anyone balast their own tires?

   / anyone balast their own tires? #1  

brown1

Bronze Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
56
Location
grass lake mi
Tractor
bobcat ct235
i am looking to balast my tires, there are no rimgaurd dealers close so i'm thinking of doing washer fluid! i am in mi so freezing is an issue, i have a small 110v transfer pump and am looking to put abou
22+/- gals. in each side(11.24x24) ideas or advice would be appreciated.
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #2  
I did my B7500 years ago with a drill pump and a fitting from Tractor Supply. Took a lot of starting and stopping (fill/burp/fill/burp). Whe I got the L3200 (much larger rears) I told the dealer to go ahead for $150.
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #3  
I did mine on a B7100 kubota. I used a 5 gallon pail with a boat bilge pump in the bottom. Get the adapter form TSC. It is not difficult at all. As the level in the pail goes down just dump in more fluid.
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #5  
you can go with eco safe rv AF as well. that's what I use. that and the lil burp valve and a pump and you are all set.
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #6  
Its easier than I thought. I just filled my new rears with the old calcium I had in the other tires. Drained them into two muck buckets (18 gal.) and used two 5gal water buckets for the rest. I used a 12 volt transfer pump to both drain and refill. What helps is the fill valve you can get from Gemplers for around 10 bucks. I used tubes so their " valve fishing tool" helped with that.
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #7  
yep.. it's way to easty to pay someone else to do it...
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #8  
Calcium premixed in water is readily available at most concrete plants. You will need to supply your own container. I used 55 gallon barrels with clamp on lids.

This system will work with whatever fluid you use. Calcium water will damage most transfer pumps which is why I use air pressure to push the fluid in.

Setup: I put a garden hose valve in the small threaded hole on the lid with a hose on the inside of the barrel which reaches close to the bottom of the barrel & drilled a hole to place a male end air hose fitting in the lid with a ball valve. A garden hose was connected to the hose valve on the barrel with a "Y" connector which has valves on both sides to the other end. The female side of the "Y" was connected to a "Milton S466 fluid/air fill adapter" with a female to female gender changer which after removing the valve core is attached to the valve stem. The "Y" fitting allows you to release the air pressure periodically as you are adding fluid without holding in the button on the side of the "Milton" adapter & is much faster. First close off the valve side connected to the garden hose then open the other side to let the air escape.

Now filling the tire:
1 - Set the regulator on your air compressor to 8 psi. It does not take much pressure to push the fluid into the tire & you do not want to blow the barrel apart. * Note * the top & bottom of the barrel will bulge out.
2 - Jack up the tire you wish to fill to where the tire is barely off the ground. Turn the tire to where the valve stem it on top.
3 - Remove the valve core & connect up the plumbing as described above.
2 - With both of the "Y" valves closed, pressurize the barrel to approximately 6 - 8 psi. (I like to close the air inlet between periods of pressurization as a safety.)
3 - Open the valve on the "Y" side connected to the "Milton adapter" & you should hear the fluid shooting into the tire.
4 - When the flow of fluid slows down, close the "Milton" valve & open the valve on the other side of the "Y" to let the air escape from the tire. (I have a short piece of hose going into a 5 gal bucket to contain the small amount of fluid which will be expelled with the air.)
5 - Repeat steps 2 - 4 until you hear fluid bubbling at the valve stem site in the tire then stop. You do not want to completely fill the tire. It needs some air for cushioning. By filling to the top of the rim, the rim will spin in the fluid vs splashing the fluid giving you a smoother ride.

John
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #9  
Calcium water will damage most transfer pumps which is why I use air pressure to push the fluid in.


John

As this transfer pump cost $38 with freight. I did not care what the calcium might do to it. I flushed it with water afterward and I've had no other reason to use it so the thing might still work for all I know. This throwaway pump made the transfer childs play and was well worth it. The tire guys around here wanted $350 in labor to change out the tires and another $150 to load them. I bought the pump, two 30" tire irons, the fill valve, two short pieces of hose with extra fittings and the fishing valve hook for $90.
 
   / anyone balast their own tires? #10  
a 4$ drill pump will work too.. and they are deffinately throw away.

PS.. cacl in granulated form can be bought by the bag as well.
 
 
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