# Increasing Tire Size



## krummelt1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Hello Everyone

I have an older Toro 7/24 that I would like to upgrade the tires on. Right now I just snow blow a path around my house. I keep the guides up as high as they will go. I have a path that has rocks on in and if I go any lower I shoot them all over. Anyways the snow blower has what I believe to be the stock tires. Between keep the guides up and sometimes the snow blower tending to ride up as I snow blow it gets stuck sometimes. I have to lean it back and muscle it around to free it. 

I feel like if I upgrade the tire to a more modern tread (snow hog or Xtrac) and go up in size my traction will improve. I hope the larger size will let the tires continue to dig before the belly of the machine hits the snow. The current size on the tire is 13 x 4 -6 which as I understand it is 13 inch OD, 4 inches wide on a 6 inch rim. I see they make a snow hog in a 15 x 5 -6. I have plenty of room on the snow blower both height and width wise but I am a little worried about actually getting that wide of a tire on the original rims.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I expect trouble getting the bead to take hold on the stock rim?
Is going up in tire size a bad idea for some reason I am not considering?

Thanks so much for the help!


----------



## Marty013 (Mar 14, 2014)

i dont think its that much a difficult switch.. talk to a small engine shop who has done what your asking about it.. if they are into modifying to suit the needs.. they will have one this and either A) hav had every single customer come back.. which means its bad idea.. or B) never had a return complaint .. which means it works great! they should be able to switch tires on your rims for a small fee.. im betting 10-20$ if u just bring in the wheels and new tire.. better yet buy the bigger tires thru them  

i think the only thing to consider is going to be if they rub the machine.. the front of the tires may be getting close to the back end of the impeller housing.. double check that.. if these are 2 inches wider.. expect about half of that (one inch) wider and 2 inches taller.. so one inch further forwards as well.. if you have at LEAST that much clearance.. giver!.. it may also make your gears seem faster.. so you may find yourself having to go on and off with the forward movement when you have a full load of snow to go thru.. coudl always use a smaller pulley on the crank end of the drive to slow things back down after if u feel its too fast.. and it will also mean more weight on the bucket.. which will have its drawbacks( gotta push harder to lift it up..) and advantages.. it should have less tendancy to go up


----------



## AL- (Oct 27, 2014)

krummelt1 said:


> Hello Everyone
> 
> I have an older Toro 7/24 that I would like to upgrade the tires on. Right now I just snow blow a path around my house. I keep the guides up as high as they will go. I have a path that has rocks on in and if I go any lower I shoot them all over. Anyways the snow blower has what I believe to be the stock tires. Between keep the guides up and sometimes the snow blower tending to ride up as I snow blow it gets stuck sometimes. I have to lean it back and muscle it around to free it.
> 
> ...


With larger diameter tires your traction should improve, but your machine will be moving faster even in your lowest speed which will weaken the machine when dealing with a heavy snow removal load. ( heavy wet or higher amounts) You could compensate with a larger motor to help throw the snow but in effect you would be building a larger faster machine. Or as suggested by Marty 013 - pulley.
...Just my thoughts on the dynamics, so I use chains, but don't have large rocks.


----------

