widening a wd45 front end

[Ralph wd45]

I have a DUAL loader mounted on my WD45, and so far this winter, I have been able to move 7 big round netwrapped hay bales. from the barn, out to my cows feeder in the pasture. I carry them as low as I can, over rough and smooth terrain, but still worry about a turn over. Moving the rear wheels, out, will be simple, with the spin out rims, but also want to widen the front, for stability. I see the approprate bolts on the front axel to widen them with, but am not sure about the linkage, on the tie rods, and how it might affect steering. Anything that I need to know ahead of time?

 

[JMS/.MN]

Loosen up the retaining bolts, and reset the arms. Might take some heat and BFH "tapping" on the outer pipes, to get things loose.

 

[Ralph wd45]

Will I have enough tie rod left in the threaded sleave, for strength? How much overlap can I get away with?, Or maybe I should have said how little?

 

[Rock_Picker(MO)]

Adjusting the tie rods is the difficult part. I had to heat mine and use two pipe wrenches to break them loose so they could be moved. Took about an hour on each one.

 

[Eldon (WA)]

Extending the axles out increases the chance of bending the front end...kind of a weak point when using a loader on these tractors. I'd keep the wheels set in and the load low.....

 

[Dr. Ed]

You really do not need to worry about widening the front wheels to stabilize your loader. The width of the rear wheels is very important, get them as wide as possible. The front pivots on the pin in the front axle and just the fact that it is 15 inches above the ground makes a wide front tractor much more stable than a tricycle front. The width of the front wheels makes very little difference.