To fill or not to fill

[tman1020]

Never did fill the back tires on the CT 225. Just broke 100 hours. At about 10 hours had decided the beat juice was the thing to use after tons of research. But I have a Cab on which weighs about 400 pounds and as long as I have something somewhat heavy on the rear have not had much problem with traction or rear lifting. Then was concerned might be pushing my limits with my current trailer weight capacity. Have decided that I will be getting a new trailer in the spring it will have a larger capacity so have that solved but was still concerned about possible ground compaction. I do think most of the compaction comes from front tires when there's a load in the bucket not the back so here's my question. Have any of you used your tractor with and without the rear tires filled? And if so what do you recommend. I understand that it would probably feel more firmly planted. But other than that did you notice any substantial improvement in performance.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Ho man you just opened up an endless can of worms here. It will be interesting what people with experience have to say. I have my own views but I'll stay out of the discussion for now as I have never run a tractor with both filled and not filled tires.

 

[tman1020]

Let me just rephrase the question if I fill the tires I know it will be beat juice. I've already spent plenty of time trying to decide what's going to be the best for me and this is it. Did not mean to start a debate on that. Just trying to decide whether to even fill them at all or not. Thanks.

 

[arnoldziffel]

I think the prevailing wisdom is that any tractor with a FEL is safer, more efficient, has superior traction and is less susceptible to premature front end (steering parts, etc.) wear and tear if carefully selected counter weight is used.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

While my Mahindra 3215 is not your Bobcat, it is about the same size. I bought my 3215 to use as a clean up tractor and to be easily transported to be able to help out friends and family. The first week that I had it I was doing some clean up work at my brothers. I was really having to work the tractor to get a full bucket. Needless to say after going through the same sort of thing with my Mahindra 7520, it was easy to make the decision that the tires simply need to be filled to have the right amount of traction to be able to get the most out of the machine. Filled the tires 2 weeks after a picked up the tractor, instantly new that I had made the right decision to fill the tires. Just like the 7520, it was like operating a different machine with much better capabilities.

I highly recommend filling tires with about any tractor that is going to be doing dirt work of any kind.

Just my :2cents:

 

[HEC]

I argree with the above statement , if you are going to use a front end loader you need rear weight of some kind , whether it be permanent like filled tires or put on your 3 pt. hitch which you can take off when not needed . I like filled tires as the weight is in the tires not on your tractor .

 

[tman1020]

Arnoldzillel, what counterweight do you use and are your tires filled on your CT? And if you filled them did you notice a sizable difference in performance before or after.


And thanks for that Mt view

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Something else about filled tires, you have that weight working for you while you are using , say a box blade vs simply having weight on the 3pt for loader use.

Each to there own, and there are positives and negatives to just about everything. A person should consider these things when making their decision.

 

[Deerherd]

I had my cab Kioti DK35 for a month before I had the tires filled. It worked well maintaining the drive and would pull a box blade fine to overflowing. With the beet juice it would overflow more before losing traction. Either way it had enough traction to do the job if I was paying attention.

For the first month I had the tractor I didn't lift anything on the FEL without something on the 3-pt, usually a rotary cutter. It worked fine. After the tires were loaded I never really tried to see what I could lift before the rear came up.

The one area there was noticeable improvement was in traction. Great in the harder pack areas but just dug deeper, faster in the wet ones. (I did plow one winter with the filled R4 tires and ithey worked very well, no chains needed.)

On my newer, slightly larger tractor I went with R1's and they aren't filled. I do a lot of chisel plowing and discing and have all the traction I need. My problem is I have so much wet ground I probably should have duals.

I think in normal conditions you would see an improvement in traction and the FEL safety margin by loading the tires, especially as the tractor gets smaller. Or you could use wheel weights and a good attention to ballast weight and do OK also.

I guess the real question should be how has it worked for you the first 100 hours?

 

[arnoldziffel]

tman1020,

I have a Bobcat brand ballast box on my 3 point. I believe I have about 880 pounds in the box which I recall is Bobcat's recommendation for my CT.

The ballast box also came with suitcase weights should I need more weight. So far I haven't felt the need to use them.

My tires are not filled.

 

[tman1020]

Using the loader today with the box blade on the back I would run out of power on the hydrostat before I ran out of traction. But it was nice and dry

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Using the loader today with the box blade on the back I would run out of power on the hydrostat before I ran out of traction. But it was nice and dry

Were you in low range?

 

[tman1020]

Yes. I did not use diff lock either.
I'm surprised at how well this tractor grabs traction. It is my first hydro and first r 4 tires. I like it a lot but the hydro relief did take some getting used to. All my gear drives would just keep digging when I would scoop in to a pile. They all had aggs and were lighter with filled tires. This is why I was asking others about difference between filled and unfilled. I'm just not sure.

Isn't it crazy just how much time we (mostly me) can spend thinking or debating on something so trivial. I glad this site is here to get others opinions. I do enjoy trying to find the best set up for what I have. Thanks.

 

[SSdoxie]

I ran the first 40+ hrs. without filling then trying to decide if I wanted filled tires I bought the fill adapter at TSC and filled with water. Within a week I drained the water and filled with anti-freeze mix and haven't looked back. Besides adding stability, the operation I found most improved is traction loading the bucket. Without fill it was necessary to use 4wd just trying to scope loose topsoil I had delivered. With filled rears I can load he bucket in loose soil in 2wd just as easily as it was in 4wd non-filled.

If you do fill the tires continue to use rear ballast on the 3 point when lifting heavy loads in the FEL. Loaded tires help keep rear on the ground but do nothing to offset the heavy load on front axle with FEL loaded close to capacity.

 

[tman1020]

Thanks to all for your input I appreciate it.

 

[MoPops]

Thank you tman for starting this thread. I've been postponing filling my tires, but after reading this, I will get it done.
If you fill with the beat juice, will you do it yourself?
Thx
Jeff

 

[arrow]

Thank you tman for starting this thread. I've been postponing filling my tires, but after reading this, I will get it done.
If you fill with the beat juice, will you do it yourself?
Thx
Jeff

If you ever find on how you can fill tires yourself with Beet juice please let us know. Last time I explored this, the cost of the stuff was so prohibitive that it could not be done. 1.(around here anyway) had to be a dealer and 2. Could not buy anything less than a 55 gallon drum of the stuff.
When I was trying tractors last year, I found the r4's to have much better grunt into a pile of dirt than the ags which broke traction sooner. These tires were also unfilled. Filled tires make a tractor a different tractor as far as traction. A loaded ballast box has the same effect. I mostly skid logs with mine so I needed to fill the tires without the encumbrance of something else on the 3 pt.

 

[tman1020]

I honestly still don't know if I will fill. I almost never loose traction. I was just thinking that it may be beneficial in snow or ice. If I do fill I will not do this myself. I have been quoted a price from a rim guard dealer that is about the same as buying wind washer fluid. Filling them with that stuff would not be fun it is supposed to smell very bad and be very sticky.

 

[MoPops]

I'm going to fill mine. I'll be checking prices this week. I haven't even taken step one yet. So, I'm assuming I won't be able to fill them myself after reading the last few posts. I'll post here what the cost is going to be. I did notice from their website that you have to call them to get a dealer location. That's interesting they don't have a dealer locator on the site. Sure keeps the "getting competitive quotes" under control.

 

[tman1020]

I can't remember the exact price I was quoted I just remember that I knew it would cost me over a dollar a gallon for windshield washer fluid and then I would still have to buy the pump and do it myself. And at the time I remember thinking that rim guard was not that much more and in my opinion worth the extra money for the extra weight. I will try to call and get a new quote and post the cost here soon.