when the backhoe is installed. Perhaps that would comply with the Kubota guidelines.

 

[Quick]

Fill them and space them!

Both may save your life!

IMHO, what Hokie said. (-:

 

[jyoutz]

I have always had filled tires, but I don’t have a backhoe. I think the best option is to get cast weights. Install them when the backhoe is removed, and remove the weights when the backhoe is installed.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

Grew up with filled tires on farm tractors, hate it! Pain in the @$$ when you eventually have to fix a leak, harder on the tire carcass, and at least technically not as traction efficient as wheel weights (although you probably wouldn't notice the last one).
Buy wheel weights if you can afford it. Can't speak to the spacer issue, wheel track on my old M is adjustable, just swap direction of wheel centers and rims to suit.

 

[mikester]

Read this thread

B26 TLB - Broken rear axle

About ten days ago while repositioning my B26 TLB digging a trench, one of the rear axles broke. The break was just inside the transmission case. This means that a lot of UDT2 hydraulic fluid was dumped on the ground. For reference, this is a 2011 B26 TLB with 943 hours. I bought it used in...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[johnjk]

I filled my rear tires and went with the BroTek wheel spacers from and rear on my B3200. I do not have front weights, just leave the loader on. Stability and traction has improved. The B1700 came with the rear tires loaded. I would love to remove the calcium chloride but need to find someone to do that job.

 

[Smokeydog]

Kubota dealer filled my B26 rear tires with no warnings. I added 2” spacers. It would have severely limited where I could comfortably go without changing. Couldn’t be happier with the results on my hillside farm. Roll overs are no fun.

M59 has filled tires. There are times I wished for spacers. Both tractors see 80-90% time with out backhoe. Both don’t have ag tractor rims meant for spacing.

 

[Freeheeler]

If you are talking about a L47tlb, then it's already a heavy machine and the hoe is an integral part that you won't be taking on and off, so I would say loaded tires are not necessary since the bh is plenty of ballast for loader work. The spacers can help with stability on hills and if it were mine I'd put them on. The chances of breaking and axel is very slim unless you do something stupid. The folks talking about needing the filled tires for when you take the BH off may be thinking of an L4701 or similar with a bh attachment. That's a totally different animal.

 

[OntheRidge]

If you are talking about a L47tlb, then it's already a heavy machine and the hoe is an integral part that you won't be taking on and off, so I would say loaded tires are not necessary since the bh is plenty of ballast for loader work. The spacers can help with stability on hills and if it were mine I'd put them on. The chances of breaking and axel is very slim unless you do something stupid. The folks talking about needing the filled tires for when you take the BH off may be thinking of an L4701 or similar with a bh attachment. That's a totally different animal.

Yes, L47TLB. Thank you, that is the route I was thinking as well. The BH would only come off occasionally to use box blade.

 

[Henro]

Read this thread

B26 TLB - Broken rear axle

About ten days ago while repositioning my B26 TLB digging a trench, one of the rear axles broke. The break was just inside the transmission case. This means that a lot of UDT2 hydraulic fluid was dumped on the ground. For reference, this is a 2011 B26 TLB with 943 hours. I bought it used in...

www.orangetractortalks.com

That was a one time event on the tractor. It was purchased used with 800+ hours on it. No way to know what kind of abuse that tractor suffered before it was sold to the new owner. Regardless, it is a one time event. Trying to project a one time event into the general population is probably meaningless.

Many people use wheel spacers on their tractors, and the complaints of actual breakage are few and far between.

At the end of the day, I guess it comes down to “make your decision and take your chances”. In my case, I would add spacers and take my chances. If I needed stability on uneven surfaces. Which I actually do!

 

[mikester]

That was a one time event on the tractor. It was purchased used with 800+ hours on it. No way to know what kind of abuse that tractor suffered before it was sold to the new owner. Regardless, it is a one time event. Trying to project a one time event into the general population is probably meaningless.

Many people use wheel spacers on their tractors, and the complaints of actual breakage are few and far between.

At the end of the day, I guess it comes down to “make your decision and take your chances”. In my case, I would add spacers and take my chances. If I needed stability on uneven surfaces. Which I actually do!

I assume there is a reason why K says NOT to load the rear tires on my M59 if I run a BH on it. It's still a small machine designed at it's limits to keep it light and compact.