Why?

What size are the rear tires?

 

26x12x12

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26x12x12

Those tires will carry 140 lb of Rim Guard each.

While duals contribute to stability, they create a couple of other problems. They limit maneuverability . A 4' wide tractor becomes 6' wide and a GT can't handle a 6' bucket on the loader to clear a path wide enough for the tractor to pass.

While they improve flotation when dealing with soft ground conditions, it has to be remembered that the small front tires of a loader equipped tractor actually carry a heavier load than the rear tires. The maximum load on the rear tires is half the weight of the bare tractor, plus the weight of the operator and any ballast applied, including an implement on the 3PH. The rated max implement weight for your tractor is 400 lb. The max static load rating for the rear axle is 1500 lb, including what is on the 3PH. Wheel weights and liquid ballast are not carried by the axle, but there is a max weight rating for the rear tires as well, and that can only be achieved with duals and considerable ballast.

Bottom line, duals are an aesthetic application. There are few loader tractors in the real world that are equipped with duals. The agricultural community will put a loader on a field tractor with duals when required, because it is a major undertaking to remove duals that weigh upwards of a ton each.

For reference, the GT pictured below is carrying 400 lb of applied ballast weight, and can lift and carry 600 lb in the 210 lb 54" bucket in this configuration, and still has the same traction capabilities as the same tractor without the loader and applied ballast. The implement normally carried as additional ballast was omitted due to restricted maneuvering space in the 3' deep excavation of my driveway. With 40 years of GT loader experience under my belt, I've never come across a situation where duals would be an asset.

Wow, only in PA!!!

Mike

I saw one for sale in WI a few years back. The arms are a bit further apart than needed for most GTs because of the wide hood.

The FF series are really Boss looking tractors when all decked out. :fing32:

 

FF and a loader??? Wow, where in the world did you ever find those two things???

Mike

 

I have 4 Sears ff tractord

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Wow, only in PA!!!

Mike

 

I have A-line on another 24

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I still want dual wheels, lol

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They sold the dual wheel kit for a reason

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Yup. For the same reason that any company sells a product . . . to generate a profit.

I had the very same thoughts as you when I first started playing with loader GTs over 40 years ago. Almost 4000 hours of using said tractors has 'adjusted' my thinking.

Duals work great in the field for flotation on the soft soil when gardening. Not so good for loader applications where traction and maneuverability are more important.

 

Duallies!

https://www.xtrememotorworks.com/Parts Catalog/Dual-Wheel-Spacers-Cub-Cadet.html

 

They don't make 6 bolt spacers

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Yes they do. Scan further down the page for the custom spaces that fit the 6-bolt hubs and 5 bolt dualies. At $155 a set, I'd be building my own as well.

The original adapter from Sears consisted of a fabricated square tube with studs at the corners to fit in the wheel weight holes of the rims. That way it doesn't matter how many bolts are used for the hubs. Wheel weight mounting points are consistent with all hub configurations.

The 6 bolt rims are on several brands of heavy GTs. My MF1655 also has 6-bolt rims, and I bought a set on ebay that originally came off of, I believe, a Bolens. There are probably others. The real oddball is the JD400. It's hub matches no other in the GT field.

 

Well that's an oddball rim for a tractor

Does it use 1" axles and hubs? How about swapping hubs to the more-common 5-lug?

 

New, rims, hubs, more money, I will.just make them

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A loader, 24 HP, duals, sounds like breaking axles, to me.

 

Nope. Even with almost 900 lb if ballast and chains, my MF1655 will still spin the single wheels on firm soil when, not if, I push it too hard. The load is spread over 24" of tread width. Add the duals and the load is spread over 48" of tread width.

If one was to apply the maximum rated ballast to a GT with duals, the load per tire is still shy of what is on my 1655, and there is room for considerable additional ballast before reaching maximums.

Most of the older hydros did not have relief valves to protect them. They could generate enough axle torque to spin the tires with a normal ballast load which did the same thing, and especially so for those tractors with 2-speed final drives. The problem with excessive ballast is that the axle torque that can be generated by the big hydros can exceed the rating for the final drive and break things. Been there, done that.

That's one reason why I don't max out the ballast. The other reason is that with 650 lb of ballast, the tractor will pull a 6000 lb truck out of a foot deep, snow filled ditch. I rarely need more pulling power than that. The heavier ballast numbers stated are for lifting heavy loads. Even with 650 lb of ballast, it can still lift and transport 1000 lb in the bucket, but you want real good front tires for that. They end up carrying over 2500 lb with a 1000 lb payload.

 

I don't like fat duals; like 26-12 (10 or 8)-12. They're okay if if they're skinny, like 6". Don't like them on pickups either. Flat-beds are okay.

They look like they'll just get in the way, or run over things unintentionally.

But not my tractor!

 

Are they intended to help prevent rollovers?

Mike

 

That's not their primary intended purpose, but they do benefit stability.

They are intended to increase flotation when working wet or soft fields. Three point hitch implements tend to increase the load on rear wheels. By and large, farmers who need the flotation to do their field work even when the ground is soggy, rarely have a width restriction on those tractors. The implements used are generally considerably wider than a tractor with duals, or even triples as are used in the prairies.

A FEL equipped tractor has absolutely no business being on soft ground. First, the loader almost doubles the weight on the front tires with no payload. Second, the front tires are much smaller than the rear tires. Guess which tires will get stuck, the ones on the front when carrying a 1500 lb load, including payload, or the ones on the rear carrying 1200 lb when no payload is involved. Note that when carrying a payload in the bucket, the weight on the rear tires is actually reduced. With a heavy enough payload, it will be reduced to the point where the rear tires are no longer touching the ground.

 

I don't know. Being Sears, I'd lean towards they wanted to offer them as a safety option for weekend warriors.

Mike

 

What a great find, sweet machine! Would love to see some more pictures of it

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Yes

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Installed new starter, having issues with the coil- looking for a manual