Double Wheels on walk behinds

[syzer]

How is this done, I have some horrible hills that have no guilt beating the hell out of us. I would like to give double wheels a try but I cant seem to locate any kits for it or anything. Before I go about tackling a home made kit does anyone have any info?

[cantoo]

I used to run duals on three wheelers in the mud, all I did was drill some holes offset to the lug bolts and put threaded rod thru them both. Cheap and easy. If your any good with a welder you could weld the threaded rod to the inside tire rim, but make sure the tire is off or the heat could blow it. I prefer the drilling method.

[Kent Lawns]

Hmmm.

[David Gretzmier]

scary. I have seen a kit for duals on 4 wheelers in a 4 wheel atv catalog, and that thing looked like it could climb mount everest. I had a jd walk w/ 54" deck that I wanted to put duals on, but remember your turns. stopping two wheels on one side might just be an interesting divot. daveg

[captdevo]

Being a certified "coon-ass" from Louisiana.....

i did this on a w/b before, pullin' mowers, 4-wheelers and even an old JD Skid loader.

My w/b had lug bolts that went into the drive hub instead of lug nuts.

This is how i did it per side:

i made (2) - 1/4" thick round steel plates to fit inside the wheels and drilled the lug pattern,
1 for the inside of the outer rim,
1 for outside of the inner rim, ( taper the outside of the bolt holes for the bolts to seat)

then welded a 12"L x 3" diameter sch40 steel pipe between the two. (could be shorter or longer depending on the rim width or desired track width)

I welded nuts to the inside of the holes of the plate for the outer rim.

Bolt the bracket and inner rim to the machine first, then add the outer rim bolting into the nuts which were welded.

I had this setup for over 6 years for doing a levee and it worked great. it would lay the grass down from time to time, but the deck suction would usually suck it back up.

Turned alot of heads too!! Make sure you use it to your advantage. (advertising)

Dave

[syzer]

Thanks alot for the suggestion guys, I am surprised to see no one out there makes a kit for it.


Dave:

Your idea is exactly what I had in mind if I had to make one. I am going to make a hub of sorts that way there is as little margin for messing anything up. Looks like I will be hitting the welder again.

[lawrence stone]

Originally posted by syzer
How is this done, I have some horrible hills that have no guilt beating the hell out of us. I would like to give double wheels a try but I cant seem to locate any kits for it or anything. Before I go about tackling a home made kit does anyone have any info?

If your 52" Toro walkbehind is sliding down the hill,
turf should not be planted on a slope that steep.

Sell them some kind of ground cover other than turf.

[syzer]

We have thought of that but there are too many hills, this is an apartment complex and I know they wouldnt go for it. One of the hills would be ideal for ground cover. I will try and get some pics and post them so you cguys can see what I'm talking about.

Here is the small hill in the front I had pics of laying around. You cant really see how steep it gets behind our guy, but back by the sign its hard to walk on. This is the smallest hill at the complex =(.

<img src=http://www.members.home.net/mane/mower/Surfer%20Hill%202Small.jpg>


<img src=http://www.members.home.net/mane/mower/Surfer_HillSmall.jpg>

[BerksLawn]

Last year i saw a 72" scag walkbehind with 3 castors and dual wheels cutting down in Baltimore. I think it might have been Brickman but i cant rember.

[mdb landscaping]

syzer, why dont you just cut that with the scag walk behind on your trailer? yes, i beleive scag makes a kit. i too have seen brickman mowing with a 72 inch scag walk behind with dual wheels in the back. they cut a huge northeast utilities complex with some nasty hills. ask your scag dealer

[Green Care]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by syzer
[B]How is this done, I have some horrible hills that have no guilt beating the hell out of us. I would like to give double wheels a try but I cant seem to locate any kits for it or anything. Before I go about tackling a home made kit does anyone have any info? [/


GOOD IDEA IF LOCATED PLEASE GIVE ME A BUZZZ.

[Nick]

a dixie choppper would solve that problem

[kutnkru]

Chris

Not to bust yer na*s or anything, but considering that your gradient is longer than taller would it not be more cost effective in the long run to use a "w/b" here???

This would enable you to have better control while mowing and not create ruts from the machine sliding while mowing as it seems to be doing.

Just a thought.
Kris

[syzer]

K, let me clear some things up.

Kris:
What we usually do on the hill in the picture is run a chariot or a surfer one pass across the top and one across the bottom. Then we take a 52" Toro WB.

This is the only hill that is long like the. The other big boy is maybe about 30'-40' high I guess and one side spans about 100-150' then there are stairs and the other side the same height about anothe 80-100' feet. (Here we hit one pass with chariot or surfer one or two with wb and the rest with trimmers.)

Then there is another slope about 100' long that gets pretty damn steep actually one point of it is the steepest out of all of them and it has trees planted all the way down in the middle. (Parts with a trimmer and the rest with a 32" scag)


Nick:

Your crazy a ZTR of any kind would not hold these hills, I dont care how great they are.


Lawnzzzz:

If I find something I will post it here or PM you.


MDB:

That scag is a 32" I would be there for 3 days cutting the hills with that thing =). I only use that on some of the really tough to get extreme hiolls but still pretty dangerous to use on them.


Hope this clears some things up.

