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Conversion to bolt on wheels for any 4-wheel rider

3726 Views 74 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Mikey4
I change from turf tires to aggressive treads for use with my snow blower. Doing the front wheels is always kind of pain - and messy. Bolt on wheels would be quite an improvement. It was just a matter of the right bits and pieces. Here is what I used. This is on one of my 16Gs, but it will work on any 800, 8000, or G tractor.

The only downside is that your Gravely wheel weights will not work with this setup. With my 48" blower on the front, this is not a problem for me.

The hubs were the hard part, I chose these since they fit the unaltered Gravely front end parts.


I also used a 1" spacer inboard and a 1/2" spacer outboard. You can easily adjust the wheel track by choosing different spacers.

The wheels were easy. Any 4 on 4 wheel will ft these hubs. I chose these, but they are far from your only choice.


And here is how they look once installed.

Bicycle part Gas Machine Auto part Nickel
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Very nice Mikey, good info.

I actually have front chains, but I have only used them in the worst weather.

Your a better man than me when it comes to this topic, I leave my wheel weights on all year, and sometimes don't take the wheels off the tractor for years at a time.

Sheldon
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@Mikey4 I like this setup. Did you happen to figure out a way to run wheel weights? I suppose an extra set of holes could be drilled in the hubs for bolts?
Measure closely when you look at 4 bolt hubs and wheels. Years ago I bought a set of 18x6.5-8 turf tires from a Cub Cadet ZTR. Their bolt pattern was slightly smaller than 4 on 4” on my Toro 117 Groundsmaster and it was very hard to get them on. I’m guessing that they were a 100mm bolt spacing. 4 inches would be 101.6mm.
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Might not hurt to look at four bolt trailer rims.
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Agreed. These came in, so I just need to go get them to check them out.
Font Auto part Circle Rim Aluminium
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I have four bolt trailer rims and was going the look for 1" dia trailer hubs. I can pickup hubs about any where. But maybe not for 1" spindles.
I was thinking something like this might help:

Automotive tire Household hardware Rim Font Composite material


These could possibly help too:

Product Automotive tire Font Cylinder Gas
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I was thinking something like this might help:

View attachment 2582041
Everything I have already has 1" axles. Maybe others need the spacers.
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Everything I have already has 1" axles. Maybe others need the spacers.
Gotcha. I was thinking of the Gravely rider, which I think is 3/4” for the front axle.
I picked up the rims from Tractor Supply, and unfortunately my weights don’t fit inside the lip of the rims. My weights are 9” diameter and the measurement inside the lip of the rims from Tractor Supply is only 8.5”. I also learned that the rims on my 816 (made in 1973 I believe) are different from other front rims I’ve got on 2 other 800 parts tractors. My 9” diameter weights fit perfectly inside the lip of the rim on my 816, but the rims from my parts tractors has a smaller measurement across the lip (8 13/16) so my 9” weights don’t fit inside the lip on them either.

I was really hoping to switch to a hub as described at the beginning of this thread, but I’d prefer the inside lip of the rims to be big enough to accommodate my 9” diameter weights. Anyone aware of any rims that would work for this?
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I picked up the rims from Tractor Supply, and unfortunately my weights don’t fit inside the lip of the rims. My weights are 9” diameter and the measurement inside the lip of the rims from Tractor Supply is only 8.5”. I also learned that the rims on my 816 (made in 1973 I believe) are different from other front rims I’ve got on 2 other 800 parts tractors. My 9” diameter weights fit perfectly inside the lip of the rim on my 816, but the rims from my parts tractors has a smaller measurement across the lip (8 13/16) so my 9” weights don’t fit inside the lip on them either.

I was really hoping to switch to a hub as described at the beginning of this thread, but I’d prefer the inside lip of the rims to be big enough to accommodate my 9” diameter weights. Anyone aware of any rims that would work for this?
This is interesting, I will have to check the dimension of my rims, which have these 39 lb weights.

Wheel Tire Automotive tire Tread Locking hubs


Sheldon
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Keep in mind my weights are not Gravely weights. It is interesting though that I have three sets of rims—1 on my original 816, a set from a parts 816 (later year than my running 816), and a set from a parts 812. Only the set from the 816 I’ve been running (year 1973 I believe) accommodate these 9” weights inside the lip. I had just assumed the rims would be nearly identical, but I was wrong.
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I guess this doesn’t really matter so much since it sounds like people do fine running the V61’s on stock rims, but Vredestein specifies a rim width of 5.38”, whereas the stock rims appear to have a rim width of about 4”.
I guess this doesn’t really matter so much since it sounds like people do fine running the V61’s on stock rims, but Vredestein specifies a rim width of 5.38”, whereas the stock rims appear to have a rim width of about 4”.
Yes, GRAVELY front rims were 4" until about 1994, at which time the front wheel width on G series riders was increased to 5". The rims in my picture above are 5" wide.

Interestingly, GRAVELY and others have a history of mounting tires on rims more narrow than the tire manufacturer recommends.

The 16x7.50-8 tires used on the upper engine sized GRAVELY's for years nearly all call for 5" rims. Same goes with rear tires, for decades GRAVELY (and others) put 23x10.50-12 tires on 7" wide rims rather than the recommended 8.5" wide rims.

About 1996 GRAVELY also increased the width of the rear rims on 18-G and 20-G tractors. A fact that is poorly documented in the parts lists, but is a known fact among the serious G series fans.

Being a 16-G and coming with 23x8.50-12 tires, my tractor had 7" wide rear rims, until one needed replacement - it now has the famous mystery 8.5" wide rims. Actually the ones now on my tractor are two of the last three from the GRAVELY parts warehouse in Brillion.......

Sheldon
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Keep in mind my weights are not Gravely weights. It is interesting though that I have three sets of rims—1 on my original 816, a set from a parts 816 (later year than my running 816), and a set from a parts 812. Only the set from the 816 I’ve been running (year 1973 I believe) accommodate these 9” weights inside the lip. I had just assumed the rims would be nearly identical, but I was wrong.
So I measured mine, my GRAVELY weights pictured above are 8-3/4" in diameter and fit nicely in my rims with no real room to spare. 9" weights would not fit my factory GRAVELY rims.

Sheldon
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Been following this. Are the fronts not 8 inch diameter on your Gravely four wheel tractors?
Been following this. Are the fronts not 8 inch diameter on your Gravely four wheel tractors?
Yes they are 8" diameter rims, but if you look at this picture, you will see these wheel weights fit on the outside edge.

The 8" dimension applies to the inside diameter where the bead of the tire sits.

The size of the bead lip does vary from brand to brand for an 8" rim.

The overall diameter of my rims (over the bead lip) is pretty close to 9" and inside the final flange of the bead lip, on the outside of the rim, is about 8-13/16". The wheel weights in the picture measure 8-3/4".

Wheel Tire Automotive tire Tread Locking hubs


Sheldon
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Yes they are 8" diameter rims, but if you look at this picture, you will see these wheel weights fit on the outside edge.

The 8" dimension applies to the inside diameter where the bead of the tire sits.

The size of the bead lip does vary from brand to brand for an 8" rim.

The overall diameter of my rims (over the bead lip) is pretty close to 9" and inside the final flange of the bead lip, on the outside of the rim, is about 8-13/16". The wheel weights in the picture measure 8-3/4".

View attachment 2582667

Sheldon
Thanks! That is what I was thinking. So a little grinder time and the proper paint would solve the weight size problem if one was so inclined.
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