Ballast Say Goodbye to Water in Tires?

[Jim Nelson]

I'm in San Diego county and am on my 3rd & 4th tractors with water in rears No problems. Go for it and save the $$ for attachments.

 

[arrow]

CaCl, the newest thing?

I believe it is in reference to needing a tube or not when running calcium. Some believe that a calcium filled tire above the rim provides a "guard" for air infiltration and as a result, rim stays rust free. I ran calcium in tubes for 28 years. The largest chance of rust appears to be a leaking valve stem where a bit of fluid can catch between the tube and rim and with plenty of air to the area, corrosiveness takes hold. I did have a dime size hole n my rim but welding fixed that up.

 

[DT86]

I believe it is in reference to needing a tube or not when running calcium.

Oh ok. I miss understood.

 

[MHarryE]

The vibratory compactors you see on construction sites - large drum in the front, diamond tread tires (R-3) in the rear, all run CaCl & water with tubeless tires and no rim protection. Covering the rim completely doesn't matter- there is too little free oxygen to create more than a rust scale if the paint on the rim is chipped.turned out to be better than tube type because tires under high torque load tend to slip on the rim and damage the stem. That salt water around the rim gets all the O2 it wants and the rim rusts away. But those are all large tires and take a lot of ballast. CaCl is relatively cheap and makes the most dense solution which is what is needed in a compactors. People praise beet juice but if you cut a tire and spray the tractor, it is tough to clean (not that CaCl won't do worse). Water with antifreeze to suit your weather is probably the best. None of our tractors have any fluid ballast except our Allis-Chalmers B and Farmall M both of which have CaCl, the ballast of the old days, and have no problem. They have not run for years - yard ornaments but the tires are still full. The Allis still is running the original tires even though it is over 60 years old.

 

[oosik]

Hmmmm. I ran CaCl in my tractor tires tubeless & tubed. I never noticed that much corrosion/rust to the inside of the rims. HOWEVER, what the CaCL did to the valve stem and associated parts was another story. The calcium chloride, brass valve stem and steel parts did not mix well at all. I had to install new stems every year - without fail. I would notice rusty salt water starting to leak past the stem cap and that would mean the innards were rusted and no longer held air or fluid. It was a da*n mess, to say the least.

So, if you want to put something in your rear tires - I'd recommend anything other than CaCl. I'd go dry rather than CaCl.

I use Rimguard but that's a little overboard for your location. I would, however, put some type of corrosion inhibitor in the water just to be on the safe side.

 

[Soundguy]

price wise. water and some PG af gives you weight, corrosion resistance, some freeze protection, and reduced toxcicity.

win-win.. etc.

 

[davrow]

PG af

PG af = Pretty Good anti-freeze? <grin>

Welcome to the site, 7000, from another San Diegan.

What did you get, and where?

 

[Mud Mechanik]

I use plain ole water and have never had a rust problem, south MS does not have to worry much about freezing weather.

 

[oosik]

Well, I didn't want to say anything either, but I was guessing' on that "PG af". Glad you cleared that up, davrow.

 

[Soundguy]

2 common types of AF formulations throughout the years guys. EG and PG eg is toxic.. PG is in things like toothpaste...

ethylene glycol.. propylene glycol.. etc.

PG is 'generaly considered safe to eat' etc...

RV holding tank AF's are PG type. etc...