///// international 384 tractor better to make the front end wider or the rear end narrower? /////

[Andyinchville1]

Hi

I recently bought an international 384 tractor with Kelley 600 loader.

The front wheels are approximately the width of the front bucket but the rear wheels are somewhat further out (wider rear track than the front).

Normally this would not be a problem but my trailer has two ramps and because different widths it makes loading and unloading the trailer difficult.

Is it easier or better to increase the front width or decrease the rear track ?

I like the idea of wide for stability but would I lose a lot narrowing the rear ?

Is widening the front as easy as just unbolting the 2 bolts on the front I beams d widening it?

Thanks for any and all help

 

[Brendon-KS]

I would widen out the front to match the rears. As you suspect, it is just as simple as taking those bolts out plus the ones on the steering linkage and moving them out a notch. Moving the rear tread width can be more complicated, especially if the wheels are ballasted with either iron or liquid. And, a wider stance will be more stable if you will be operating on uneven terrain.

 

[Tx Jim]

I agree with Brendon wider wheel stance front & rear will give tractor better stability when operating FEL especially when FEL boom/bucket is in a raised position.

 

[WESnIL]

From my experience, make sure that you have an ample supply of penetrating oil, patience, and words when widening the front. That goes for both the axle and the tie rods. There would be similar complexities if trying to move the rears.

 

[DaveBN]

I would ask the previous owner why he had the tread width the way it is. There might be a good reason for that.
Dave

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

Either way could be a PITA. Front wheels inside the bucket is good but if you need to work close to a wall it would be nice to have the rears close in. You didn't mention the bucket width. It looks to be about 60 inches so probably widen the fronts. Just my HO.

 

[sotxbill]

Wider is much much safer with a loader!!!!!!!!! also if front tires are set to match the out side of the rears, you will no longer hit trees, gates, and fences... However, sometimes the fronts are set at bucket width to allow you to dig deeper and deeper, something you can not do if the wheels are set wider than the bucket.

 

[Blackhole49]

For me, it depends on what you're doing with the loader. I've done a lot of loader work (personal and commercial) over the years. No way would I want the foot print of the machine much wider than the bucket if I could help it. None of the loaders I ran were.

 

[NDIHC]

I always keep my track width inside the bucket width. Pushing snow 3 feet deep with the tires outside of the bucket sucks. I'm on flat ground so very unlikely to tip over. Ideally I'd widen the bucket to match the rear width and set the front accordingly. That's what we did on an M with a 5 food wide loader bucket. Added a foot to each side of the bucket to make it 7 feet wide and set the track width to fit just inside.

 

[rustred]

Hi

I recently bought an international 384 tractor with Kelley 600 loader.

The front wheels are approximately the width of the front bucket but the rear wheels are somewhat further out (wider rear track than the front).

Normally this would not be a problem but my trailer has two ramps and because different widths it makes loading and unloading the trailer difficult.

Is it easier or better to increase the front width or decrease the rear track ?

I like the idea of wide for stability but would I lose a lot narrowing the rear ?

Is widening the front as easy as just unbolting the 2 bolts on the front I beams d widening it?

Thanks for any and all help

looks to me like the front wheels should be out one hole . they should be lined up to the centre of the rear tire. or inside of front to inside of rear. no pic's of the rear to actually see how the rear is set up. from the stance the rear looks good. plus whats the width of the bucket ? lots to figure in.

 

[paul]

Well, wider is more stable, but it’s odd to ever be happy with the wheels set wider than the width of the bucket. I can’t see anyone keeping them wider than the bucket width.

Moving axles can e a chore, front or rear, as getting bolts loose that haven’t been in decades is a chore, and clamps or tubes to slide also can try one’s patience. So ‘easy’ is not how I would describe it, tho it could be.

It looks like your front and rear axles line up fairly close, unless you have narrow ramps I would have thought they worked the way they are with care.

Paul

 

[Andyinchville1]

HI All,

Thanks for all the replies and help .

I did get some measurements from the tractor ... at least the best that I could.

The front Bucket is 55 1/2 wide

The front track is about 59" wide so it appears the front wheels may actually stick a little outside the bucket currently

The rear track is 73" measured (outside lug to outside lug).

The ramps are 14 1/4 wide

Given the above info, can anybody tell me if I can drive it up and down the ramps as is ?

