Thinking about wheels and tires.

Thinking out loud here. I build a lot of crap and move wheels and tires around all the time. mowers, trailers, off-road builds etc. I got these golf cart wheels and tires for free. 4x4 lug pattern which is also the same as a lot of the atv wheel and tire combos that are available in my area. These are typically cheaper and plentiful. The hubs for both live axle and roller bearing type are also cheap. I've got half a mind to switch everything over to this lug patters. 14" used wheel and tire combos are also readily available for cheap.

Thoughts, pros, or cons?

I think you laid out the pros and cons!  I always love easy quick interchangeable.  Finding wheels are cheap in your area.  I'd probably go for it.  Nothing says you have to stay with garden tractor wheels.  You have pictured live axle 1 inch to 3/4 step down.  You may want to look at that part again. If you have a 1 inch rear, you would want that straight through.

What size are your front spindles? Those trailer hubs can take 1” R16 bearings if you bore them out .20 thou.

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

What size are your front spindles?

The current build has 1" spindles.

There ya go! If you got a lathe it’s an easy conversion, if not somebody would probably do it for 40 bucks.

1” spindles are the best, while the 3/4 guys are over there having to reinforce em we can just go rock bouncing without a care in the world! Lol

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

There ya go! If you got a lathe it’s an easy conversion

So would any or all of these need to be machined? You are referring to the bearing correct?

There are a few guys that converted to trailer spindles, the best thing about them is having the adjustment of a tapered roller bearing, as well as nice seals to keep grease in and grit out. I will be going to trailer hubs on mutt before too long.

There are trailer hubs that go onto a 1" spindle, they need a threaded adjustment though which you would have to add to your spindles, granted they were long enough in the first place.

EDIT

BairleaFarm wrote:

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

There ya go! If you got a lathe it’s an easy conversion

So would any or all of these need to be machined? You are referring to the bearing correct?

The first one you posted is keyed and isn’t suitable for front spindles.

The trailer hubs would need .10 thou removed from the wall on both ends where the races ride. The tapered bearings are 1.98 inches in diameter while ball bearings are 2 inches, .20 thou is too much interference for a press fit IMO.

You can’t really use tapered bearings on these shafts because you’ll need to thread the end for a spindle nut, and the seal surface is 1.25 inches in diameter.

The trailer hub upgrade was a challenging metal fab project but the payoff is so worth it. It's so nice being able to remove a front wheel quickly without a greasy mess. The mock up part took a while to get the chamber and track width right.

FWIW: I am working on converting all my small trailers and mowers to 4 on 4, except maybe one RER Snapper because of the 3 lug wheels. Messing with cotter pins and heating caps to get at them, just to change a wheel is a hassle. Today after fighting getting 13" tires on 6" rims, I have decided to move fronts and backs to larger rims and 4 on 4 patterns. The other advantage is I can add front disc brakes with the bigger 8" wheels.