Calcium Chloride Corrosive?

[brokenknee]

There has been much talk on the corrosiveness of calcium chloride on this forum. My tire on my mower went flat over the winter. Since it had been sitting flat for a while I could see the tire was shot. I used my log splitter to break the bead to remove the tire. My tire was filled with calcium chloride when I purchased the mower about 7 or 8 years ago. (at the time I had a lake place that had some pretty steep hills, as already stated for tractors it added tremendously to the stability)

I though I would take some pictures to show what I found after removing the tire. These photos are what it looked like once the tire was off.

These are the photos after a "quick" clean up with a rag and some mineral spirits.

Here is a picture of the valve stem

And here is the danger of using your log splitter to break the bead.

Your mileage may vary, a friend of mine said the calcium chloride corroded his valve stem and leaked. I am not sure what caused my leak, but after doing a quick clean up the rim appears sound.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I have to agree with you...Looks like just some paint damage...

 

[crazyal]

I'd be curious to see how much longer that wheel would last. Looking at it I would say that 7 years is the amount of time that CaCl takes to eat through the powder coat. I wonder if anyone has any pictures of a similar wheel after 7 years of beet juice?

 

[brokenknee]

I have to agree with you...Looks like just some paint damage...

I will finish cleaning the rim and then repaint. I do not plan on adding CaCl back in the tire. The property I have now is pretty level so I do not need it for stability.

I'd be curious to see how much longer that wheel would last. Looking at it I would say that 7 years is the amount of time that CaCl takes to eat through the powder coat. I wonder if anyone has any pictures of a similar wheel after 7 years of beet juice?

I would also like to see a picture of a rim after 7 years with beet juice.

The part were the paint was gone was on the top of the flat. I just wonder if the paint damage didn't happen just this winter when the tire went flat and leaking some of the CaCl out not covering the top of the rim. It is just a thought, not sure why it would have affected only a portion of the rim.

 

[k0ua]

I will finish cleaning the rim and then repaint. I do not plan on adding CaCl back in the tire. The property I have now is pretty level so I do not need it for stability.



I would also like to see a picture of a rim after 7 years with beet juice.

The part were the paint was gone was on the top of the flat. I just wonder if the paint damage didn't happen just this winter when the tire went flat and leaking some of the CaCl out not covering the top of the rim. It is just a thought, not sure why it would have affected only a portion of the rim.

Air?

James K0UA

 

[brokenknee]

Air?

James K0UA

That is my thought, not sure if any damage would have been done had it not leaked out and allowed air to hit the top portion of the rim. I should have dealt with it this winter, but then hind site is always 20/20.

 

[Bird]

A friend of mine bought a tractor that was about 25 years old. The tractor came from Minnesota. He had no idea it had calcium chloride in the rear tires until he punched a pencil sized hole in one mowing the borrow ditch near my house. So he drove up to my shop door with that stuff still running out. It was two years before any grass came back where it leaked onto the grass. And a year or so later, he had to buy two new wheels and they weren't cheap for that big Oliver.

I guess it would take a good bit of time before the corrosion gets you, but there's just no way in the world I'd allow that stuff in one of my tires.

 

[powerpace]

Back in the Sixty's my Uncle managed an 800 acre row crop farm and the owner had a 4000 acre ranch that shared the equipment. Almost all of the tractors had CC and I don't remember any problems with rust or rim failure. These were tractors that had a near complete rebuild every three years. I believe there was 12 wheeled tractors and pickers. Most tire problems were wear and tear from corn stalks and contracted fields with metal junk in them.

 

[whistlepig]

It takes decades for calcium chloride to eat a rim. But when the rim finally does go it's just not a little pinhole. Hunks the size of golf balls start popping through the rim.

 

[Smallplot]

I can attest to the CC eating through rims. We have a 1970's 1066 International and the CC has about eaten through both rims. This tractor has been shedded 99% of it's downtime life. First place to usually begin to get weak is around the valve stems. It is corrosive, takes a while to eat through, and is unfriendly to environment.

Adding weight is good and Rim Guard, aka beet juice, weighs almost as much per gallon as CC without the corrosion problem.