# Larger Diameter Tires on Deluxe 24"



## kiloTHREE (Aug 27, 2018)

I'm looking for larger diameter tires for my deluxe 24" for two reasons:
1. With a larger tire I gain a little faster speed since reverse is all but useless to me and I don't use anything below 3 forward, won't help much but it'll be something.
2. It should change the angle of the handlebars and raise them up a bit since I'm too tall or my arms to too short and it's killing my back using this thing.

Stock is 16" diameter by 4.8 inches on a 8" rim.
By my calculations a 18" should fit the bill just find but my googlefu is coming up short.
The only tire i've found is a 18x6.50-8 but I'm unsure how a 6.5" tire will look/fit on a 4.8 rim.

Anyone else wandered into this territory?


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

You would only gain at the most one inch of height … not worth it in my opinion.

If you are too tall for the machine, I would extend the handle bars.


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## johnwick (Dec 16, 2019)

Welcome aboard! 

I haven’t seen anyone looking for larger than stock for the Deluxe on up.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

I've never swapped wheels, and I realize this would only help with point #1. But you can adjust the transmission to increase your reverse speed, at the expense of slowing down the forward ones slightly. But if you aren't often using forward 6, then maybe that's an acceptable compromise. 

I don't know if it's an issue to put a wider 6.5" tire on a rim that was using a 4.8" wide tire. Maybe all the rims are the same width, so this is expected. I don't know, sorry. Make sure the width and height increase it wouldn't interfere with the machine, at least.


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

Taller tires will wear out the friction drive disc faster from more strain on it due to the taller tires and more strain on the drive-train.


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## kiloTHREE (Aug 27, 2018)

oneacer said:


> You would only gain at the most one inch of height … not worth it in my opinion.
> 
> If you are too tall for the machine, I would extend the handle bars.


Actually it gains about 2 inches. Remember, the pivot point is the wheels, raising the fulcrum 1" with the other end fixed (blade), multiplies the handle height.


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## kiloTHREE (Aug 27, 2018)

ST1100A said:


> Taller tires will wear out the friction drive disc faster from more strain on it due to the taller tires and more strain on the drive-train.


Parts I can replace, I'm not sure I have the right tools for a backiotomy.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

@kilo,

A tire that is 16 inches high, and a tire that is 18 inches high, is going to have the same center point, thus giving it one inch rise on the top and bottom, i.e. one inch difference rise off the ground. I understand the fulcrum aspect, but I think still you would be better to raise the handle bars. JMHO


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

What would raising the handlebars do to change the ground speed ? I agree on the adjustment to slow down the forward speed which will increase the reverse speed. Save you money on the tires and buy some beer.


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

ST1100A said:


> Taller tires will wear out the friction drive disc faster from more strain on it due to the taller tires and more strain on the drive-train.



This is completely untrue
it will give the blower a higher top speed
it will make 1st gear speed lower
the taller tire will hive slighty better traction
you could adjust linkage to get same result that wouldn't hurt the disk or tranny either
its a snowblower not the spacee shuttle


Ive slowed down my st824 doing this and many blowers same drive disk no tranny issues
how offer does someone use top gear even so still plenty fast


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## dman2 (Sep 22, 2019)

1132le said:


> This is completely untrue
> it will give the blower a higher top speed
> it will make 1st gear speed lower
> the taller tire will hive slighty better traction
> ...


Larger wheels will have more traction and look bad ass, but they will cause the front bucket to tilt down a little and have more weight. You want weight at the wheels instead.

My snowblower came with 15" wheels, and so, it is best to keep it that way.


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## BazookaJoe (Oct 6, 2019)

The wider & taller tires will definitely change the handlebar height. You'll have to either to the geometry calculations or just simply slide 1" of plywood etc under your current tires to see the net increase at the handlebars.

There could likely be another issue with the larger tires not mentioned- Overall width of the two mounted tires may be wider than your 24" bucket. If this is the case, your tires will be cutting a track into the snowbank.

I think that if you have the resources for the modification, you'd be happier with modifying your handlebars to a taller height. A couple-few of hours of garage time and two beers, and you'd be rockin' with custom tall guy bars. Just shooting from the hip, maybe raise the bars such that the lower mount hole is now in upper hole of the chassis. Then, bolt a flat bar on the outside connecting it all together. Or drill and remount wherever feels good. The shift and auger control will need extensions. The chute deflector cable can be rerouted. The wiring harness will need a little soldier work. Whatever you choose as modifications, make sure that you can switch it back to stock in case you want to sell someday. 

As to reverse speed... Try readjusting the length of the shift rod to increase the reverse speed. After such adjustment, my D-28 reverses about as fast as I'd want, while the top speed is in the ball park too.

And when you're done, post some pictures please. I'm just curious if you're thinking something extreme like ape hangers- like Harley style. LOL


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## BazookaJoe (Oct 6, 2019)

A few other thoughts about the larger diameter wheels.

The speed difference will be only about +12% faster with the large tires. That's not really a lot of speed increase.

