[notelvis]

It's about season to think 646 again for me.

My 646 has turf tires on stock 446 rims.... they just barely fit inside the fenders... Thank you previous owner.

It doesn't have the traction that I would like so I'm considering ag tires.... What options do I have?

I think the 646s came with a 15 inch rim instead of a 16....

Do I search for a set of 15 inch rims and tires (anyone have a set or a good source) or do I get a low profile 16 ag (if there is such a thing)?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Hydriv]

Well...... you could phone Joe Hemmi of Joe's Outdoor Power in Michigan and ask him if he has any 15" rims at the moment for Case 600's. The other option is for you to remove one of the rims on your tractor and measure the OFFSET. This is the distance between the outside edges of the rim where they meet the tire and the flat area in the middle of the rim where the bolt holes are. Armed with that knowledge, you could start phoning around to some of the major yards that dismantle and part out full size agricultural machinery.

The OEM Case rims use the bolt pattern 6 on 6 which is very common in the Ag biz. As such, combines, wagons and other machinery are all possible donors.

 

[notelvis]

Thanks for the response.

My problem is that I don't have an original to measure.... Is the offset of the 646 rims the same as the offset of the 446?

Thanks again.

 

[Bart]

There are a couple of different rim widths depending on the type of tires used, most came with skid steer type treads but some came with ag type treads which are wider. I have not had success finding ag treads in the same size as the skid steer tires so you may want to pick your desired tires and then look for a rim to match.

 

[Hydriv]

Thanks for the response.

My problem is that I don't have an original to measure.... Is the offset of the 646 rims the same as the offset of the 446?

Thanks again.

I don't know.

If someone who owns a 600 with 15" rims would be kind enough to take that measurement for you, then that would be the best way to find out.

 

[JSB Case]

Thanks for the response.

My problem is that I don't have an original to measure.... Is the offset of the 646 rims the same as the offset of the 446?

Thanks again.

I don't know.

If someone who owns a 600 with 15" rims would be kind enough to take that measurement for you, then that would be the best way to find out.

Here are some offset measurements from my stable.
1974 646 with 15" rims measure 6 1/4"
1975 646 with 12" Hi Floatation rims measure 7"

 

[Hydriv]

OK good. Thanks for providing those numbers.


Now.... notelvis should measure the offset on his 16" rims, just for comparison sake and post the results here.

 

[boomers_influence]

bart
i like your pic. WAY better than the one that tom has posted.
SMILE boomer

 

[Hydriv]

bart
i like your pic. WAY better than the one that tom has posted.
SMILE boomer

Did your mommy tell you that judging a book by its cover is never a good idea?

If not....... she should have.

 

[GBACBFan]

I'm using a pair of 31x15.5-15 ag type tread tires on an Ingersoll project and love 'em. The rims are 13" wide. The tire height is really 30", but with only 18" between the tires mounted on an IR rear end, they may be too close together for your use. I'm using 1" spacers on each side to get the width I need, but with the tires over 15" wide, your tractor will be almost 48" wide from outside tire to outside tire without spacers. If you want the offset dimensions on this rim let me know. the rims and tires are out there if you look a bit.

As you can see, these rims are deep.

 

[Bart]

bart
i like your pic. WAY better than the one that tom has posted.
SMILE boomer

Boomer,

You're one of the few people who know that I'm actually much better looking in person than my picture suggests! Tom's photo has been photoshopped to eliminate most of the blemishes. :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh:

 

[mikebramel]

If you put 31" rear tires you will need about 22" tires on the front, the bucket wont be level with the ground

They dont make the 27" ag tires. Only skid steer style (R4?) now.

You can put 26x12x12 off a Bolens large frame but it may look funny withe the skinny front tires. And no, I would not put wide tires on a tractor without power steering and a loader

 

[notelvis]

Thanks for the info....

The tires on there now (16 inch rims from a stock 446 I think) are slightly higher than 29 inches.... The come very very close to hitting the fenders.... adding tire chains is not an option and I think that bar tires would be better for the loader anyway.

I hadn't considered the effect that the rear tire size has on the bucket before your post but that's a logical explanation for the lack of curl angle that had been bugging me.

So if some of the 646s came with 12 inch rims and others came with 15 inch rims were there also 2 different sized front rims?


Thanks again for the info.

 

[Hydriv]

Case offered an option called the "Flotation Kit" that consisted of the extra wide 12" tire/rim combo on the back end and extended axles with larger wheel bearings to hold those rims. It was known as the LL-120 Hi-Flotation Kit. The front rims and tires were the same no matter which rear rim size was selected. The flotation kit was an automatic option on the backhoe models. If you see a loader tractor with the flotation tires, then most likely it left the factor with a hoe on it and someone took it off years later. Rim diameter is only one issue. The height of the tire's sidewall also comes into play. This is very evident in car tires that come in profiles that are tall, such as a 70 Series and then get shorter with 60, 50 and 40 Series tires with a very short profile.

The difference between a 30 inch tall tire and 26 inch tall tire is 4 inches but you are only raising the rear of the tractor a mere 2 inches. That amount is not going to have a dramatic effect on how well your loader works because you can lay your bucket flat on the ground just by moving the control lever a small amount. The angle of curl won't be altered significantly either. If you are loading the bucket to the point of spilling material, the tire size won't matter because the bucket has no "auto levelling" feature built into it, either hydraulically or mechanically. You just load the bucket and then raise the loader arms until the bucket is level.

As I said previously, you have to think outside the parameters of the CCI world and seek out the AG wrecking yards. Lots of Ag equipment used AG bar tread tires. Phone around and ask. No need to tell them it's for a garden tractor. Who knows? You might get lucky and find an old combine with the correct 15 inch rims, ag tires and heavy wheel weights that would be perfect for your tractor.

 

[mikebramel]

All that Im saying is 31" tires on the rear will look funny. So will 29". The tractor will slope forward with 16 or 18" front tires. If you put the right size front on to make it level, the bucket wont be flat with the ground.

The easiest solution is just to buy some 15" rims off a Bolens or skid loader and put some skid loader tires on, if that is not good enough put some chains on