Tires calcium filled rears presssure adjustment

   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #1  

roman

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
163
Location
W Central New Hampshire
Tractor
MF 30(sold) Ford 1520(sold) Ford 1720(sold) Kioti CK4010SE HST Cab
I am looking to add some air to my 12.4-24 rears. They are loaded. I parked so the stems were at the top. When I tried to check pressue all I got was calcium. I don't have a compressor so I hitched my little 12v powerpoint type to see if I could add air. That didn't work either.

Am I missing something? Is the calcium level too high? Is there a trick to this or do I need to bite the bullet and buy a compressor?

Roman
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #2  
Roman,

I have adjusted pressure in calcium filled tires many times and have experienced the same problem you describe. In general no two tractor tires are filled to exactly the same level. Sometimes you run into the situation that you did and sometimes not, depending on how full the tire has been filled with the calcium solution.

I do pretty much the same thing you indicated, rotate the tire so the stem is at the highest possible point and work with it from there. In order to clear liquid out of the valve stem area, as much as possible, I use the air chuck and apply a quick blast of air. If the valve stem clears, it is simply a matter of adding or removing air as needed. If you experience a flash back of liquid that indicates the tire is probably filled (pumped) to a point where the liquid level is above the level of the valve stem. You can go ahead and add air if needed and you will usually hear the air bubbling up through the liquid. You will also need to be as quick as possible to avoid fluid loss. The calcium solution is quite corrisive so it is important to keep the liquid discharge to a minimum and when finished the calcium solution should be flushed off of anything it has contacted.

Use caution, because the calcium is also damaging to your skin and especially your eyes (wear safety goggles or glasses that cover you eyes).

If you need to reduce the pressure and the fluid level is above the stem, you will generally need to discharge some of the liquid into a container or if you have a pump like used in tire shop you can back feed the extra liquid back into the container the pump is pumping from. Attempt to catch and contain the corrosive liquid in a plastic or possibly glass container as much as possible. Wash off any material that has spilled on to the tractor, items in the area and of course on yourself.

There are special pressure guages to be used when working with the calcium solutions and low pressure tires. They are resistant to the corrsion and they are calibrated to be very accurate in guaging lower pressures. I have never attemped to adjust the air pressure in a calcium filled tire without the use of my shop air compressor so I would guess that utilizing other methods of adding air my well be problematic.

When you have completed the process clean up everything that had come into contact with the calcium solution, including yourself and that is the process as I know it.

There is another solution that tire shops prefer to fill tires with that does not have the corrosion problems that the calcium does. The industry calls the newer solution "B" juice. It has one major problem. It is very expensive and you can spend a small fortune filling a large tire with that material.

I hope that information will be helpfull to you. Good luck in adjusting your tire pressure.

Nick, North West Farmer
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #3  
There is another solution that tire shops prefer to fill tires with that does not have the corrosion problems that the calcium does. The industry calls the newer solution "B" juice. It has one major problem. It is very expensive and you can spend a small fortune filling a large tire with that material.

That's "beet" juice, as in "derived from purple tuber" juice. RimGuard is the brand name.

One other option, depending on the geometry of your particular wheels & tires, is to remove the tire and set it flat on the ground, or at a slight incline with the valve near the top. For some tires, this will put the end of the valve stem above the fluid level.
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #4  
i top up my tires with an air tank. i eyeball it.
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #5  
North Country,

I am definitely not a tire expert. The people that do work on our tractor tires always refer to the chemical as "B" juice, I would guess that is short for beet juice.

I am definitely a little on the lazy side and do pretty much anything I can to avoid removing the whole tire to adjust or add some tire pressure. Handling those big suckers around with the backhoe or some other hoisting device is usually more than I want to get involved in unless the tire needs to be removed from the rim or something somewhat major like that.

Your suggestion of laying the tire and wheel down and possibly placing them at an angle to move the fluid away form the valve stem is a good idea. I will definitely keep that in mind if we are breaking a tire down off of the tractor in the future.

Generally I find it is easier to work on those big tires while they are on the tractor. We call for tire service if the situation allows. They are set up to pump the fluid out of the tire and then with the tractor jacked up, break the tire off of the rim, make the repair and put it back or or put on a new tire if needed.