The reason I ask is because when I bought the tractor it was a non runner and the previous owner winched the tractor up on my trailer by placing his truck with hitch mounted winch near my trailer and pulled it up and when he did 1 of the front wheels was not on the ramp and he had to use a 6x6 block of wood under 1 the front tire so the winch could pull the tractor up .... maybe with a running tractor the straight line may better enable it to successfully use the ramps with the wheel tracks the way they are ?

Ideally , it would be nice NOT to have to mess with widening the front or narrowing the rear track .

The rear tires appear to be liquid filled (when I measured air pressure , fluid squirted out).
What PSI is recommended to run in the rears ? ( I have it at 20 PSI currently).

Thanks

 

[rustred]

HI All,

Thanks for all the replies and help .

I did get some measurements from the tractor ... at least the best that I could.

The front Bucket is 55 1/2 wide

The front track is about 59" wide so it appears the front wheels may actually stick a little outside the bucket currently

The rear track is 73" measured (outside lug to outside lug).

The ramps are 14 1/4 wide

Given the above info, can anybody tell me if I can drive it up and down the ramps as is ?

The reason I ask is because when I bought the tractor it was a non runner and the previous owner winched the tractor up on my trailer by placing his truck with hitch mounted winch near my trailer and pulled it up and when he did 1 of the front wheels was not on the ramp and he had to use a 6x6 block of wood under 1 the front tire so the winch could pull the tractor up .... maybe with a running tractor the straight line may better enable it to successfully use the ramps with the wheel tracks the way they are ?

Ideally , it would be nice NOT to have to mess with widening the front or narrowing the rear track .

The rear tires appear to be liquid filled (when I measured air pressure , fluid squirted out).
What PSI is recommended to run in the rears ? ( I have it at 20 PSI currently).

Thanks

You are there with a tape measure , so measure centre to centre of the front tires , then centre to centre of the ramps. Who cares how wide the ramps are. Then you tell us if the front tires will climb the ramps. And 20 lbs is way too much psi. For a loader tractor 12 lbs is lots. Keep the front ones at 32 lbs. plus u need to be checking air when the valve stem is centred at the top , first you blow some air in then you check psi so the liquid don’t screw up your gauge if it’s calcium. And if the tire is over full this will not work.

 

[Jim.ME]

Measuring the outside of the tires without giving tire sizes only gives over all width. Outside to outside of 11.2 tires 73" wide will have a different track than 73" outside to outside of 14.9 tires. As rustred posted, track is actually measured at the center of the tires, not the outside. It will be more meaningful when related to the ramps than the outside of tire measurements.

The front and rear tires do not have to be running in the center of the ramps. You look at where the center of the tires will run on the ramps. The front tires may run on or near the inner edge of the ramps while the rear tires will run to the outside, maybe even hang over a bit. Not an uncommon scenario.

You have a tape measure, the tractor and trailer with the ramps. Find the correct track info, front and rear. Find center of your trailer. Space the ramps, equally from trailer center, so that the center (track)of the front tires will be in only about 3-4 inches (not the center of the ramp) from the inner edge of each of the ramps. Measure outside to outside of the ramps and see how it compares to the track of the rear tires. Will the rear tire track run a reasonable distance in from the outer edges of the ramps?

 

[Blackhole49]

HI All,

Thanks for all the replies and help .

I did get some measurements from the tractor ... at least the best that I could.

The front Bucket is 55 1/2 wide

The front track is about 59" wide so it appears the front wheels may actually stick a little outside the bucket currently

The rear track is 73" measured (outside lug to outside lug).

The ramps are 14 1/4 wide

Given the above info, can anybody tell me if I can drive it up and down the ramps as is ?

The reason I ask is because when I bought the tractor it was a non runner and the previous owner winched the tractor up on my trailer by placing his truck with hitch mounted winch near my trailer and pulled it up and when he did 1 of the front wheels was not on the ramp and he had to use a 6x6 block of wood under 1 the front tire so the winch could pull the tractor up .... maybe with a running tractor the straight line may better enable it to successfully use the ramps with the wheel tracks the way they are ?

Ideally , it would be nice NOT to have to mess with widening the front or narrowing the rear track .

The rear tires appear to be liquid filled (when I measured air pressure , fluid squirted out).
What PSI is recommended to run in the rears ? ( I have it at 20 PSI currently).

Thanks

If the fronts won't fit on the ramps when set for the rears (only you can tell) , you could always carefully slide the bucket on the trailer bed until the front wheels clear the ramps for occasional loading (assuming it has down pressure on the loader).

 

[MARK ROBKE]

I think I would consider widening the ramps. Might be easier, just some steel and some welding. Just a thought from another angle. Mark.