I mow about a hundred acres a year with a Kosch side mount sickle bar on a Farmall C. Much of it gets put off until late fall, and with the wet weather we have had the last couple of years, I seem to have been spending way too much time on the wrong end of a tow chain. Of course, any thrashing around in a wet place makes it worse the next year, even if you only rut it up and don't get stuck. Lots of deep brown tracks through the meadows don't really impress the property owners either. They also don't want to hear about why a quarter of the mowing isn't done, and won't get done until h*** freezes over, at which time their swamp should be solid as well. None of this property is likely to get drained, or even turned up and regraded, in the foreseeable future. So, I have been threatening for several years to put duals on the tractor. I have a few questions about duals in general and this application in particular, and I have a few assumptions that I want to check out. I know that the duals will not save me from rank stupidity, so if I have to stop suddenly to avoid a jet-ski and can't get going again it is my own fault, but I hope to be able to cover all the ground that I have gone over in the past, even in a really wet year like this. I also hope that the duals will tend to "roll out" some of the worst ruts from the previous years, depending on how wet the ground is when I am on it. I also realize that the tractor is going to be wider, thus keeping me out of some narrow spots where maybe I shouldn't go in the first place. 1. If I am using the duals strictly for flotation, and not trying to pull the world, will the axles take it all right? I know the C, super C, and 200 axles are prone to break next to the inner bearing at the end of the splines. I have broken several, but none since we quit using the tractor for heavy snow plowing, I think the constant shuttling from forward to reverse was mostly to blame. 2. Are the standard axles long enough, and how do you set the wheels? Can both rims be facing out, or must the inner one be reversed, and inside the wheel disk? Do the fenders have to be set in? 3. I am planning to cut the weight down at the same time. I will get rid of the chloride and two iron wheel weights, but will leave two weights on the left side as counterbalance for the cutterbar. I think that the two extra wheel disks will replace the iron weight. I can leave them on when I remove the duals, giving me enough weight for raking and other light work. 4. I have read somewhere that the inner and outer tires should be closely matched in size, is this mainly in a high traction situation, or is it required for flotation as well? I will probably be buying new tires, and there is not much choice of brand, style, or ply rating. (11.2x36) 5. Will there be steering problems? I have seen this mentioned in recent posts. 6. Will I have traction problems on hard ground? Not pulling anything, but trying to get its own sorry self up and down some fairly steep slopes without slipping and sliding around too much. 6. What can I do on the front? I have a tricycle front, the farmall wide front and big tires is not an option, due to less maneuverability and higher steering effort. The standard tires on the narrow front are 5.50x15, and the next available size is 7.50x15. I don't know if the larger tires would have enough space between them, even with the wheels set out to the wide spacing. They would also look pretty funny on those three inch rims. I have an H narrow front that I adapted to one of my super C's, with the 6.00x16's that are on it, it seems to slide sideways a lot on grass ground, but maybe with the added weight of the mower it would work all right, and I could fit even wider tires. Any change in front tires would at least get me away from those paper-thin four plys, even with full reliners and Slime, I patch a lot of tires.
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