Using a larger (wider and taller) tire/wheel on a walkbehind?

[Jason Rose]

Ok, my Great Dane WB 48" hydro currently has 16x6.5-8 tires on it. They are rather skinny, and also they are just 'turf savers' not known for the best traction. I was looking today and found that the set of wheels/tires that came off of my MT Walker DO fit on the Dane, But they are 18x9.5-8. Basically they sit an inch taller than the old tires. The deck is already sitting in the lower position in the rear, so essentially with the inch taller tires I just raised the rear of the deck up the inch like if I had moved the bolt positions up. Which I would need to do anyway to cut at 3" or more.

I can't locate (online) and 16" tires that will fit a 9.5" wide rim.

I'm just not sure if the larger tires (diameter wise) will adversly effect the hydros or if it will make it gain or loose pulling power. Ground speed I don't need with the machine, it already runs at 7 mph wide open with the stock tires, a LOT faster than I want to run it!

What I was thinking in doing this, the wider tires (which do fit behind the deck fine) would give it better traction and allow it to maneuver the sulkey better.

Opinions please! :waving:

[Jason Rose]

Ok, now figure this one out. I was just out there looking at them again, and rolled the original wheel/tire up beside the ones off of the Walker, and it sure didn't look like no 2" in total height difference. So I measured the two. Yes, the 16" tires stand 16" tall from the floor to the top of the tread. The 18" tires off the walker stand 17 inches floor to top. What's the deal with that? Whatever, I'm not complaning, that means that they should work perfect just the way they are! Only a half inch of extra ride height surely won't effect anything, and like I said, the rear of the deck is still in the lower hole positions.

[mx495]

Tires are always a different size than stated even at the recomended pressure. I have always wondered about putting a little taller tires on my walk behind also. I would think a gear drive wouldn't be a problem, but I didn't know if it would be too much stress on a hydro machine.

[LindblomRJ]

I don't think i would worry about the hyrdos. If you can get the deck leveled why not? There might be a slight variation in speed and power, I don't know if it will be all that noticeable.

[racer56]

What matters most is the rollout of the tires being the same. Measure the tire around it and compare.