# Filled Tires



## shell70634 (Feb 3, 2020)

Are there any drawbacks to filling the tires with liquid. I need more weight on the rear and I'm tired of leaving my bush hog connected as a counterbalance.

Shelly


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum Shelly. Apart from having to deal with the fluid during tire changes, and rust on the inside of the rims from the calcium chloride, not really. A person can use inner tubes and or beat juice or other alternatives to the calcium chloride to side step the rust.


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## shell70634 (Feb 3, 2020)

Hoodoo Valley said:


> Welcome to the forum Shelly. Apart from having to deal with the fluid during tire changes, and rust on the inside of the rims from the calcium chloride, not really. A person can use inner tubes and or beat juice or other alternatives to the calcium chloride to side step the rust.


I don't have to worry much about freezing here in SW Louisiana. Would there be an economical additive to water to prevent rust?


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

A tractor can not put its full horsepower to the ground without added ballast. Ballast also makes for a more stable, safer tractor. In your area you could probably get by with plain water with a couple of gallons of regular antifreeze added to each tire. A bit of slush ice won't hurt a tire but a hard frozen tire will damage it quickly if you run it that way.


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## Busted Tractor (May 22, 2018)

If you need weight but don't want to add fluid and go thru the issues with it. Take a 55 gallon drum put a cross bar thru it and fill it with concrete. May want to weld a bracket for the top link and use stabilizer bars so it doesn't swing around Heavy and easily removable, and doesn't have the overhang of a rotary cutter.


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## DairyAyre83 (Oct 13, 2017)

i recently got fluid put in on my tractor and they didn’t even use tubes. He said that as long as the fluid level stays above the rim, it will not corrode, because it’s not exposed to air. He said they do it all the time in construction equipment.


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## DanielCT230 (Apr 17, 2018)

shell70634 said:


> Are there any drawbacks to filling the tires with liquid. I need more weight on the rear and I'm tired of leaving my bush hog connected as a counterbalance.
> 
> Shelly


You're getting some silly advice there....
The best and by far the safest way to ballast a tractor is to 90% fill your rear tyres with water. 

If your tractor is 4wd then add water ballast to your front tyres as well.

There is no rust issue as most tractors should have tubes. (90% will give no freezing damage if left unattended). If you operate during freezing temperatures then add anti-freeze.


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## wjkrostek (Aug 31, 2013)

I have a tractor with


shell70634 said:


> Are there any drawbacks to filling the tires with liquid. I need more weight on the rear and I'm tired of leaving my bush hog connected as a counterbalance.
> 
> Shelly


I have a tractor that has had cach for 20 years with no problems. I live where its cold and they never freeze. (-40) The problem is people don't but in enough liquid. Very little air when filled properly. need O2 to have rust and that gets used up fast and then stops. This will add hundreds of lbs to each tire so be mindful of that when you try to take them off. depends on your tire size they can hold 50 gals of liq or more. always fill to 75% but never over 90% or you will lose the feel of air.


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## ck3510hb (Sep 12, 2016)

Beet juice (rim guard) weighs more than water and does not cause rust. You could get by in la with windshield washer fluid. still can cause rust. Do not recommend radiator antifreeze.


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## DK35vince (Jan 22, 2006)

Been running windshield washer fluid in my rear tires for the past 19 years. Around 75% full (Tubeless tires, no rust)
Much more stabile doing loader work.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

Rusting out the rims, and the potential hazard from a leak are the only real risks, but the correct fluid will take care of those.

I am not one to think that a 1.15 density fluid is all that much better than a .98 density fluid. Think about it If 2 tires load up to 1,150 lbs with the expensive fluid, are you going to notice if you only load up to 980 lbs with the cheaper fluid? also remember some people don't even fill them to 75%.


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## shell70634 (Feb 3, 2020)

I really like the idea of a 55 gal drum of concrete. I plan on having a slab poured in front of my shop this spring so I'll build a mounting system and have the drum filled then.
Thanx for all the replies.

