In this hands‑on video, Kenny Keller explains why the original EZ Wheels he installed on his Robinson R44 after an overhaul began to develop flat spots after three and a half years, making the helicopter harder to push by a single person. He discusses how a colleague, Hauser, suggested an upgraded wheel set, and he sources the new wheels from Sevier County Choppers. Kenny walks through the removal of the old wheels—detailing the cap, snap‑ring, and axle extraction—highlighting the difficulty of getting the pins out and the need to have the axle pressed at a local auto shop. After reinstalling the upgraded wheels (using the same handles), he demonstrates a dramatic improvement in rolling performance, describing the new wheels as “piece of cake” to move. He provides a cost comparison: $300 per upgraded wheel plus a $40 press versus $1,800 for a brand‑new unit, totaling under $700 for the upgrade. The video concludes with a plug for Helicopter Online Ground School and its Final Approach Course, inviting viewers to enroll and comment.
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So for about the last 3 and a half years, we've been using the EZ Wheel. We picked these up when we picked the helicopter up at Sevier County Choppers. The helicopter was just coming out of overhaul. I said, hey, I need a set of wheels, and they sold me these EZ Wheels. And I was super impressed at how well I could move the helicopter by myself. And over the 3— last 3 and a half years, I started noticing it was getting harder and harder. To move. And I started thinking, am I just getting weak? Which could be. But then Hauser, who's younger and stronger than I am, said, I'm glad you brought that up. He goes, 'cause this thing's getting really difficult to move. So what we figured out is these things got some flat spots on 'em, and just over time, I guess they've wore out. So I didn't know this. We did a real little research 'cause Hauser said, hey, there's another alternative. We got looking. I just had these shipped from Sevier County Choppers, our friends down there where we picked the helicopter up from overhaul originally and bought the first set of wheels. These are an upgrade, so I'm going to switch these out here and we'll take a look and we'll just compare and see how much easier it rolls. Hauser flew somebody else's R44 and he said these things are the bomb, so I'm going to make Heather grab the camera Again, over time it's just gotten more and more difficult. So here's how it moves now. By myself, I really got to struggle to get it rolling, and then getting up the hump to right at the edge of the concrete where it goes to the ramp gets a little difficult. So we're going to push it out. I mean, it moves, it's just quite a bit more of a struggle. Get moving. I feel those flat spots. Every time you hit it, there gets a little bit tough right there. And now we're back outside. So I will switch these wheels out. I got the same handles, I just ordered the wheels. So it should be a quick upgrade. So there's how it moves with the old EZ Wheel after 3 and a half years. So we'll pop these off. We'll switch to the upgraded wheel and move it back inside. All right, so first got this little cap on here. It just screws off. It's just threaded rubber. So I'm going to pull that off, and then we got a little snap ring right here. Now snap ring pliers would be the way to do it. I don't have a pair here, so I'm going to struggle with a couple of screwdrivers to pop that ring off. So it's off. So all we, in theory, we gotta give it a little tap with a hammer maybe. All right, we're gonna take the SFH, small fucking hammer. I'm just gonna tap that just a little bit. That doesn't appear to be working. And voilà, it's the next day. I could not get those pins out, or that axle, so I just took it— took the old wheels and the new wheels down to a local auto repair. They pressed this out for me this morning, and so all I gotta do now is just screw this little centerpiece back in there, screw that one in, screw the handles back on them, which is super easy. All right, and we are ready to try them out. All right, so here we go. Oh yeah, for sure. Across our little grate there for the drain, up over where the concrete from the hangar meets the ramp, right on out. Piece of cake, and I go out here about my normal spot. Now going in is a little more uphill, so this is usually the harder part. And before I'd get to the point where by the time I hit the concrete at the hangar, usually be slowing down pretty good. This is rolling with ease, totally. Oh yeah, piece of cake. Piece of cake. Man, that thing wants to keep rolling. All right, so pretty simple video. Just to recap, I had the— I got the original EZ Wheels 3 and a half years ago when I picked up this aircraft out of overhaul, and the EZ Wheels were great, but over time it's getting harder and harder to push. So this is the upgrade. Seems like it's a tad bit taller, it's a little bit wider, and it's hard Harder than the, the original. Rolls super nice. So if you buy the whole unit, it's $1,800. I paid $300 apiece for the wheel for the upgrade, used my same handles, went down to the local auto shop. He charged me $40 to press those on. So I spent a little under $700 versus spending $1,800. And if you're not familiar with us, we are Helicopter Online Ground School. We have private, commercial, CFI, instrument, And monthly options, yearly options. We have a Pro Pilot option. We'll put the link down below for that. And we also do what we call the Final Approach Course. We help people around the country that are just struggling to finish up with a rating for whatever the reason is. There's lots of reasons people can't get finished, and our course has become pretty popular on helping people finish up. So helicopterground.com. Leave us a comment down below the video. See you in the next video. Peace out. Peace out.
