Tires 7610 owners... filled tires or not?

[easygo]

Spoon,
A few weeks ago I tried to push on something and the ROPS happened to be right there to brace myself against. I was standing next to the tractor. There was nothing on the 3ph, the empty loader was off the ground and the parking brake was on. I pushed against the ROPS and to my great surprise the rear wheel came off the ground for a split second. Oh... Ummhhh.... That really surprised me. After that I hooked up my 6' rear blade and attempted to do the same thing at this time for curiosity. I was not able to reproduce it and I tried hard. You should make a rear ballast out of something cheap, like concrete. It will also help to keep the wheels on the ground and it will not be in the way when doing FEL work.

 

[DoctorDawg]

I'm a tractor newbie so I'm not saying this is right, just saying its what I've got. My tractor sales guy, whom I respect, pretty much refused to sell me a tractor without the rear tires being filled, and the lower center of gravity and extra weight on the rear certainly made sense to me, so I went with it. The real surprise was he filled them with methanol. We have a horse farm, so antifreeze is a no-no and he's not a big fan of calcium chloride, nor am I. So far, no problems at all, and I love the stability on slopes. I just wouldn't want to be around if my rear tires ever caught on fire...but then the same would be true even if the tires weren't filled with methanol

 

[easygo]

I asked the dealer not to fill the rear tires, otherwise they would do so with every new or used tractor that they install an FEL on.

DoctorDawg,
I hope you don't smoke while in the seat of your tractor.

EDIT[ I forgot to add that I made a rear ballast. Pored concrete into an old garbage can and put some rocks into it as well. The concrete and rocks weight about 300lbs and I left room on top to put some scrap steel in there too for a total of about 480lbs ballast. I never do FEL work without that attached to the 3ph. I only drive the tractor to hook up another implement.]

 

[peterc38]

I second Bob Youngs response. I have filled rear tires on my 7610. In my less than expert opinion, if you have an FEL its a must, especially if you are operating on slopes and/or do not have a rear implement on the 3 PT as a counterweight. I think the only way I wouldnt have had them filled is if all I did was mowing and the terrain was predominately flat.

 

[firefighter9208]

Methanol is the fluid of choice around here when filling tires. Methanol is actually what is used in windshield washer fluid to keep it from freezing. It's also fairly cheap.

My dealer even gave me a new 55 gallon drum (empty methanol drum) to make a counterweight out of. I washed it out real good with dishwashing soap and water, cut the top out of it and cut small holes for a drawbar and top link plate. I then filled it with concrete. Great counterweight!

Chris

 

[guyrj33]

I drained the tires on my B7800 with backhoe and FEL. It was much too heavy with the filled tires when on soft ground. I'm much happier with the tires empty. If I end up taking the backhoe off I'll build a weight box for the 3pt hitch. With a weight box, I'll be able to keep my center of gravity very low when needed.

 

[Killer_B]

I fillied my B7610 with WW fluid and wrote about it here:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/51322-b7610-ballast.html

KB

 

[Bob_Young]

I'm no expert, bandit, but I don't think there would be any problem with filled tires and the backhoe if you were careful in how you deployed the backhoe stabilizers. If you extend them until the rears are completely off the ground, then the full weight of the filled rears will be borne by the rear gearcase at the ends of axles acting as lever arms...and it may be more than what the case is designed for; especially if there are shocks or sudden movements.

If you only extend the stabilizers until the rears begin to "lighten up" but remain in contact with the ground, then the case would not have to bear the full load and the ground would dampen any shocks to the rear axle. I think this approach would allow you to operate with filled rears without fear of damaging the case. This is the approach I use with my L4300 with filled rears when I'm using the Woods 90X backhoe...though admittedly I've not logged a lot of hoe time with this rig. My dealer knew I had filled rears on the L4300 when they sold me the hoe (tractor & hoe came from same dealership) and didn't have any qualms about the combination.

I do, however, think that both my B7610 and my L4300 would be much less useful and less stable for non-backhoe usage without filled rears. For my usage, I view filled rears as almost mandatory.

If you're anything like me, you'll come to hate having the hoe on the back as ballast. Extending back and up as far as it does, it cuts into maneuverability and you'll constantly be at risk of smacking something. It's hard to concentrate on what you're doing with the front of the tractor, if you're worried about what's going on behind you.
FWIW
Bob

 

[Ben3130]

My dealer wouldn't sell me a FEL with my tractor (L3130) without filled rears. Since I'm a geek, I've messed around with all different combinations of rear attachments with and without the loader. In my limited experience and humble opinion, filled rears make a huge difference in stability, but not so much in rear ballast. Even with filled rears, I can lift the rear end off the ground well before hitting loader capacity. Just don't expect to kill two birds with one stone by filling your rears, and always use rear ballast with loader work. But regardless of FEL, I'd always have my rear tires filled.

 

[bandit67]

Good feedback. Thanks guys.