Filling tires question

[puckgrinder85]

Have a question on an alternate way to fill tires. Wouldn't it be easier to remove the wheel assembly from the tractor, lay it face down with the rim supported slightly by some blocks, pop the upper bead and dump your fluid of choice in with a predetermined amount you want and then re-inflate to get the bead on seated... I understand the weight of the fluid is going to lay on the tire and pull the upper bead away from the rim flange but if you don't prop the rim underneath that far off the ground, maybe a 2x4 or similar I don't see why it wouldn't be able to reseat. Any ideas? Has it been tried or done? Seems like it would be tons easier than filling it through the valve stem.

 

[whis]

then you have to pick it up and put it back on. I would use valve stem

 

[Brown Dog]

I wouldn't want fluid on my steel rims

 

[Forkie]

All I've ever done is fill through the stem, may take a bit longer but you are not demating and mating the wheel and breaking the bead. forkie

 

[puckgrinder85]

I wouldn't want fluid on my steel rims

You lost me there, what do you mean by that?

 

[Brown Dog]

I wouldn't want water in my "tubeless tires"

 

[oosik]

The "filling" part might be easier but what if you loose the lower bead seal?? How do you expect to re-inflate the tire?? My rear tires - tire & rim - weigh 265 -300 pounds dry. There is an added 750 pounds of Rimguard in each tire. I have no way - safely or otherwise - of raising this much weight and reattaching to the axle. I dismounted a filled rear tire on my previous tractor - much smaller rear tire - and almost got squashed under it when attempting to reattach.

I think you are heading down a path towards a big mess and possible accident. Take the time and fill it safely thru the valve stem.

 

[puckgrinder85]

Might be the way to go, the tires on our new tractor will be considerably larger and much much heavier with fluid in them.

 

[bumpyrider]

I wouldn't want water in my "tubeless tires"

Puckgrinder85, check out some more of the threads on filling tires, there's a lot of info out there on techniques and fill materials. Water is easy, but will corrode your rims unless you use tubes. A lot of people use antifreeze, but if you get a blowout you can create a possible environment issue. You also might check into Rimguard, mentioned by oosik. It's supposed to be a beet juice product, heavier than water, non-corrosive, and no environmental issue, but it's pricey. I don't have a distributor near me, so I don't any personal info on it.

 

[GolfAddict]

Many of the threads on here will describe the fill valve to get for your stem, then use a drill pump to pump fluid out of a bucket and into the tire, burp the air with the button on the fill valve, go back to pumping, etc., until filled to the 75%.

That was how I did it, and it was a bit of a pain and time consuming, but got it done. Shortly after that someone posted their method and I thought it was a great idea. They filled there sprayer with the fluid, hooked that to the stem and used the electric pump of the sprayer to pump it in. Still had to stop and burp the air every so often... Worked way better than those stupid cheap drill pumps.