Tires Why not fill front tires?

[digger2]

Hey guys,
I know theres been ALOT of talk on here about filling rear tires for extra traction,stability,and on and on.But what about the fronts.Would'nt it make sense?Not only for lower center of gravity,but a little more traction too.Even when your not in 4x4,what harm would it do?
Even my operators manual says "do not fill the front wheels (tires) with liquid to maintain steering control".....hmmmmm.
I don't know.I would think you would have more steering control if the tires were filled.Unless because of the tires smaller size and higher RPM"s(compared to the larger rears) centrifugal force would take over,slinging the liquid fill around the inside of the tire causing a "steering control" problem.
Of course this would happen prob. only at "road speed" and not "work speed".You know-high gear,top rpm's or thereabouts.Maybe this is what they mean by "maintaining steering control".Somebody here has had to have tried this.Any problems???
90% of the time when i have to take my tractor anywhere,i trailer it.And as far as when i get to where i'm going,well.....how often would i be going a speed that is going to cause "loss of steering control"?Oh,front tires on my tractor(B26) are 23x8.50 14's.If filled (with wwf) they would hold a little over 100# each.

thanks for any responses,Digger2

 

[ultrarunner]

It was explained to me by the Tire Dealer that filled the rear tires on my BX like this:

The benefit of a slightly lower center of gravity from filling my tractors very small tires is negated by the increased chance of damage to the front axle. Filled Tires don't have as much give and as a result shock loads are more easily transmitted to the front Axle which is inherently weaker than the non-articulated rear Axle.

 

[neucam]

I don't have a direct answer, but 100lbs is a high figure for a front tire, my 38"tall X 8.3 x 22" rears only hold about 100+lbs. That would be about 12 gallons liquid each. So you maybe are talking about 2-3 gallons in that front tire. If you don't have a FEL then putting a weight box on the extreme front would do more for traction with rear implements than liquid in the tires. You could add liquid but you will not gain much and then have to deal with potential rust problems. Stability, I don't know if it would be a problem. But why try it.

 

[Reg]

For LOADER work there is chance/risk of front axle damage due to reduced cushion.
For non-loader work, it might help a bit in 4WD, although my guess is that if you do the arithmetic you will find it to be a negligible increase to the tractor's weight.
In round numbers Rimguard in the rear tires can add about 25% to the tractor's weight, OK a bit under 20% if the tractor already has a loader on it.

 

[LBrown59]

For LOADER work there is chance/risk of front axle damage due to reduced cushion.
For non-loader work, it might help a bit in 4WD, although my guess is that if you do the arithmetic you will find it to be a negligible increase to the tractor's weight.
In round numbers Rimguard in the rear tires can add about 25% to the tractor's weight, OK a bit under 20% if the tractor already has a loader on it.

The load in the loader bucket is all the weight you need.

 

[SFish]

I fill the front tires because, on a previous tractor, I rolled a tire off the rim on a turn a couple of times with a heavy load in the bucket, even with the recommended air pressure in the tires. They don't compress as much with the smaller amount of air on top of the water. I don't slam it around with weight in the loader and I don't drive fast on the road. I use plain water in the tires because it is easier to dump and easier to load, and I live in California (no freezing).

Steve

 

[CharlieKtractor]

I foam filled my front tires 6 years ago when I bought the tractor--have never had a flat-never rolled a tire and drive as fast as it will go-to each his own--lol

 

[Bedlam]

One advantage of tubes is that the tire doesn't roll off the rim as easily.
On mine, I didn't see how that little extra weight would help.I don't think it would be worth the effort and the problems when I get a flat etc.
Id consider front weights if that was my concern.

 

[art]

Let's see loaded front tires, wear out ball joint end faster as they need more leverage to turn the wheels.

It will wear out the front drive pieces faster because of the added weight.
It will take more fuel to move the unit.
If a gear drive will require the clutch to be slipped more to get started.

 

[Just2quickz28]

use Soft foam fill and dont worry about it