The larger diameter tires will tilt the entire machine forward, which could bring these issues:
a- The engine will not be positioned horizontally. Potential lubrication issue?
b- Additional weight on the skid shoes, plus additional load on drive train. Potential Auto Steer issues? 
c- Discharge Chute will be leaned forward. The deflector will route the snow at different angles depending how the chute is rotated. 
d- Gas tank will have less effective capacity because the outlet is the back of the tank.
e- Increased drive train strain. You probably won't hurt anything, but adding 12% more load will be adding strain to the system. You'll be the first to know if it does cause problems.


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## kiloTHREE (Aug 27, 2018)

BazookaJoe said:


> The wider & taller tires will definitely change the handlebar height. You'll have to either to the geometry calculations or just simply slide 1" of plywood etc under your current tires to see the net increase at the handlebars.


Yep, that's what I did for the calculations.



BazookaJoe said:


> There could likely be another issue with the larger tires not mentioned- Overall width of the two mounted tires may be wider than your 24" bucket. If this is the case, your tires will be cutting a track into the snowbank.


Sadly I can't find a taller tire that isn't also wider after many hours of scouring the internet. Lots of other turf tires that fit, but no heavy lug snow tires. The 6.5" is simply too wide and will hit the impeller housing, or come darn close, not worth the cost to try it.



BazookaJoe said:


> I think that if you have the resources for the modification, you'd be happier with modifying your handlebars to a taller height. A couple-few of hours of garage time and two beers, and you'd be rockin' with custom tall guy bars. Just shooting from the hip, maybe raise the bars such that the lower mount hole is now in upper hole of the chassis. Then, bolt a flat bar on the outside connecting it all together. Or drill and remount wherever feels good. The shift and auger control will need extensions. The chute deflector cable can be rerouted. The wiring harness will need a little soldier work. Whatever you choose as modifications, make sure that you can switch it back to stock in case you want to sell someday.


This is where I'm at now, modifying the bars. Lengthening the bars 3" gives me 2.7" of vertical rise on the handlebars by my garage math, which should be more than the 2" I was hoping for.
The only real issue I see is going to be the turning of the chute, but I can figure something out I'm sure.









I also took the time to upgrade the light after I took the risk and went from a 27 watt bulb to a 38 watt. Don't do this. It will melt the bulb housing :wink2:

Made a flat plate of aluminum.









Various parts and what not:









Mounted:









Wired!


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## BazookaJoe (Oct 6, 2019)

You've put a lot of thought into this. I think you'll get there with this modification.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the chute rotation... You probably can easily make a drop plate with a matching pattern to relocate the rotation bushing. You may end up with a hole in the gray "Ariens" dash panel, but oh well. If you cut a hole neatly, your dash could be returned to near stock someday and hidden with an STP sticker. (testing your age with the STP sticker, LOL)

If there was a market for a tall guy handlebar kit, you could figure out a bolt on kit and sell it on the internet. Motorcycles often have custom kits available to lower the footpegs, so why not snowblowers. 

Keep charging forward, you can do this!


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## Nordic (Dec 16, 2018)

1132le said:


> This is completely untrue
> it will give the blower a higher top speed
> it will make 1st gear speed lower
> the taller tire will hive slighty better traction
> ...



->Higher 1st gear speed. :wink2:


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

You will definitely increase the top speed, you will also increase the speed in every gear, from first which will be faster and reverse will be faster because of the larger diameter tire.
Each revolution of the tire will be an increase in distance so it will cover more distance in the same amount of time, so you will have to walk faster to make up for the increase in the distance/speed.
Speed is distance traveled in a set time. A very simple thing to figure out. I.E. 5 foot per second compared to 4 foot per second.
Also with the increased diameter of the tire, you will put more effort into starting to turn, and to keep the wheel turning, it takes more power and torque to turn it, which is harder on the drive-train and friction disc because of the added stress of turning the taller wheel/tire.
A good example is a truck with taller tires and the same differential/final drive gearing, you will wear the clutch out quicker on a manual transmission from the added resistance of the taller tire when starting out and driving it under a load, plus you will wear out the trucks brakes quicker from trying to slow down and stop the moving vehicle due to the taller tires creating much more leverage to the turning axle and brake component, drum or disc. You will be harder on both the clutch and brakes besides more strain on the drive axles, U Joints,transmission, drive-shaft and the rest of the drive-train. It is also harder on an automatic transmission and makes the oil in them much hotter due to the harder work they have to do to overcome the extra resistance of rolling the tall tires, and it takes extra power to get the vehicle moving and keep it moving along with a decrease in fuel mileage.
Someone said they put the taller tires on their snowblower and they had to go through the added work to try and change the adjustments of the friction disc placement to alter the gearing because it went too fast for them. That is extra work that has to be done.
If you slow it down in the forward speeds, you will increase the reverse speeds, and all the extra work to try to change the speeds isn't worth it to compensate for the larger diameter tire, you are better off walking faster or to keep engaging and disengaging the drive clutch, another thing that will the friction disc faster besides the added stress placed on it from taller tires.
you are better off modifying the handle bars to make them taller and not putting the added strain on the machines drive-train, and also changing the angle of how the bucket contacts the ground. You would have to change the skid and scarper bar heights to level the machine or you could risk digging the augers into the ground and causing premature wear to them and broken shear bolts, plus wearing out the front sides of the housing.
There are times when you need the slower speeds like at the end of driveway piles, and you do not want the extra speed then, it might be o.k. for just transporting the machine when not in use.


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