He Widens Tractors Tires For Better Performance

He Widens Tractors Tires For Better Performance TRACTORS Tires/Wheels 6-6-4 Tire manufacturers and implement dealers say "no" to the idea but Homer Briney, Rushville, Ill., widens his tractor wheels anyway and says he has increased traction, decreased compaction, and extended the life of tires on both tractors and combines. To widen the wheels, Briney cuts the rims in half right down the middle, then welds in a metal strip several inches wide. When the same tire is remounted, it's stretched tighter across the wheel and is thus flatter. "We usually add from 4 to 6 in., depending on how far the rims are pulling in at the sidewalls. We add whatever it takes to get more tread down on the ground," explains Briney, who says he determines how much to spread the wheel by laying a straight edge over the center of the tread and measuring how far the rims are inside the edge of the tread. "What happens is that the tires peak in the middle and, as they roll down to the ground, they flatten out. However, if the ground is soft, the point of the tire just goes into the ground, causing compaction and lessening traction. And, if the tire does flatten out, the sidewall keeps flexing, eventually causing it to crack and break," says Briney. "We had an International 4166 with tires that looked like balloons. They caused so much compaction that, after plowing, we could see all year where the tractor had gone through the field. After we added 6 in. to the wheels, we couldn't see a thing in any fields that tractor worked," says Briney. "Our John Deere 7720 combine had Goodrich tires. With our ruler held on the tire, we could see that the sides were sucked in 3 in. on each side and, after adding 6 in. of width, you wouldn't have known it was the same machine. It ran smoother, had more pull, and bounced less with a full load." Briney gets his metal strips from a local shop that fixes propane tanks. The strips vary in thickness from 1/8 to 1/2 in. "You don't have to use heavy steel because the metal in the rims themselves is not very thick. We buy a ring of metal cut the same diameter as the inside of the rim. Then, we cut a small slice out of it and slip it in. With a screwdriver or chisel, we pry it out tight so that it's flat against the metal. As it tightens, it tends to self align the wheel but you should measure to be certain the wheel is 'square'. Then we weld the strip in place. Afterwards, we go over it with a grinder to remove all the rough spots and coat everything with a couple heavy coats of paint," explains Briney. He doesn't think all tires have to be flattened. "Firestone tires seem to be built flatter. We recently compared two Versatiles in a dealer's lot sitting side by side. One had Goodrich and the other Firestone, and the Firestone tires were much flatter. I have also heard from groups of big farmers that many of them insist on Firestone tires because they have better traction. Also, most radials don't seem to need flattening because they normally have a flatter tread." R.W. Ellis, manager of agricultural tire engineering at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., cautions against wide-ping wheel rims. "Tires are engineered specifically for manufacturers' wheel rims and are designed to flex in the upper part of the sidewall. Widened tires will wear out faster, particularly in the sidewalls, and may have trouble with the bead slipping out of its seat. Any modification of wheel rims will void the warranties on our tractor and combine tires," says Ellis, noting that even within the same company, tractor tire treads vary. "Some tires appear to be flatter because of certain tread designs but that doesn't necessarily mean they perform better." Briney first got the idea for widening wheels from several machine shops in southern Illinois who are "doing nothing but widening tires", he says. When he found out the shops were charging $200 to $300 a pair for the procedure, he decided to do the job himself. He has widened the tires on several of his tractors, as well as on his Deere 7720 combine.

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