Shelly


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

Cacl is fine unless you get a leak in the tube. Its cheap and effective to -60 deg F. Something you don't need to worry with in your area. Most use water and 2 gal antifreeze per tire in your area. I lived in the snowbelt for many years and had lots of below zero days, so used Cacl. Loaded tires to 75% which is about the most you can get, then topped out with 14 psi air. Ballast makes s tremendous on the tractors performance and stability. Over the years, I evidently had some tube leakage, causing the dredded rim rust. See attached photos from 45 yeaŕs of running Cacl.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

CaCl gets a worse rap than it deserves.
My theory is that some guys would complain because they only got 60 years out of a set of rims because of the stuff.
Rims are a consumable, like tires, crank bearings, piston rings, clutches and brakes. My rims were rusted from calcium. I pumped the stuff into a couple of plastic barrels, had the rims sand blasted, brazed a few holes up then primed and painted them.
Then i pumped the fluid back into new tubes. 
Nothing beats CaCl for maximum weight, freeze protection, and cost effectiveness.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I thought 45 years was very good for the life of a rim. At $250 ea replacement cost today, that's $5.56 a year. Not bad for a tractor consummable. I wish I could get that service from all the other items required to keep a tractor running. Also, 45 years for a set of tires is excellent service too. Can't complain too much. Still use Cacl in the rears of both tractors. Would not be comfortable working either without the ballast.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Another reason I prefer liquid or cast iron ballast is because it's always on your tractor.
I never liked the idea of filling a barrel with concrete and hanging it on the 3 point. That works okay for loader work when you aren't using the drawbar or 3 point but what do you do when you need extra traction for plowing or discing your garden or a deer plot or when you need the extra stability for mowing on a side hill? You can NOT have a plow or mower, or a trailer hooked up when you have your barrel of concrete hanging on the back.
Another reason I don't like the barrel is now you have created an artifact that is going to last for 200 years. That big, heavy thing is going to be difficult to get rid of and when you're done using it it is going to be laying in the weeds somewhere forever.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

Ed Williams said:


> I thought 45 years was very good for the life of a rim. At $250 ea replacement cost today, that's $5.56 a year. Not bad for a tractor consummable. I wish I could get that service from all the other items required to keep a tractor running. Also, 45 years for a set of tires is excellent service too. Can't complain too much. Still use Cacl in the rears of both tractors. Would not be comfortable working either without the ballast.


The problem lies with the fact that needing new rims might be enough to end up scrapping a small 45 year old tractor that likely has other problems too.
I've also seen machinery quite a bit younger than 45 years old in need of a complete set of rims. I was looking at a ditch which that had 1 completely shot rim, 2 that had another year left and a 4th that looked OK, but we both know otherwise. The tires were usable but pretty worn. Now I need 4 rims and 4 tires, because while those tires were good enough to run, they weren't good enough to put on new rims. That 1 thing to fix would have been quite a bit more than the asking price of the machine. Had they used non-corrosive liquid ballast, that machine could have gone for about 3 times what they were asking. The added cost for some derivative of beet juice would have easily been worth it.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

DanielCT230 said:


> If your tractor is 4wd then add water ballast to your front tyres as well.


Most people fill utility and smaller tractor tires for loader work, not pulling traction, so they wouldn't want more weight up front. Those that do want more weight up front, the 4wd or 2wd shouldn't matter either.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I have owned the tractor for 45 years. The tractor is a 1953 NAA, so it is 67 years old. The tractor has had CaCl ballast in the rear tires since it was new. When I acquired the tractor, all 4 tires were essentially useless from dry rot and splits, so I replaced all 4. The left rear had some serious rusting, but was repairable, The right rear also had rust, but not as serious and wasn't repaired. All rims were sandblasted and received 4 coats of red oxide lacquer primer. Then new tires and tubes. I think 67 years out of a set of rims is outstanding, regardless of the ballast that was used. The front rims are still original and going strong. Remember, at the time that the rears were ballasted, both times, there were only 2 options, CaCl or ethylene glycol at 5 times the price. The difference in the 2 loads was more than the cost of a new rim at the time. The only prudent choice was CaCl. There are more options available today that may be better, but CaCl has stood the test of time as an economical tractor tire ballast and is still widely used today. I and many others have no problem using CaCl, especially with the new coatings available today for treating the inside of the rims that were unheard of in the past. I think a tractor ballast system that is almost as long as the average human lifespan is plenty acceptable.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

