I should have had this done before delivery....

[mikim]

Ditto what tydp said .... we don't need anything fancy here in central Tx ..... just find the doohickey that connects to a water hose then to the tire valve ....TSC should have 'em.... I didn't even have antifreezer in my previous tractor. PS be sure your tire valve is at the top when you do this.

 

[IslandTractor]

A lot of good advice here. I would first agree that in central Texas you don't need something as expensive as RimGuard. If you don't get hard freezes more than occasionally or overnight then plain water should be fine. I plan on using windshield washer fluid (ie methanol/water mix) but I'm in a freeze zone.

The advice on filling tires yourself with adapters from TSC is right on but I didn't see anyone mention that you need to be careful to jack up the tire a little first and block the axle before you remove the valve mechanism. You don't want the tire unsupported. Most authorities (ie tire manufacturers) recommend not filling more than about 75% so you still have some air to allow the tire to be flexible. Best way to measure is simply to put the valve at about three quarters from the bottom (probably not right at the top unless you are going to carefully measure the fluid you put in).

I'd be REAL careful if you are thinking of removing the tire to fill it (no particular advantage for doing that other than taking the tire to the dealer). Remember these tires/wheels are heavy to begin with and that adding even plain water adds over 8 pounds per gallon. My DK40se rear tires will gain about 400lbs each when loaded with WWF and will end up weighing over 600lbs each. That is a potentially very dangerous thing to be manhandling.

 

[greenmule]

Rimguard is a little heavier than methinal and water,but costs more,methinal will not hurt your rims either[or anymore than rimguard]

 

[warhammer]

As always a lot of good info here!
Moving fluid filled wheels that weigh several hundred pounds does not sound like a plan if it can be avoided.
I had not considered filling the rims at the farm.
No water service at the farm yet. With the cost of the meter and the length of trench needed to put it in that project is a ways off. Perhaps a neighbor with water service is a possibility.

Warhammer

A lot of good advice here. I would first agree that in central Texas you don't need something as expensive as RimGuard. If you don't get hard freezes more than occasionally or overnight then plain water should be fine. I plan on using windshield washer fluid (ie methanol/water mix) but I'm in a freeze zone.

The advice on filling tires yourself with adapters from TSC is right on but I didn't see anyone mention that you need to be careful to jack up the tire a little first and block the axle before you remove the valve mechanism. You don't want the tire unsupported. Most authorities (ie tire manufacturers) recommend not filling more than about 75% so you still have some air to allow the tire to be flexible. Best way to measure is simply to put the valve at about three quarters from the bottom (probably not right at the top unless you are going to carefully measure the fluid you put in).

I'd be REAL careful if you are thinking of removing the tire to fill it (no particular advantage for doing that other than taking the tire to the dealer). Remember these tires/wheels are heavy to begin with and that adding even plain water adds over 8 pounds per gallon. My DK40se rear tires will gain about 400lbs each when loaded with WWF and will end up weighing over 600lbs each. That is a potentially very dangerous thing to be manhandling.

 

[IslandTractor]

As always a lot of good info here!
Moving fluid filled wheels that weigh several hundred pounds does not sound like a plan if it can be avoided.
I had not considered filling the rims at the farm.
No water service at the farm yet. With the cost of the meter and the length of trench needed to put it in that project is a ways off. Perhaps a neighbor with water service is a possibility.

Warhammer

For someone in Texas without access to piped water, it is still possible to truck in 40-50 gallons or so at a time and load the tires batchwise.

Windshield washer fluid is a good option in this situation too for those of us in freeze zones. You don't need to take the tires off and you don't need a water supply. It is a good time of year to buy it (I got some last summer for almost half the winter price from home despot). It comes obviously in managable one gallon containers and can be transported in batches. I currently have about 110 gallons stacked next to my barn and hopefully will get around to loading the tires this spring/summer.

 

[jimmyj]

The rimguard site says it won't freeze to -35. We get colder than that here sometimes. Would that mean I can't use this product?

The guys around here seem to use inner tubes with calcium chloride in them the most.

 

[Kioti4me]

The rimguard site says it won't freeze to -35. We get colder than that here sometimes. Would that mean I can't use this product?

The guys around here seem to use inner tubes with calcium chloride in them the most.

Yeah, I like it because it will not rust the rims on my new tractor. We used CC on the farm. One other thing ,it's suppose to plug holes in the tire too. Well, we'll see about that. It getts cold here, but I keep my trator in the shed and I run the heat if it gets to cold.

Have a great evening

 

[George in Spokane]

The other nice thing about Rimguard over CC is that it is just concentrated sugar water. So if it leaks out you don't have to worry about your well.

 

[California]

I'm in a location where I don't need freeze protection. And my rims have tubes in them.

So I made a special adapter to get from garden hose, to an ordinary tire fill valve that had the clip on it to keep it on the tire stem. Total cost zero since I already had everything. Here's my 'special adapter' (after I put the fill valve back where it belonged on my air hose).

Just stop once in a while to let air bleed out as you run the hose to put water in.

Oh and you should remove the Schrader valve from the tube, jack the tire an inch off the ground to get weight off it, and rotate the tire to establish the intended waterline inside. You can easily hear when the target is reached and the stem becomes submerged.

I filled mine to maximum, stem at 12:00, then later backed down to 50% fill (stem horizontal) after I realized the excess weight affected how easily I could drive up the grades that are everywhere here.