Anonymous Poster
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- Sep 27, 2005
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Re: Adjusting liquid fill level.
<font color="blue">... but I've heard some say that filling too much above the centerline of the wheel raises the tractor's center of gravity. </font>
It's highly unlikely that ballast added to tires could raise the tractor's center of gravity. The center of gravity of the tractor is certainly above the tractor's axles. A totally filled tire would have its own center of gravity at the axle center... it could not raise the center of gravity of the tractor, unless the center of gravity was below the axle to begin with.
The net affect of filling the tires less than totally full will tend to reduce the center of gravity of the tractor/tire combination [more than a nearly full tire will]. But sloshing needs to be considered. Should a tractor with half-filled rear tires get into trouble, it is possible that the liquid in the bottom half of the tire could slosh up to the top half of the tire..with the net result being that, rather than helping to lower the center of gravity, the liquid actually raises the center of gravity of the tractor during the crisis...
I don't know if this is a real concern or not. I think I read somewhere that it was...or might be. Or maybe I just read that half-filled tires and sloshing can cause problems when running at higher speeds on roads...???
Anyway, I just filled my tires with the valve stem at 12 o'clock...seems to work just fine. There seems to still be enough air in there to give some cushion...
<font color="blue">... but I've heard some say that filling too much above the centerline of the wheel raises the tractor's center of gravity. </font>
It's highly unlikely that ballast added to tires could raise the tractor's center of gravity. The center of gravity of the tractor is certainly above the tractor's axles. A totally filled tire would have its own center of gravity at the axle center... it could not raise the center of gravity of the tractor, unless the center of gravity was below the axle to begin with.
The net affect of filling the tires less than totally full will tend to reduce the center of gravity of the tractor/tire combination [more than a nearly full tire will]. But sloshing needs to be considered. Should a tractor with half-filled rear tires get into trouble, it is possible that the liquid in the bottom half of the tire could slosh up to the top half of the tire..with the net result being that, rather than helping to lower the center of gravity, the liquid actually raises the center of gravity of the tractor during the crisis...
I don't know if this is a real concern or not. I think I read somewhere that it was...or might be. Or maybe I just read that half-filled tires and sloshing can cause problems when running at higher speeds on roads...???
Anyway, I just filled my tires with the valve stem at 12 o'clock...seems to work just fine. There seems to still be enough air in there to give some cushion...