Due to the corrosive nature of the calcium solution all of our tires that are liquid filled also have tubes. I haven't checked to see if with the "beet" juice you could mount them tubless or not. If anyone out there knows that answer I would be interested to know if the "Beet" juice needs to be in a tube.

Our area is fairly hilly so both front and rear tires are filled with liquid for the added stability factor. Having a lot of weight down low to keep the center of gravity as low as possible helps a lot, especially if you are pulling hard and going up hill and on a slope.

Tire work can be one of the most dangerous things we get involved in on the farm. If possible I like to call in the professionals.

Be carefull out there!

Nick, North West Farmer
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #6  
North Country,

I am definitely not a tire expert. The people that do work on our tractor tires always refer to the chemical as "B" juice, I would guess that is short for beet juice.

I am definitely a little on the lazy side and do pretty much anything I can to avoid removing the whole tire to adjust or add some tire pressure. Handling those big suckers around with the backhoe or some other hoisting device is usually more than I want to get involved in unless the tire needs to be removed from the rim or something somewhat major like that.

Your suggestion of laying the tire and wheel down and possibly placing them at an angle to move the fluid away form the valve stem is a good idea. I will definitely keep that in mind if we are breaking a tire down off of the tractor in the future.

Generally I find it is easier to work on those big tires while they are on the tractor. We call for tire service if the situation allows. They are set up to pump the fluid out of the tire and then with the tractor jacked up, break the tire off of the rim, make the repair and put it back or or put on a new tire if needed.

Due to the corrosive nature of the calcium solution all of our tires that are liquid filled also have tubes. I haven't checked to see if with the "beet" juice you could mount them tubless or not. If anyone out there knows that answer I would be interested to know if the "Beet" juice needs to be in a tube.

Our area is fairly hilly so both front and rear tires are filled with liquid for the added stability factor. Having a lot of weight down low to keep the center of gravity as low as possible helps a lot, especially if you are pulling hard and going up hill and on a slope.

Tire work can be one of the most dangerous things we get involved in on the farm. If possible I like to call in the professionals.

Be carefull out there!

Nick, North West Farmer

My tires are barely over 100lbs loaded, so I manhandle them myself - it's a little sub-CUT. I can get hurt if I'm stupid, but it's not a full-size loaded ag tire. Those things are dangerous.

Yes, you can use beet juice without a tube. Some people think this is great, some realize that if you get a thorn, you'll leak a very expensive juice all over your fields (but it's still better than calcium chloride, which basically kills the soil.)

I have heard of one person trying the arrangement of slime in the tire, and then a tube filled with calcium chloride (slime between the tube and the tire). I know there was a lot of swearing getting it together and I don't know how well it worked.
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #7  
A simple jack placed under the rear axle will take the load off the tire. With the tire off the ground there should not be CaCl higher than the valve stem when its up at 12 o'clock.
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #8  
Milkman,

You are correct, if the person filling the tire has done his job correctly there should not be any calcium solution above the stem. Unfortunately, too often when the tire has been filled they have pumped more liquid into the tire than it should contain and when that has occured, jacking the tire off of the ground does not solve the problem of the liquid level being over the stem. Very often, after I have had a tire replaced, when I have blocked the axel up, thus lifting the tire off of the ground and when I depress the valve core, I get nothing but liquid from the tire. Not something you like to have happen.

That is why it is so very important that they do not pump more fluid into the tire than is the correct amount to prevent covering the stem area. I would say that I find tires that have been serviced to be over filled with liquid at least thirty percent of the time. Most service folks don't take the time to be as carefull as desired and I guess they think more is better than less or something.

An issue we farmers are aware of and need to be prepared to deal with, the tire that has been over filled with liquid.

Nick, North West, Farmer
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I am going to pick up a compressor (long overdue) and also try jacking the axel.

Thanks for all the info...

roman
 
   / calcium filled rears presssure adjustment #10  
Anyone know where I might obtain a pressure gauge to work with cacl filled tires?
 
 
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