Probably used thicker steel in 53 than now, so don't expect to get 67 years out of a new tractor's rims under the same circumstances. We are also buying chemicals now, not 45 years ago, so factor in today's cost along with today's steel. Not going to blame people for making the choices they made back then, but you don't just keep on doing what you've always done because it made sense way back then.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

CaCl is still widely used and economical. People can make their own choice what is best for them.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

It still makes sense today. I just loaded 57 gal of CaCl when I replaced a rear. Total cost was $97. Cost for 55 gal of antifreeze was $650, Beet juice is a rarity here and is only done by special order. Best estimate was $500. You do the math. I could purchase 2 rims for the difference in price for beet juice and 3 for the price of antifreeze. These are todays numbers Opinions are opinions. To each his own. The ideal solution would be the manufacture of rims made from fiber reinforced thermoplastic resins, which are stronger and more durable than steel, and impervious to most chemicals. ( See Abrahms tank armor) Then this conversation would be mute. But then the manufacturer's would lose an income stream for replacement rims.


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## shell70634 (Feb 3, 2020)

I've decided to order tubes and use straight water. If it's cold enough to freeze I doubt if I'm gonna be outside on the tractor. I'm still going to fill half a 55 gal drum with concrete to attach to the three point. I've never broke the bead on a tractor tire so I may pay someone to install the tubes or get my son in laws (3) to do it. Probably cost more in beer.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

i HAVE S


shell70634 said:


> I've decided to order tubes and use straight water. If it's cold enough to freeze I doubt if I'm gonna be outside on the tractor. I'm still going to fill half a 55 gal drum with concrete to attach to the three point. I've never broke the bead on a tractor tire so I may pay someone to install the tubes or get my son in laws (3) to do it. Probably cost more in beer.


I have seen skunky beer used as ballast....


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

shell70634 said:


> I've decided to order tubes and use straight water. If it's cold enough to freeze I doubt if I'm gonna be outside on the tractor. I'm still going to fill half a 55 gal drum with concrete to attach to the three point. I've never broke the bead on a tractor tire so I may pay someone to install the tubes or get my son in laws (3) to do it. Probably cost more in beer.


They make a.manual bead breaker for tractor tires that is simple to use and works great. I bought one on ebay for $65. We beat on a rear for 2 solid 12 hr days using angle iron next to the bead and my Blazer on top of the angle. The manual bead breaker broke both rim beads in 10 minutes, including the time it took to turn the tire over. I dont usually promote specialty tool, but this one did exactly as advertised. Chuckie2009 has a video on youtube demonstrating changing a rear with it still mounted on the tractor.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

shell70634 said:


> I've decided to order tubes and use straight water. If it's cold enough to freeze I doubt if I'm gonna be outside on the tractor. I'm still going to fill half a 55 gal drum with concrete to attach to the three point. I've never broke the bead on a tractor tire so I may pay someone to install the tubes or get my son in laws (3) to do it. Probably cost more in beer.


I do all of my own tire work.
I lay them on the ground and use my 3/4 ton pickup and drive onto the tire right along the edge of the rim. Sometimes I have to drive off and go at it from another angle but it Always breaks them down.
But your call. Some folks have the dough and would rather pay to have it done. I get that.


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## 40Windsor (Sep 18, 2019)

Stopped and talked with my local Les Schwab today. 
Calcium is $3.30/gallon installed and Bio Ballast is $4.95/gallon installed. So, $178.20 and $267.30 respectivey fo 54 gallons installed. 
HD has -20 washer fluid for $1.49/ gallon.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

I bought my own 99.9% CaCL in 25# bags and mixed my own 31% solution, then loaded it into tires using an old power steering pump and 3-way valve and air ratchet to turn pump. Total cost was $97 for 57 gal of mixed solution. That makes it $1.70 a gallon for a solution with -61 deg F freeze point. Do not trust -20 deg windshield washer fluid sold comercially. Independent testing from Consumer Reports recorded freeze points from 20 deg F to -10 deg F. None of the tested products met the -20 deg F mark listed on the label. If you want windshield washer fluid, buy the concentrate and mix your own to control quality. FYI. -20 deg F will not cut it in many areas.