[guntruck]

Nick i love dixies, but um...........i dont think they will solve any problems, as syzer stated i would love to see any ztr hold that hill!!!

[lawrence stone]

You really should add a stand on non pivoting two wheel sulky to your 52" Toro. On the steep hills you just get off an walk along the side of the unit. It will do a much better trimming job vs. those yellow machines.

Besides can you really go faster than 5 mph at that location?

I find that I can be competitive in all but the wide open spaces with just a 62" and a 52" Toro walkbehinds with sulkys.

[guntruck]

Larry, its really just traction thing here, we wanted to put these on to add some stability on these hills. We have the bull rider on and thats exactly what we do walk along the side but it does slip at times and i think the dual wheels would help greatly, but thats one of the reasons for the post to get the cons of this idea. Thanks

[lawrence stone]

A couple of ways to improve traction.

Does it have 15" tall tires. If so change to a new pair of 13.5" tall tires.

The toro factory bagger frame makes it top heavy. Take the bagger frame off and buy a wright metal bag that has a tiny little bracket mounted to the deck.

Now this is going to make the machine front end light. Now take some lead and mount it forward and low on the carrier frame.

The 52" will hold a hill better than a 44 or 36 for the front wheels are spaced wider on the 52".

[guntruck]

Ok Larry im going to look at that tomorrow morning, it does have 13.5 " tires i believe. Those stripes look nice btw. Thanks.

[bridges]

hey Chris

Is that Great Dane cutting in the two photo or are you just riding over it?

I have this one client, pain in my *ss Always says the mower is not cutting the grass and that i'm just riding over the lawn. Ya like i would do that. come back the next and mow again.

I'm not busting you just wondering. With my mower, when runing the blades it is harder to stay on the hills.

Tony

[syzer]

Not sure if it was cutting or not that is one of the first days we had the surfer so I dont know if we were just trying to get a feel of a hill or what.

[JLC]

Just another thought. I know that the Hustler Hydro Walkbehind I just purchased has an optional 18x10.50 (I believe) all terain size that is for the most severe hills. Possibly a wider tire such as Hustler's option is a better answer than duals.

[Alan]

If that as steep as any of the slopes are I'd put my Lazer on it and I think it would stick. I may be crazy, but I'd bet lunch on it. I ran into one the other day that the Lazer would not stick to, but that was a lot more gradient than what you're showing in the pics.

Dual wheels may not be the cure, duals would help with flotation and stability (wider track width) but the lower ground pressure will probably result in less traction as well.

[syzer]

Alan:

The chariot will hit the bottom but only because the wheel will ride at the bottom. The surfer will hold a steeper hill then I have ever seen (both fixed deck and floating deck) and that will slip on the steep part towards the backl of the picture by the sign.

Hopwever this is the most docile hill of all in the complex I will try tog et some of the steep hills on monday when we cut.

[kutnkru]

Originally posted by syzer
[i] ... Hopwever this is the most docile hill ... tog et some of the steep hills on monday ... [/B]Gettin frustrated and/or flustered there buddy row??? LOL!!! :laugh:

j/k
Kris

[syzer]

ehehe, been a long day =), usually i spell check to lazy today heh. =)

[mlh1598]

I got my Idea from Jungle wheels. Just do a seach.
mlh1598 <newbie to business>

[Nick]

to those who say a xw chopper with turf boss tires would not hold that hill I will get pictures to prove it. Remember dcs have the widest track . Also, with tires that have eqaul traction from side to side as well as foward to reverse that hill can be held.

[syzer]

Nick, again I love the dixies, but these are hills a walk behind wont hold in most spots and you will bust your as* when you are standing on them trying to trim. If you can hardly stand on it you are not mowing it with a dixie I dont care if your god.

[guntruck]

Nick, forgive my ignorance but, i can only assume from your post that your either very young or very unexperianced. I have been around this equipment for quite sometime but being in the business professionally only one year, i can assure you with the dixie your describing, yeah maybe it will hold a good hill, but sitting on your pc in NJ you cant possibly sit there and tell me what your machine will and wont do on the properties were describing. I am willing to bet qutie a bit that your anti-gravitational dixie will slide right to the bottom just as most of our equipment has. Rest assured i appreciate your response and i am glad you have all the faith in the world in your machine because i love dixies, in fact thats a good runner for my next machine. The atv tires do help but you can only do so much. So again not to be ignorant but i wouldnt be so cocky with a hill you have never been on or for that matter really seen. Thanks

[kutnkru]

Ladies and Gentleman!

In this corner to my right wearing the khaki dockers and sky blue polo ... standing 6'1" and weighing in at 220 lbs ... from the heart of ocean city ... Introducing ... LOL!!! :laugh:

LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!

[syzer]

Kris, You truly are something else heheh =).

[UrbanEarth]

Gravely makes a two wheel kit for their two wheel tractor. Maybe check out that to see if it could be adapted to your situation.

Alan

[Green Care]

You might want to check Precision Small Engine in College Park Maryland on Rt 1 near the beltway. I've seen some Ransome Hydro's with dual wheels that my buddy purchased from there.

Lawnzzz :)

[syzer]

Urban:

THanks, I will check it out and se if i can adapt it to the toro.


LAwnz:

I will check it out, do you know if they were actually done there? Thanks for the info.