Oversized tires and other lawn tractor modifications

16 years ago

I have a project in mind involving purchasing a used but well maintained small to medium lawn tractor with a rotary deck and making some modifications. Before I take the plunge and spend the $$$, I wanted to see if there were any

folks out there with more mechanical experience than I have who might advise me on whether or not this would work.

I have a 2+ acre parcel of land on my property which is fairly rough terrain. It has been cleared/thinned about three times, once during the time of original settlement, once somewhere in the 1950s, and once three years ago when I bought the property. We hired a crew to take down a lot of trees (second growth and scrubb) so the area would have a more park like appearance. The first year after that we paid another service $1500 twice to bush hog the area in the spring and fall. $3000.00 is a lot of money to shell out on a regular basis so this year I attempted to do it myself with my 1953 Farmall Cub and

a brush cutter designed to work with the tractor on it's fast hitch.

I found that the tractor, small as it is, was two large and cumbersome to navigate the remaining trees and the maze of hidden rocks, stumps, and roots that are all over the place. About the eighth time I hit a rock I succeeded

in shattering the cast iron housing assembly for the rotary blades and that was the end of that. The mower went off for expensive repair, and I took to weed whacking by hand which eventually led to the painful discovery that I have multiple herniated discs and spinal stenosis, and I wound up in bed for two weeks narrowly avoiding surgery. So... rule out the (small) big tractor, and rule out weed whacking FOR EVER!

It occured to me that what I needed was a SMALL manuverable lawn tractor; but I need around 8" of clearence for a high cut in order to avoid all the obstacles.

Any sort of lift kit involves suspension, steering linkage, and perhaps changes in the deck drive system (belt lengths, etc) and that would be a pretty expensive proposition. However, a gear driven machine with very slow low gears might lend itself to having oversized wheels or tires mounted which would serve to raise the overall height of the mower deck without too much other fuss and bother.

I have my eye on an MTD mower with a 32" deck and an 11 hp engine. It has

higher clearence between the top of the wheels and the rear fenders and front

body than most allowing for an increased wheel diameter of perhaps as much

as 9". Such a change will inevitably increase the speed of the tractor and might stress the engine and drive system - especially in upper gears (has 7 forward and 7 reverse gears). However, if I stick to the low gears, this might

give me the clearence I need. Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thanks

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Comments (7)

castoff
16 years ago
In my opinion, you are heading down the highway to hell on this one because your priorities are all wrong. You don't buy, modify and use some cheapo LT to try and bush hog a piece of property that is strewn with hazards.

Go rent a skid steer loader with a tooth bar on the bucket and clean up all the rocks and other junk that is on this property. Even if you don't haul the stuff off site, you can heap it up in one spot for the time being. If stumps are an issue, then rent a stump grinder and deal with them. The only obstacle/obstruction left on the property should be live trees. The rest of the ground should be clean and level even if you don't want to have an actual lawn right now. The skid steer loader can shave off high spots and carry the dirt to fill in the low spots. If you don't know how to operate one, then hire a pro.

Once you achieve the clean-up and levelling, then any LT will maintain it without fear of destroying itself or launching a chunk of something into the air that might hit a passerby. With your back condition, why would you even think that some LT with 12" rear rims is going to navigate smoothly over that terrain?
docspanky
16 years ago
I'd be thinking more along the lines of a 4 wheeler with a tow behind mowing system. The ones I have seen at Tractor Supply can be set to a ground clearance of almost a foot.
After labor, parts that you'd have to custome make, and all the time you'd dump into trying to make something do what its not supposed to do, you probably be dissappointed very shortly when the larger tires through increased rotational force intricacies, turned the transmission into a pile of scrap metal.

Just my .02 cents

DOCSpanky
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I'm going to have to defer to some of the "Gravely owners/experts" here. I can only offer that some tractors have a snap ring, washer and keyway mount, some have a cotter pin,washer and keyway mount, while some heavier/higher end models have a flange and lugs (nuts or bolts). If you see a cotter pin through the end of the axle shaft, or a snap ring in a groove on the end of the axle shaft (it will be one or the other), that will have to be removed before the wheel can be slipped off the axle. If this is a machine you have recently acquired that has been "put up" in storage for a long time (year or more) you might have difficulty in "slipping" the wheel off. If it doesn't slip off, spray penetrant on the axle/wheel juncture on the inboard and outboard sides of the wheel, allow up to several days and repeated sprayings to loosen the wheel. One method you can try to help loosen the wheel after spraying with penetrant is to jack up one wheel only, just enough to clear the ground (or floor). Leave the opposite wheel on the ground. Take hold of the raised wheel and rock it back and forth (clockwise/counterclockwise) with a lot of force. I mean really SLAM it. Just don't knock it off the jack stand or block. If it loosens, leave that wheel in place and let that side down on the ground. Go to the other wheel, raise it up and do the same thing to that side. Only when you have both sides loosened should you actually slip the wheels off. DO NOT beat on the inboard side of the wheel in an attempt to "drive" the wheel off. You risk damaging some retaining rings inside the differential if you do that. If your tractor does not use washer and keyway wheel wheel mounts I don't know how to remove the wheels.
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tmajor
16 years ago
Yes, cleaning up the lot is the way to go. Even if you have to have a bulldozer come in, it won't take long and the problem will be solved forever. Get some estimates.
davidandkasie
16 years ago
if you can't afford to hire someone to clean the lot, buy soem generic round up from ebay and kill off the entire thing. then at your leisure remove the obstacles by hand.

i had a overgrown section of my 4 acres when we first moved in. i walked it to see if it was worth attempting to cut and found loose barb wire laying every where from an old fence around the horse pasture. i sprayed the whole area with RU a couple times, and once it became bare dirt i got the rake and wheelbarrow out and cleaned it up.
butchs_hobby
16 years ago
Have to second Castoof's comments. Trying to mow or brush hog shouldn't be done till the ground is cleared of unwanted objects. And why even consider modifiying a lawn tractor, get on e-bay or tractorhouse and buy a good used garden tractor, lots of them on there everytime I look, or look at your local dealers to see what they might have in used garden tractors. With your back problem I'd be looking for one with a darn comfortable seat too. And with a real garden tractor there's always a lot of different implements you can use with it too.
broke_not
16 years ago
Another vote for cleaning up the area properly here. As far as the tow-behind mowers go, they *seem* like a good idea at first.....but check the classifieds, (or eBay....or Craigslist).

There are always LOTS of them for sale and often the ads say, "Like new, only used one season".

Makes me wonder why people want to get rid of them right away. I'm sure they mow just fine, but it must be either the difficulty in mowing around obstacles, difficulty in towing them in areas that aren't nice and flat.....or maybe a combination of several factors. Seems like lots of people buy them, only to find out they're not all they're cracked up to be.

I was looking at one of the 60" models myself, *until* I grabbed the hitch on one at TSC and pulled it around the lot by hand a bit.

Bought this instead, and welded up the sulky using some scrap I had in the garage......

{{gwi:331130}}
wheelhorse_of_course
16 years ago
Sounds like you are adventurous enough that going used and doing some repair might be a possibility for you. If you get a decent garden tractor with a dozer blade that would help with the cleanup. And many (NOT all)decks can be operated in the raised transport position.

You can also replace the wheels on a floating deck to larger wheels to increase the maximum height in the mowing position.

Good Luck

Oversized tires and other lawn tractor modifications

Comments (7)

castoff

docspanky

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