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John Deere 140 Dual Wheel Make-Over...

18K views 70 replies 17 participants last post by  N2 Tractors 
#1 ·
Last picture of my John Deere 140 looking like this...

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Thanks to Tractormike's inspiration of his Massey with duals, I have been wanting to do it to my JD 140 for a bit now. Well, today I took the plunge. I came across 4 Goodyear Sure-grips for $300 all together. Not a bad deal. So, I took it as a sign to just go ahead and take the plunge and give my little tractor a make-over. It will take a bit of time, but I will keep you all posted.
 

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#5 ·
Ok...so I lied about taking one last photo. I thought I would take one more with her properly posed. Then I can do a before and after later when I am finished.
 

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#6 ·
Now, here comes some questions for some of you that have way more experience then I do with tires and wheels for these. Since the rear tire is 23" currently, and I am roughly up sizing to a 30 " tire in the rear and with a 23" rear and a 16" front, the tractor sits level. What size should I shoot for on the front? I am thinking a 20" diameter ag tire for the front. Is that about right, or should I go a bit taller? I really don't want to get a nose up look because I ordered the wrong tire and wheel combo. I also know that when I do this, I will have to get hubs and do a bit of machining to make them work with my front axles. I just hope the offset is enough that when the new tires are on it, that they don't hit the frame when turning lock to lock, or worse yet, it makes the front unusable for the next project, which will be a front 3 point hitch like the one in this post. I already know by doing this, that it will be making other attachments from Deere unusable. That is probably why I am going to make that for a snow blade as the third project. Anyways, what ag tires have a 20" diameter and about an 8" width, if that is what I need, and what diameter and width rims do you think would work for the front? The hub will more than likely be 4 or 5 bolt. Any help is appreciated. Like always, thanks in advance.

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#7 ·
I am leaning toward 6-12 Carlisle Tru Power 4ply for the fronts. They say they are 22.7". I also read through some posts that they are smaller in diameter and measure about 20". Is this true for these tires?
 
#8 ·
Mike,

Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You are installing rear tires that have a total height of 30", correct? The factories were 23" high, so you are looking to increase the rear height of about 7". I can tell you right now, that I've see guys install 26" high tires on 140's, and they barely have enough clearance between the top of the tires and the rolled down edge of the fender pan. Unless you are making other frame changes, or are adding spacers between the fender pan and frame, I seriously son't think you will have the clearance to mount the 30" tires.

As for the fronts, I would see first if the 30" rears will work. If you can get them to work, then I would go with 20" high tires for the front like you stated. How wide of a front tire are you looking to get? Since you are looking to go with dual wheels on the rear, I think I would go with wider front tires than the normal 6 1/2" fronts. Maybe go with a 10" wide ag tire on the front. This of course will require wider front rims. Since you have a 140 with the 3/4" spindles, you could look to find a set of rear rims from a John Deere 60, 70, or 100 lawn tractor. These will fit right over on you 140.

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#9 ·
I was already planning to fix the issue with the wheel wells by cutting them and TIG welding in a 2" band of metal to make it look original by keeping the lines close to the same. I am having trouble finding rear rims that will look right too. I am toying with the idea of torching out the center bolt pattern of some old implement wheels and welding in a 4.5 x 5 bolt pattern piece. That is a good idea on the rear rims for the front, but do you think they will rub the frame when turned fully. I do kinda want to stay skinnier on the front closer to 8" or less.
 
#11 ·
15"...I am having trouble finding ones that look right. I know people have used car rims for these, but I really want the look of tractor tires.
 
#12 ·
What about some David Bradley walk behind rims, aren't they 15" rims? You would have to drill out for your lug pattern, as I believe they are only three lugs, but still, you could cut out the centers and weld in new steel to drill for your five lug pattern. I believe the face profile is pretty much the same as what your 140 rims are now. Just an idea.
 
#13 ·
Ordered my rims for the rear. All 4 are off of the late 80s Dodge Dakotas. They are of the smooth steel style. Should be here by the 28th.
 
#14 ·
Got the first rim of four for the rear end today.
 

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#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
So, two more showed up on Saturday. Tried to wire wheel one for the layer of paint, and gave it a coat of yellow. Some splotchy paint work and less than happy with the results lead to me taking Saturday night to find a suitable sand blasting box. I settled on a Harbor Freight 40 lb standup box. It should be here by the 7th. On another note, two of the three rims I have, have no valves or they were just cut off in the wheel. I was thinking of just using the chrome bolt in type.

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#16 ·
Thought I would include a pic for you to see the rim in process.

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#18 ·
I haven't gotten that far in the thought process yet. I don't know if I should or not.

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#19 ·
Just realized I am gonna have to plug the holes for the valve stems and drill new ones on the other side of the rim. When the rims are finally mounted, the valves will be facing inward. I would have to take the outside dual off to air up or down. Not a good idea.

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#20 ·
No pics this time, but got a Harbor Freight blasting cabinet and commenced blasting a wheel. You know, the reviews were right. Not too bad. Light could use improvement and I did caulk it to begin with, but again, not bad for the money. Soon with the one wheel I will be done and moving on to TIG welding the hole up and drilling a new one on the other side. Three more wheels after this one to go.

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#22 ·
Here is a few pics of the phone. I do think it is cool you posted from a CAT. The guys at work are always asking about it or just saying it is cool when they see it.

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#24 ·
I thought about two...not sure though. Kinda put that as a last resort if the weld up goes bad. I did start TIG welding the rim holes today. This project is going slow because the wheel prep is. Sorry to be taking longer than expected. On a side note, I helped a friend swap brakes and it got me thinking. I need to find some old brake rotors, cut the centers where the bolt holes are out and weld a piece of pipe in between for the spacers. Gonna be hard to find 4 old rotors up here in New London, CT. Especially since I will need 5 on 4.5". If any of you have any suggestions on where to get them, please let me know.

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#25 ·
I thought about two...not sure though. Kinda put that as a last resort if the weld up goes bad. I did start TIG welding the rim holes today. This project is going slow because the wheel prep is. Sorry to be taking longer than expected. On a side note, I helped a friend swap brakes and it got me thinking. I need to find some old brake rotors, cut the centers where the bolt holes are out and weld a piece of pipe in between for the spacers. Gonna be hard to find 4 old rotors up here in New London, CT. Especially since I will need 5 on 4.5". If any of you have any suggestions on where to get them, please let me know.

Sent from my CAT B15 smartphone.
On the rotors, go to any repair shop that does brake work. Bet they have some laying about.
 
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#26 ·
Been to a few repair shops as recommended above. No luck yet, they all said come back in a few days.

Did some welding on one of the rims. Closed up the hole and drilled the other side. Did not take a photo after the finish grinding. Painted it up too. Maybe I can mount and air a tire up tomorrow.

On a side note, the lug bolts in the rear have to be replaced by studs so I can put double acorn nuts on to hold the tire on and make the spacer center. Then another lug nut to hold the spacer on. Now the problem I have, I want to keep the original lug bolt threads, which are 7/16" - 20 I think although I might be wrong, and put in a stud with 1/2" - 20 threading for the lugs. It is looking like I will need to make them. Does anyone know if these studs exist?

Sent from my CAT B15 smartphone.
 

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