Tires Rimguard Ballast in Rear Tires

[rgevans871]

I have a L3010 tractor with 420/70-24 rear tires. I'm considering loading these tires with Rimguard Liquid ballast which will add about 600 lbs. to each tire to give me better traction when plowing snow with a rear blade. I have a 1/2 mile driveway. I'm a little hestitant to do this as I'm concerned about whether this extra weight will cause the tires to leave tread marks when mowing my lawn which is what I primarily use the tractor for in the growing season. Currently the only time I leave any tread marks is when I run across a wet spot or I turn too quickly and the front tires leave marks. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone with loaded tires using the tractor for lawn mowing on what their experience has been. I'm selecting loading the tires over chains because I have
ashphalt pavement at one end of the driveway around the house and out buildings which I don't want to mark up in addition to the cost of adding wheel spacers to accomodate the chains.

Ron.

 

[Mike_VT]

what kind of tires do you have? I have r4s on a L4740 which are loaded with rimguard and I use chains for the winter. The chains I use are not aggresive the are standard h bar without any ice picks. Traction is greatly impoved, and this is on a paved driveway. No scaring and minimal chain marks.

I do not put this tractor in the grass to mow, but when I need to go over the lawn (not too often) depending on how moist it might be there are sometimes impressions left where the front and rear tires have gone.

What do you do currently for ballast? Doesn't it get tippy with loader work? I would go for the ballast and try not aggressive chains.

 

[wny770]

I have a NH T1510 w/ turf tires. I added rim guard to the rears, added 330 lbs. to each tire. I can not tell any difference, but 600 lbs??? Wheel weights maybe?

 

[Stonehaller]

I have 17.5x24 R4 tires on my DX45 filled with beet juice and unless the ground is pretty dry, they do leave impressions in the lawn. I plow snow with a back blade as well and the loaded tires are a big help, but I would not want to use these for mowing the lawn.

 

[UWAdventurer]

I have an L3400 with R4 tires filled with Rimguard. I have a FEL on all the time and either a bush hog, or back hoe, installed all the time when I use it on my lawn. I have not had too much of a problem leaving tracks unless the ground is too wet, so I try to wait a day or two after it rains. I try not to run it on what I consider the better parts of my lawn, such as right in the front yard. My wife cuts the better parts of the yard with her BX 1860. I am in central Indiana and we have a lot of clay here. My previous tractor, an L2950 had AG tires (unloaded)and it was not too bad either. Hope this helps.

 

[moored4]

Why don't you fill your tires with just plain water and some rv antifreeze for the winter snow use and then drain them when you are doing the yard work! :thumbsup: The difference in weight from rim guard and just water should not be that much!

 

[Bota Bum]

I picked up a little BX2360 this past spring, loaded the 26x12x12 tire with rim guard. Not sure of the added weight. I do get wheel marks in the yard. But, this past summer here in the NE has been the wettest on record, ever. I'm not happy with the looks of my yard, I am hoping next year is normal and a dryer yard will improve the looks of a fresh mowed lawn. If I had to do it over I would make a weight for 3 point for loader work and drop it for mowing. But your plowing from the back so maybe that is not an option.

The Rim Guard has a higher viscosity, thus denser, than water and antifreeze. My dealer charged me $150 to fill the back tires. I thought this was high. Comments?

 

[Herkypilot]

Well I have much bigger tires on an MX5100 and I just received a quote of $425 to fill the rear tires. I believe 80% fill works out to about 11-12 gal/tire. Not sure about the smaller ones. I received a quote a while back for $300 if I had done it at the time of purchase.

HP

 

[rgevans871]

HerkyPilot you might want to check around on the price to fill your rear tires. My tires take 58 gallons per tire and I was quoted $400 for both tires.

Ron.

 

[RaydaKub]

I picked up a little BX2360 this past spring, loaded the 26x12x12 tire with rim guard.
My dealer charged me $150 to fill the back tires. I thought this was high. Comments?

I filled mine with washer fluid. I used 10 gallons in each tire plus 1 1/2 gallons of water. So he put about 23 gallons in your tractor. If you figure just the materials, that's about $6.52 per tire, but how long did it take him? I just used a gravity flow off a 6 foot stepladder using my dehumidifier tank. Took me about 2 1/2 hours. Using a pump like a dealer is likely to do would cut that time down, but I bet it's still 45 minutes per tire (that's a small opening and you have to stop and bleed the air out). $3 times 23 gallons is $69 for material. Then you have 90 minutes of labor for $70 plus $11 tax.