4320 do I load the tires or not

[JYD]

Hi All,

I have ordered a new 4320, this is my first tractor so am very exited.

My questions is should I load the tires or not. My dealer says I should wait so see how the traction is and then they can load later. It seems like most of you have the tires loaded.

I have 400cx 72in bucket that I will use to hall gravel to start, and have also purchased a graaple that I will use clean up the sash after my proprety is logged. property is hillly. I also have mx6 cutting deck, but more than likely will remove it when using the fel.

What is the upside or downside of loading the tires or not loading them?

Please let me know your thoughts

JYD

 

[Oleozz]

Your tractor will weigh about 3700 lbs. Loaded tires will give you about 1,000 extra pounds of weight. It is a simple and inexpensive way (I paid $330 to have my tires filled with Rim Guard) to add weight to a tractor and in your case for the lifting (and traction) that you will be doing the weight is a plus. The drawback is if you have a flat on the loaded tires you will most likely lose the fluid.

 

[coolhl7]

hilly land with loader and grapple use....
I bet 90% here will say load the back tires.
I always keep some weight on the hitch for loader work and my tires are loaded. I always keep the bush hog (900+lbs) or tiller on.
you could move down to Florida and load your tires with tap water like we all do down here.
I am a newbie also and it would scare me to use a loader and/or grapple without rear ballast and loaded rear tires esp anywhere near a hill or even a small depression or gulley.

 

[wippster]

I highly recommend loading the tires on any unit with a loader! I have loaded rears on my 3520 and can still float the rear tires with out an attachment on using the loader.
I have loaded r4 and it works great for mowing etc. too but loaded r1 might be a bit aggressive on the lawn.

 

[wolc123]

Most dealers will load the tires on loader tractors for no charge and I strongly suggest you get them loaded before taking delivery. They do this because loaded tires greatly increase stability with the loader which reduces accidents and corresponding lawsuits (they really are not giving you something for nothing). If you decide later that you want them loaded it will cost you around $400. If you are going to use the tractor on your lawn, it will cause a little more turf damage with the tires loaded, but as long as they are R4's, it won't be too bad. If you are not planning to use the tractor on the lawn, get loaded R1's for greatly improved traction. Having the rear tires loaded will let you operate the loader with nothing on the 3pt hitch which is an asset in tight quarters.

 

[art]

Not for nothing but loading tires is old school! Add rear weights to the wheels I believe you can add three sets which would be close to 700 lbs. This will work well for most all but the heaviest needs for loader work or pulling. The solutions if you do have a leak you loose it!!!! Then you have to pay for it again!!!!! Nobody gives it away! Your paying for it some where in the purchase of the tractor. Four hundred dollars is the going rate for compacts of your size.
The real truth of it is the liquid in the tires hurts your traction! The liquid slows the tires flexing so it doesn't maintain good ground contact while moving. This reduces traction as well as wears out tires faster!
Most tractors while using the loader heavily will add some three type of ballast to the rear. While doing loader work a box scraper is an excellent tool to supply all the ballast that is needed when used with the rear weights.
Many of the manufacturers offer three point hitch ballast boxes or you might attempt to build one out of an old drum and fill it.
Good performance can be measured in many different ways depending on your needs. With the constant weight kept lighter it also means less fuel consumption and longer drive train life from less stress from having to move the extra weight. Watch your air pressure in your tires to maximize your performance.

 

[jcmseven]

There is a lot of truth to Art's statement. Loading the tires is not all good. On my 3720 it really helps with loader stability, but I can still easily lift a rear wheel when loadering heavy front things around. I feel more weight is better, so really on a 3000 series machine, loading and weights would be nice, especially if one cannot run a heavy implement on the back, such as BB, all the time. I have owned a 4520 and it is heavy enough anyway that loading is likely not mandatory, but still recommended. Our local dealer will load rear tires for $50.00 per tire, or free if tractor purchased from him. On my 4520 my rears AND fronts were loaded and it really pulled great with that combo. I could also do most loader work without any additional ballast on back, handy when in tight spots. I would say all in all loading is best, but you could also go the wheel weight route. Theoretically, you can take them off and put them on when needed, but I personally know of no one that actually does that because it is so annoying to do so.

John M

 

[Z-Michigan]

Not for nothing but loading tires is old school! Add rear weights to the wheels I believe you can add three sets which would be close to 700 lbs. This will work well for most all but the heaviest needs for loader work or pulling. ... The real truth of it is the liquid in the tires hurts your traction! The liquid slows the tires flexing so it doesn't maintain good ground contact while moving. This reduces traction as well as wears out tires faster!

I was against getting my tires loaded, but two different dealers (one green, one orange) both told me it was the best idea by far, even after I asked about ballast boxes and wheel weights. Both of them told me wheel weights are a real pain and you're at great risk of crushing or even losing fingers if you try to put them on and off yourself. That didn't sound like any fun to me. I have loaded rears and I don't ever feel the rear end getting light.

The comment about losing money if your tires leak is quite true - fluid in tires is not all good.

Art, where are you getting this idea of fluid hurting traction and wearing tires faster? Is this coming from an engineer or tire mechanic? I've never heard of such a thing and intuitively it doesn't make sense. Tractor tires don't flex much, and in most low traction situations (loose dirt, mud, sand) the tire is going to be maintaining its shape while it conforms the ground around it. Quite different from car/motorcycle tires where the tire carcass is fairly flexible and the road surface is totally solid.

 

[art]

It was done by Case-IH and with two identical model tractors identiacally ballasted in the beginning with cast with a 13 shank deep till machine behind them, they had a VHS on it. Both tractors started out the same in cast weights and they were measured going across a field, I can't remember the distance but it wasn't to far,I believe it was in the mid-west in a combined corn field. They changed the ballasting on only one tractor leaving the one the same, runs were made many different ways as well as air pressures and even took the cast weight off and added the liquid. When they did that it hindered the tractor more then being one thousand lbs light! These test comparisons were done on there magnum series tractors that normally weigh in at 20,000lbs and I know it's different then many applications here on this board. We've put this info to work here and it has given us good demo's against every other make as well as other dealers with the same make the tractors feel more aggressive on the throttle. They ran the tests many different ways and it was an eye opener as I thought and preached that ballast is ballast, but it certainly isn't. I set up tractor's totally different and I've never been asked to load a tire after I set them up. I do make the offer as we can do it quite easily with either calcium or Rim Gaurd. When talking to people about the difference that may own nearly like tractors that have one with liquid and one with cast it has been refered to a cat going across a field to an elephant!
On the tire wear we've seen tractors going from two thousand hours with calcium to four thousand hours and still counting with cast! We had one farmer that didn't roll his main tires to the dual position until twenty seven hundred hours!! That's his work main horse on a dairy farm!! The farmers are loving it!!!!!

 

[JerryG]

I don't know if Firestone still has it on their site or not since they changed a lot of it a year of so ago, but they had information similar to what Art is referring to almost exactly.