Narrow the wheels on a farmall B?

chevy_cowboy · Jul 19, 2011

We're going to look at and possibly buy a Farmall B for sale today... but the problem is its currently set about 3 inches wider than the fenders on my trailer. I've got a couple ideas that might get it home without having to work on it, but just in case I'd like to have the tools with me to narrow the wheels so we don't end up having to make another trip. My trailer is 82", the B is currently 85"

Obviously we'd need a jack and some blocks, but wrench or socket sizes would be helpful.

Thanks

Red Dave · Jul 19, 2011

There are several options for mounting the rear wheels on a B. Depending on the tire size, you should be able to get the width well below 83 inches. If I remember correctly, the bolts that hold the rim to the wheel centers are 5/8 so that would make the nuts 7/8 or 15/16? I'm not sure, but if they are original they may have square nuts on them.

My B is about 78 inches wide, outside of rim to outside of rim. Of course the centers will be wider, but that should be above the height of your trailer fenders.

I haul my B on a trailer that is about 83 inches between the fenders. The wheel weights ride well above the trailer fenders.

chevy_cowboy · Jul 19, 2011

Yeah I'm kinda familiar with the method of adjusting them, but have never done it. I tried to find instructions and pictures online but no such luck.

My thinking is for a 100 mile ride home, I might be able to just leave it behind the fenders on the trailer. It wont ride very well back there but it would work and then I could do the narrowing at my shop with all the tools and concrete floor (and a torch if the bolts were too stubborn)

My trailer is 22' long with about 6' behind the fenders, so theoretically I could pull it up between the fenders til the rear tires hit and chain it down, but its gonna bounce like crazy without any weight on the back of the truck.

Brownie 450 · Jul 19, 2011

Couldn't get close to a loading dock, could you? If so, you could run it on from the side & turn 90 degrees on the trailer---that would put it in front of the axles.

chevy_cowboy · Jul 19, 2011

(quoted from post at 07:48:02 07/19/11) Couldn't get close to a loading dock, could you? If so, you could run it on from the side & turn 90 degrees on the trailer---that would put it in front of the axles.

yeah I thought about something like that. If my ramps weren't attached to the back of the trailer I'd go for that plan, but I don't think there's any docks around that would go for that.

IH fan · Jul 19, 2011

I wouldn't want to pull it 10 miles with negative weight on the tonque... they can get really squirrely. If you must do that, load some dead weight in the front so you have at least a couple hundred pounds on the hitch when the B is loaded.

gene bender · Jul 19, 2011

It will depend on two things. First what size are the tires. The 9.5 on the 8in rim mite clear the final drive. Some final drives do have a grouve cut so the rim can be set in the extreme in position. IF and a BIG IF the tire size is 11.2 or larger forget it. I have several As and Bs so im not giving bad advise having been thru it several times with the different combinations of setting the rims. I have some tractors with 9.5s and they are set in the extreme position and some tractors dont have the grouve. Now the 8.3 on the 7in rims no problem. So you will need to see which tires and rims you have. If the rims are wider than 8in measuring 9in overall you cannot move to the narrow position.

mkirsch · Jul 19, 2011

Bring your 1/2" breaker bar and a set of deep well sockets.

It's a whopping 4 bolts per rim, and usually all you need to do at that point is either flip the wheels around, or swap left and right. That'll narrow the tractor by 4".

I have yet to see a Farmall B with the rear wheels dished out. Not saying there's no such thing, and it's possible you'll have to flip the wheel dishes too, but IMHO your chances of that are pretty slim.

chevy_cowboy · Jul 19, 2011

Well we got one wheel narrowed up so it would fit on the trailer. Loaded up and headed home now. The rim bolts are 15/16 by the way.

Thanks for all the help guys.

gene bender · Jul 19, 2011

We used to have them set out for the cult when we had 40in rows. Also set them out for windrowing the oats gave a good place in the stubble for the 10 ft windrow.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 19, 2011

Have 1947 Farmall B with tires in narrow setting . It measures 80" from outside of tire to outside of tire. Has 11.2 -24 tires on it.

chevy_cowboy · Jul 19, 2011

We made it home with the tractor without any problems. Its got the standard 9.5 tires on it, so the narrowest setting worked fine. We just flipped one wheel for today to get it home but I'm going to flip both and switch sides so the tires are facing the right way again when I get a chance.

I've got some reading to do, I know quite a bit about the H and M's but next to nothing about the smaller tractors. I ordered some repo manuals for it to get started.

Narrow the wheels on a farmall B?

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