Brand new tractor - should I load the tires myself?

[lostcreekranch]

If you get one of these, from Tractor Supply, you can bleed air, while filling, without removing hose.

Slime® Air/Water Adapter Kit with Bleeder Valve - Tractor Supply Co.

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[ctgoodman]

So how much is a gallon of rim guard? I too saw the $3 RV antifreeze at TSC today. I see the antifreeze is good down to -50. How much water could I add to it and have it at about -20. I need 72 gallons in each tire and still at $3/gal that adds up quick.

 

[4310]

If you have a Menards nearby you can get it even cheaper.

 

[arrow]

Got myself a brand new LS 3039 tractor with FEL. The tires are not loaded. (The old Ford 8N that it replaced had loaded tires)

Dealer wants $400 to load both rear tires with Rimguard.

Is this something I should attempt myself with the Gempler's attachment using washer fluid? Or is this a job better left to a pro. I'm just a little bit nervous as this is a brand new tractor and I don't want to mess anything up.

Have the dealer fill the tires with RG. Here is my thought process: 1. You are not going to save much money (maybe a hundred bucks) doing it yourself. After you buy the adapter, hoses, pump (cheap $25 Harbor Freight would do) , fluid and mixing containers, you're going to be pretty close to $400 if you cannot buy the fluid for around 3 bucks per gal. Don't forget; the guy is coming to your house to fill your tires so part of this expense involves trucking 2. RG will give you 30% more weight than windshield washer fluid so if each of your tires is taking 40 gallons (don't know just guessing) with water weighing about 8 lbs per gallon, your 320 lb tire becomes an over 400 lb tire or almost 200 lbs more weight for the tractor overall. Living in the N.E., you should fill the tires. You may want to consider tire chains for snow work as well later down the road.

 

[George2615]

Got myself a brand new LS 3039 tractor with FEL. The tires are not loaded. (The old Ford 8N that it replaced had loaded tires)

Dealer wants $400 to load both rear tires with Rimguard.

Is this something I should attempt myself with the Gempler's attachment using washer fluid? Or is this a job better left to a pro. I'm just a little bit nervous as this is a brand new tractor and I don't want to mess anything up.

I just did the rears on my XR3037HC. Same size tires (43x16-20). I used washer fluid and put 39 gallons in each. It's not a hard job to do. Mainly time consuming because you have to keep filling your supply barrel and watch it. Make sure you have a good pump. I used the larger pump that HF sells and it took me 7 hours to fill mine. I've heard from others that the pump you use with an electric drill works well. I did not have the Gemplers fill tool with automatic air bleed so had to stop quite often to burp the air out. My total cost was about $180.

 

[Tractorrr]

For $400 it sounds like the dealer is giving a pretty good price for 72 gallons per tire. If you put the RV antifreeze in you would be getting close to that price at $3 per gallon plus the price of a pump, and then it is going to be a lot of work to put the fluid in.

However, I just put in the RV antifreeze from TSC. I bought a Flotec portable/transfer utility pump FP5112 which is 1/2 HP. It did pretty good but was fairly expensive at $160. Probably could have gotten a cheaper one but wasn't sure how much pump to buy. The pump is rated at 6.1 gallons per minute at 5 ft. of lift. I also had previously gotten a couple short 3 ft. flexible garden hoses which were handy for this.

The entire process of setup, draining my tires of water which was previously in there, then filling tires which take 22 gallons per tire (only put in 14 gallons in each tire as there was some water still left in), and clean up took 3-4 hours and I didn't include the time to buy the fluid and equipment and time to go to the dump to empty RV antifreeze bottles. It is rewarding to put the fluid in but it is expensive and takes a lot of work. The RV antifreeze came in cases of 6 making it easier to handle. Some advantages of doing it for me would be: now having a pump which I can use for other purposes, having the knowledge to drain the tires if need be, and the ability to fill future tires.

If you do decide to do it I would not recommend the cheap drill pump. Would probably take way too long if it would even work at all. Plus you want a pump that's not gonna occupy your hands and make you hold a drill trigger for hours.

 

[k0ua]

The Drill pump I mentioned for $6 from Home Depot is junk, but it worked to fill my two tires on the L3400, about 2 hours or maybe a bit more, total for the 50 gallons total pumped.
Now keep in mind, don't put your bucket on the ground and pump uphill.. I put my bucket source fluid higher than the tire on a handy ledge wall.. I put in 3 gallons into the 5 gallon bucket and pumped that in then burped the tire. It only took a few minutes of drill time for each fill of the bucket, and the drill got a chance to cool a bit while I opened new jugs and poured it in, and burped the tire. I powered the drill pump with a cheap black and decker 1/4 inch hand drill about 30 years old.

If you don't have a handy ledge, put your bucket on a short step ladder or something to give your junky pump some help.

 

[lostcreekranch]

I just did the rears on my XR3037HC. Same size tires (43x16-20). I used washer fluid and put 39 gallons in each. It's not a hard job to do. Mainly time consuming because you have to keep filling your supply barrel and watch it. Make sure you have a good pump. I used the larger pump that HF sells and it took me 7 hours to fill mine. I've heard from others that the pump you use with an electric drill works well. I did not have the Gemplers fill tool with automatic air bleed so had to stop quite often to burp the air out. My total cost was about $180.

George;

Isn't 7 hours of your time worth something?

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[Citydude]

It seems like your getting all get hung up on a couple hundred bucks for the necessity of rear weight. Lots of us have. Reality is, it's an investment towards a stable, safe machine. I was uncomfortable doing it myself so I had it done at a tire dealer, which by the way, was half the cost of the dealer quote.

 

[boggen]

I just did the rears on my XR3037HC. Same size tires (43x16-20). I used washer fluid and put 39 gallons in each. It's not a hard job to do. Mainly time consuming because you have to keep filling your supply barrel and watch it. Make sure you have a good pump. I used the larger pump that HF sells and it took me 7 hours to fill mine. I've heard from others that the pump you use with an electric drill works well. I did not have the Gemplers fill tool with automatic air bleed so had to stop quite often to burp the air out. My total cost was about $180.

7 hours seems a bit extensive to me.

--wondering if you left valve core in, the tire nipple. and/or you didn't remove the bushing pipe on tire nipple to allow for more flow of fluid.
--wondering if you were burping way to much.

2 to 3 hours dealing with 2 tires. most of it was jacking around, trying to get everything ready, (jacks, hoses, etc...)