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## Rudra Singh (Jun 28, 2021)

It's very interesting topic to know about the tyres. Nitrogen is best option to fill in the tyre.


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## Tx Jim (Jul 28, 2020)

Groo said:


> i HAVE S
> 
> I have seen skunky beer used as ballast....


Skunky beer will freeze if temperature gets low enough below 32°F.


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## Tx Jim (Jul 28, 2020)

CaCl isn't the main reason rear rims rust but it's the tractor owners fault for no repairing the tube leak allowing CaCl to get in contact with the rim.


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## Tx Jim (Jul 28, 2020)

Rudra Singh said:


> It's very interesting topic to know about the tyres. Nitrogen is best option to fill in the tyre.


Werlcome to TF
nitrogen weighs much less than other chemicals such as water that are added for extra ballast


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Wow, 3 pages and I never load my rear tires and never will. I run cast wheel weights on the rear of my Kubota's and the cast centers are where the rim bolts to. Traction has never been an issue. If I need additional traction, I engage the front wheel drive.


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## Tx Jim (Jul 28, 2020)

Wow after all this forum is called a discussion forum for a reason so members can have a discussion!!
I think liquid ballast boils down to "different strokes for different folks" I utilize water in my tractor that has FEL for extra stability. I installed the water myself so the cost was very minor amount. If temp is below freezing tractor sits because I don't need it.


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Loaded tires don't work for me because I run forage crops and the more the tractor weighs, the more plant damage you get. Alfalfa crushes easily under heavy equipment. I want maximum yield so compaction and crushing lowers my yields and I sell it so I want the best yields.


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## Tx Jim (Jul 28, 2020)

Maybe you should consider trading your tractors with cabs for smaller open station tractors that weight less so you will experience less compaction & crop damage!!!


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

cannot do that for a couple reasons. One, they are paid for for a long time and 2, my equipment demands quite a large amount of PTO power so a smaller unit is no good power wise. You don't run a hydra swing disc machine with a diminutive tractor. I require at least 80 pto for the mower and the same for the big round baler. If anything, I should go bigger, not smaller. One us an open station, the other is a cab and I much prefer climate control when running hay on hot days.


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## Mrsig (Jun 6, 2021)

Filling my tires with water was one of the best things I have done. It gave me more traction and less bounce running long trails plus it made it so much more stable all around.

Yes water I live in Central Florida and it never gets to freezing temp here.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Sorry, I've been late to this discussion.  

CaCL had been used for decades. It works to a degree, but causes issues in the long term. Valve stems corrode and rims corrode from the inside out. And when the leak at the rim and bead takes place, the chore of getting it all fixed and back together is timely and pricey. And at times, the rims are not worth saving. Rims are by no means cost effect to just run out and get another set. Very pri$cey. 

Most farms since the 1980s up to now have been switching to Beet Juice. In the beginning, it was only local to a few selected areas. Now, it's found in many mid-west states. Still gaining traction in the Ag side of the business. It has non-corrosion properties, soil safe, and even protects in freezing temps. 

Additionally, since the same time of the 1980s, the Canadians started another trend to stop using CaCL and to migrate to a livestock (pet safe) great alternative. It's the pink stuff of RV/Marine anti-freeze down to -40. The stuff gummy bears, salad dressing, thick BBQ sauces, and Swedish fish are made from. Canadian Tire sells this in plastic 55-gallon drums. This IMPROVES the life of the rims, the tires and the valve stems. It has that slimy sticky feel that helps seal LEAKS. Makes tire repair safer and easy to dispose of for the fluid. Plus, non-toxic.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Mrsig said:


> Filling my tires with water was one of the best things I have done. It gave me more traction and less bounce running long trails plus it made it so much more stable all around.
> 
> Yes water I live in Central Florida and it never gets to freezing temp here.


Water is fine, but an anti corrosion additive is needed. Now, I know of people who painted the inside rims to only use just water down south. This too protects the rims from rusting from the inside out.


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

One thing to keep in mind with CACL and that is, if it leaks on your grass, no grass will grow in the spot for a long, long time


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