Discovered CaCl a little too late... what now?

[cnice37]

I bought my tractor a bit over a year ago (used). I don't know how I missed this but finally realized a couple months back that the rear tires are filled.

Unfortunately, this realization came after noticing one of the rear tires with significant rim rot all along the outer exterior edge. I thought hmmmm, odd, not good, and then pressed on the valve and sure enough - Squirt! I really wish the previous owner had told me this, or that I was educated enough at the time to ask.

So, I obviously need to drain these tires.
Next, remove the wheel, break the beads and clean up the rims to hopefully salvage.
Reseat, and probably look for someone to fill with Rimguard.

I've never dealt with tires before on really any level aside from putting in air, changing the, rotating them. I'm fairly handy but have no experience in this area.

Is this something I could tackle with the help of my TBN friends?
If I find a pro - who? Any tire guy? Please don't say dealer...

Finally, where can I get Rimguard in Southeastern Mass?

 

[High Compression]

You have to call RimGuard at (866) 792-3700. Ask them to put you in touch with the closest dealer. My dealer does it mobile. They will come out to my shop and fill the tires. I love it. I have had it in 3 of my Kubota's. I have "man handled" my loaded tires before, but you have to be very careful. It can be quite dangerous and if it falls over, you may never get it back up. If you find a RimGuard dealer close, I would see what they would charge to dismount your tires, clean up your wheels, re-mount and fill with RG. I bet it wouldn't be worth your time to try it yourself. My tire guy might charge $75, if I buy the RG. I'm not made of money, but I'd have to save way more than that to wrestle those tires.

 

[Elcid76]

Take the wheel and tire off, bring it to a welder to fix. I actually repaired on myself one an old D17 over 20 years ago and I am NOT a "decent welder..." With todays MIG tools, the repair is easy. The BIG thing is NEVER try to weld with the tire on the wheel! You probably should eventually do both sides and install tubes. Rimguard is expensive. I put it in my "new" L3240 several years ago without tubes. It was about 500 bucks done on my property by a tire service company. I figured 500 was a good deal since they had to travel over 50 miles to do the job, and they sure made it look easy....
After you fix the rim and paint it, you should be fine for another 20 years even if you use CaCl and tubes...

 

[BlacknTan]

They've been using Calcium Chloride it tractor tires since Abe shot the goat. If it's done properly, it's an effective way to load tires.

 

[Soundguy]

yup.

depending ont eh damage to the rim it may be fixable.. BTDt.. if it ain't.. rims are usually easy to come by.

use some line/hose to drain the cacl into a bbl..

 

[Mechanos]

...Rimguard is expensive...

I keep seeing this over and over... but I disagree. I was looking to fill my rears and did not want to go the WW fluid route. Checked the price of anti-freeze (both varieties)... now that stuff is expensive! Ended up getting RimGaurd installed in my tires for $2.25/gal. I couldn't beat that price anyhwere for just the materials.

 

[MHarryE]

Are your rims really rusted to the point of being destroyed? There are numerous posts on this site regarding the dangers of CaCl fill, the necessity of tubes, etc., but the fact is that CaCl fill in tubeless tires is common. All of the vibratory compactors 11 metric ton and larger you see on construction sites have CaCl filled ag tires, usually 23.1 x 26 for the most common size, R-1 for padded drum, R-3 for smooth drum. Per tire and rim manufacturers, CaCl fill is not a rim problem because there is only a limited oxygen supply. Rust is iron oxide - it needs oxygen. Once the oxygen is depleted oxidation stops. Leaks of course will be a problem, especially a puncture that sprays the machine. However I have a neighbor who was really upset to find that the previous owner of his tractor had filled the tires with what he described as "some sticky juice that sprayed the machine when he cut a tire and he didn't ever think he was going to get it clean". Sure I would prefer not to have liquid filled tires at all but I lived with them for the last 20 years of my career before I retired in 2009 and I only remember 2 complaints. One was from Australian customs when they had an inspector get sprayed when he checked a tire for drug smuggling. They kept him a hospital until we supplied him a MSDS for, well, basically salt water which is of course an irritant. The other was from a third world dealer who after selling the machines for several years suddenly discovered the CaCl fill in tires. He accused us of ripping off customers using salt water to get advertised weight. We had him check any competitor which he did and asked why we all did it. I explained it puts the weight where we need it without compromising things like ground clearance, service access, or any of those bad things. Now having said that I have seen a tractor at auction that had one entire rim rusted out because of a leaking tube that went unrepaired so continuous fresh air with CaCl = disaster. I have an old Allis-Chalmers B out front that has had CaCl for at least 55 years (that was when dad took it in on trade and never resold it) and has no sign of rim rust.

 

[cnice37]

The rim definitely looks salvageable to me. However, it is now noticeable and I want to act soon while the rim is more than likely still good enough.

I'm fine with running CaCl if the costs benefits make it clear. Seeing as how I want to repair the rusting rim now, it only makes sense to price out Rimguard and compare to CaCl & tubes.

Keep in mind I'm running a B2100, so tires/ wheels can be manhandled and I'm looking at a limited amount to fill the tires.

Thank you all for the advice. I'll have to tackle this at the end of summer.