Ballast Help on Filling Tires

[JohnnyTractor]

I'm going to get my tires filled, and would like some advice. First the background:

The dealer delivered my 2305 without the MMM that I had purchased - so I could use it to move some dirt and stone right away. As they didn't have the kit for the deck, they offered to pick up the tractor and install the MMM at a later date.

While it's at the shop, I've asked them about having the tires filled for ballast. They said that they hire out a mobile service who comes to the dealership and does the work onsite. Cost is about $100 per tire, however if I wanted to save a couple of dollars I could take the tires directly to the service company.

They could not tell me what the fill was made of. In the owner's manual, JD recommends water and calcium choride as a 'safe, economical' filler.

Here's the questions:
1. Is $100 per tire reasonable fee for this work?
2. Is calcium choloride the right filler?

Thanks.

 

[RoyJackson]

In my humble opinion:

Here's the questions:
1. Is $100 per tire reasonable fee for this work?
Yep...you can do it cheaper, but the price sounds OK.

2. Is calcium choloride the right filler?
That's pretty corrosive, but there's a heck of a lot of old tractors with it in the rear tires. If you get a leaking valve stem or puncture in a side wall, it could be a mess.
Mine have windshield washer fluid. Prety cheap, but not as heavy as CaCl.

 

[tawilson]

My dealer started using some kind of citrus solution this year.

 

[JohnnyTractor]

I've done a little research on CC, and found this on the web:

Moist calcium chloride and concentrated solutions can corrode steel. When exposed to the atmosphere, calcium chloride will absorb water and form a solution. Containers of this material may be hazardous when empty since they retain product residues (dust, solids); observe all warnings and precautions listed for the product

Do they put this fluid in a tube, or is it filled directly in the tire, touching the wheel? Obviously if this is true that it corodes steel, that's a concern.

 

[woodchuckie]

Lots of people here do it theirself so all it cost is the price of the adapter for your water hose and the cost and in my case in central Alabama, of one gallon of anti-freeze. There has been lots of discussion about this. Do a search for filled tires and you should find something.

 

[MadReferee]

See if your dealer can get Rim Guard installed. It is a beet juice derivative. Environmentally safe and heavier than WW fluid or calcium chloride.

 

[JohnnyTractor]

I did a search and found a great thread here on the subject. I'm going to do it myself using the instructions found here on the TBN forum.

Thanks to everyone for all of the good advice.

 

[Holzster]

Someone else can give more details - but what about the hard foam in the tires?

 

[jgh]

20051125

Few seem warm to the suggestion on here but I have used wheel wts instead of liquid ballast in my NH TN90F rears (16.9x28). If you read the Firestone and Goodyear Ag tire manuals (see their www sites) you'll find they recommend wts over filling of any type for various reasons.

See my photos (shop built, using barbell wts) :

Wheel Wts NH TN90F

There are threads on hear about it, too, mine and others, recently.

Worth what you're paying, only /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Jim