Tires Fill Tires or Add Weight?

[Redbug]

My tires are not filled. But, I have wheel weights on my tractor, and my box blade is my ballast box, (it weighs around 800 lbs). For me, this setup works out pretty good and I am happy. No muss, no fuss. When I first put the wheel weights on, I could feel an added difference in stability when using the loader. I have about 9 psi in the rears for good traction and all the tread contacts the ground. The weights did cost a few dollars, but worth it in the long run.

However...one more option exists about the hole in the tire, leaky solution syndrome. Why not spend that money on getting the rears foam filled? It adds weight, and no more problems with liquids, and no more flats. I'm not sure how much the foam weighs...but you could add tire weights, also.

Free is best, but money does help.

 

[N80]

As long as you feel you did right, that's the most important part!

Art, there's no feeling involved. I got the lowest price I've ever seen on an L4400. Could it have been $200 lower if they hadn't filled the tires? Sure. So what? When you buy a tractor you also pay for getting the loader installed, the coffee at the sales desk, and the water bill for the toilet, but you don't see people calculating that in the deal. The fact is, even if they hadn't filled them, I'd have done it myself and it would have cost about $50 which, divided by 800 pounds comes out to be, uhm, somewhere around nothing compared to a dollar a pound.

 

[N80]

However...one more option exists about the hole in the tire, leaky solution syndrome. Why not spend that money on getting the rears foam filled? It adds weight, and no more problems with liquids, and no more flats. I'm not sure how much the foam weighs...but you could add tire weights, also.

I've heard that some foam is quite dense and heavy, so I guess it depends on which type you select. I've also heard it is pretty pricey as well. And even though you'd be very unlikely to need to change it often, when the time comes I imagine that's a pretty messy process. But if you were in an environment where you got lots of flats and you needed ballast in the tire, it would certainly be a good option.

I wonder about ride quality with foam.