removing rear tire(s)

[Lurker Carl]

Wedging the tires stops a vehicle from rolling. Wedging the front axle stops the Cub from flipping over. Similar but different!

The Cub is an off-set design, meaning the engine IS NOT on the centerline of the tractor. This makes one side of the tractor much heavier than the other. However, the front axle pivot IS on the centerline and the engine will to succumb to the effects of gravity if you give it a chance. This occurs when you have one or more wheels off the ground and someone leans against the hood or you're wrestling with removing or installing stuff or some kids come bouncing through or . . .

George's picture shows where to insert the wedges and the extent of the offset - that's a lot of weight hanging on one side of the pivot. Locking the front axle pivot with wedges will stablize the tractor.

[Rick Prentice]

A couple tips from experience

Don't make the wedges too thick(triangle shaped), they'll squirt out easy under pressure.

Cut your wedges with the grain for strength(like George's picture). If you cut the wedges "cross grain" they will break off piece by piece, just when you don't want it to

I'm not a wood expert, so I learned the hard way

Rick

[WKPoor]

Somebody mentioned removing the wheel with the weight still attached.
I've done that a few times when I was changing tire width and it seemed pretty easy and logical to me. Of caorse you have to do that if you are putting the weight on the inside of the wheel. Last yr while pulling logs up a hill I spaced my tires out as far as they would go with the weights on the inside. That was the most stable config I figured there could be.

That brings up another thing. What I was doing, pulling those logs was right on track for a flip over. But you know, the little Cub never offered to raise in the front. Even when a log would catch suddenly as it came up the hill, which happened quite freqently, It never even felt light in the front. All it would do is spin out. Can a Cub flip? My other tractors---OH YES! They have gotten light or up in the air many times, But the Cub never.

[Rick Prentice]

I would say if you hook to the drawbar it won't, but hook anywhere up higher and look out. You're asking for trouble.

There was a post about this flip-over topic a few months ago.

Rick

[WKPoor]

Ye Rick, there was quite alot of talk about it. And the larger more powerful tractors seem to me anyway, to be more subsebtimal to it. The Cub however has never givin me any trouble. I do alway hitch to the factory bar, never higher.

[RudyO]

Good reading as I'm getting ready to swap out my 7-24's for 8-24's. I've got rear weights installed right now and wasn't planning on removing them first. I WILL however, make wedges for the front!! I don't want my Cub laying on it's side HOPEFULLY, the bolts will break loose OK for me. Figure I'll soak 'em good first.

[Little Indy]

I have mentioned this in other treads but once more will not harm and might do good. But the U of Ne Tractor test lab has a tractor outfitted with special roll bars that they can bring to fairs etc and show what happens when the load to be pulled is not hooked up properly to the tractor. The front end rises and easily flips over backwards. Simple Newtonian physics. If the load is hooked above the axis of turning some of the pulling force will be converted to a force to lift the front end. If lower than that force will drive the front wheels into the ground and mother earth will save us.

Richard