Ballast How do I find out what liquid ballast my tires are filled with?

[Tacosteelersman1]

I bought a used John Deere 855, the tires are loaded with liquid. Is there a way to find out what liquid the tires are filled with? The PO did not know what they had in them because they were filled when he got the machine. Is there compatibility issues with calcium and or other liquids? I want to check the liquid levels and top them off as needed to get a 75% liquid fill. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Looking4new]

Smell the liquid, first. Rim Guard will smell like beets. It is made out of beet juice. If it doesn't smell like beets then it is probably Calcium Chloride and the best way to check that is IF you have a bit of a cut on your finger, the calcium in the cut will sting like ****.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Remove a bit of it into a clear jar. Beet juice will be black and sticky, windshield washer fluid should be slightly blue with an alcohol smell while calcium chloride will be salty tasting and most likely a little milky in appearance

 

[Gary Fowler]

I bought a used John Deere 855, the tires are loaded with liquid. Is there a way to find out what liquid the tires are filled with? The PO did not know what they had in them because they were filled when he got the machine. Is there compatibility issues with calcium and or other liquids? I want to check the liquid levels and top them off as needed to get a 75% liquid fill. Any help would be appreciated.

Checking the liquid level to make 75% is easy, just put the valve stem at top dead center. Liquid level should be at that point, if not then rotate the tire stem downward till you get liquid coming out.
Water is compatible with just about anything, so if you cant determine what you have in the tire and it is just needing a few gallons, you could likely just use plain tap water to fill.

 

[Tacosteelersman1]

Thanks for the replys, I checked the liquid for an odor this morning, no beet smell. I am thinking it is calcium filled I will confirm that when I get some time to work outside, cause I get cuts on a regular basis ha. It is a clearish liquid.
My 855 has 33x12.50-15s and they hold 22 gallons each.
How much water is too much to mix in? Here in northern PA we can see short stunts of negative temps in the winter.

 

[Looking4new]

Windshield washer juice and water will sting, too. It will have the alcohol smell.
Is there any rust showing up on the outside of the rim? That would be a good indicator of Calc.

 

[Tacosteelersman1]

The corrosion issue is the main reason I wanted to top them off above the rim. I see no signs of corrosion on the exterior of the rims.

 

[oosik]

Easy method of determining if its CaCl. Wet the tip of your finger - CaCl tastes salty. However, its difficult to believe no visible corrosion and you are running CaCl - but its possible, I guess.

 

[hhsco]

I'm curious about the compatibility issue as well- could you top off CaCl filled tires with windshield washer fluid? I can't see how the combination would produce any particularly unfortunate reaction but I bet somebody on here knows for sure. It's below freezing forever here and I don't have a barrel of calcium chloride sitting around and don't want to dilute with tap water.

 

[Looking4new]

I'm curious about the compatibility issue as well- could you top off CaCl filled tires with windshield washer fluid? I can't see how the combination would produce any particularly unfortunate reaction but I bet somebody on here knows for sure. It's below freezing forever here and I don't have a barrel of calcium chloride sitting around and don't want to dilute with tap water.

Calc will freeze at -23F