A question about tire weight or tire loading

[James74]

We have 60 acres of land with the majority of it being fairly steep hills. We will be using a FEL on a Kubota L5030 as well as a 7 foot blade. We will also be dragging tree tops out of the woods. My question is what is the best way to go regarding weighting tires? One dealer really leans toward wheel weights, the other leans toward anti-freeze in the wheel. What are the pros and cons to each method, what has worked and not worked for you in the past? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
James

 

[JerryG]

This is a real preference kind of thing.
I like weights the best. The reasons are:
1) can be removed by you at home
2) makes handling the tire assembly easier if you have a flat.
3) don't have to worry about the fluid spilling if you have a flat ($)
4) it doesn't ever need to be replaced like flat spilled fluid ($)
5) don't have to pay to have added or removed at tire changes or flats
6) some weights can be transfered from one tractor to another
such as these

 

[Shimon]

Interesting post. Glad I saw this as I am about to purchase an L3400 and was going to get the tires filled but now that I look at it weights may be a better option. What do weights usually cost? Ballpark figure.

 

[JerryG]

It has been about 5 years since I look at prices. Back then, all of them that I looked at were between $600 and $1100. That is the reason that I made mine .
I have about $350 in them. I was between welders and had to have someone else make the wheel attachment. The 50 lb weights were bought at Wal-Mart.

 

[John_Mc]

Since I planned on never removing the weight, I had my rear tires filled. I was looking for Rim Guard (non-toxic, non-corrosive, made from juice of sugar beets), but no one had it in my area at the time. My dealer now carries it... in part due to my inquiries on the subject. Never had a flat in about 400 hours of use on my R4 tires... in woods, buckthorn, sharp rocks, etc. Yes, if I do I'll have some extra expense, but I've had no reason to regret the decision so far.

John Mc

 

[Chipperman]

John_Mc
I agree with you and I would suggest rimgard as well. I could be wrong but I do not believe you cannot get any where near the weight with most wheel weights as you can by filling them.
Happy Tractoring
Chipperman /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[rocketman128]

John MC

How much did the RIm Guard cost? Did you do both the front and backs?

Tx,

Bob

 

[Varmintmist]

I filled with windshield washer fluid. Cost about 110 bucks if you figure in the fluid adapter. Added about 740 lbs.

Critters wont get killed if I spring a leak, and I will be out 45.00.

 

[John_Mc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
How much did the RIm Guard cost? Did you do both the front and backs?)</font>

It's been a few years since I looked at it, and it was not available in my area when I was filling, so I didn't end up with it. Best bet for current pricing is to contact some Ag tire guys in your area to see who carries it, or contact the Rim Guard folks directly.

John Mc

 

[ToJo]

Around here, dealers sell methanol for about $4 per gallon for loading tires. My Kubota L3400 needs 2 gallons in each tire. Supposed to keep them from freezing and is probably more enviormentally friendly than ethylene glycol and much cheaper than windshield washer fluid (washer fluid is nothing more than methanol and water which costs a dollar per gallon)

 

[wushaw]

That would be the cheapest solution. Good move /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Wall]

I have an L 4330 HST / 853 FEL - R4 tires and a Gannon box scraper that weighs 1100 lbs. I am using "Rim Guard " plus four 50lb wheel weights two per rear tire. A general rule is you want 120lbs per engine HP with 40/60 weight split. A lot depends on the application. For mine I need both.

 

[jgh]

20051003

Jerry, can you tell me more about the Walmart wts you show in the pictures? I'd like to add wheel wts to my TN90F New Holland with 16.9x28 rear tires. It has 3 holes already in each hub that I could tie into. And I'm not sure NH even sells rear weights for this one (not in my parts book, anyway), though I did write to Neil Messick in case his parts folks have access to something.

My machine has a bracket in front for suitcase wts but my FEL (Alo/Quicke 920) gives me a pretty good front wt, though it's physical size visually overwhelms my very compact but 80 HP tractor.

I've overturned once already so I am nervous on the slopes of our beautifully rolling 253 acres. Hay ain't worth a repeat, so I will dish out my wheels a bit from their current 72 inches and add the weight.

BTW I noted someone commented that weights could not add as much wt as fluid inside the tires. According to the chart on Goodyear's website, I can add about 550# per tire using antifreeze and water. I'll bet it's possible to add close to that much using external wts, don't you think?

And one other consideration--RimGuard for my tires for use with fluid filling would cost me about $450-500! If I keep 'em dry, there are many cheaper alternatives to puncture protection. Just something to consider.

Thanks for any other suggestions about adding wheel weights, homebuilt or otherwise,

Jim

 

[John_Mc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Around here, dealers sell methanol for about $4 per gallon for loading tires. ... Supposed to keep them from freezing and is probably more enviormentally friendly than ethylene glycol and much cheaper than windshield washer fluid))</font>

Methanol/Water mix is certainly less expensive than Calcium Chloride or Rim Guard. Methanol is not what I would consider a "non-hazardous" substance, however.

The disadvantages of methanol/water are
1) It weighs less than Rim Guard or Calcium Chloride (methanol/water is about 8 lbs per gallon if I recall correctly. CaCl and Rim Guard run around 11 lbs/gallon... almost 40% more weight per gallon)
2) Some shops will not work on tires which they know to contain Methanol (not sure what the reason is... one shop said something about their insurance company not wanting them dealing with tires containing it)

If your local tires guys don't have a problem (or if you can handle tire problems yourself), and you don't need the extra weight, methanol/water can be a good alternative.

John Mc

 

[454shooter]

I called a local tire shop regarding methanol and they replied that they would not put it in tires as it is explosive. Regardless of that, can anyone tell me the methanol to water ratio that would be required for say 20 below?
Also, anyone have a line on the cheapest location to obtain methanol? I am told it is used to stop natural gas wells from freezing also.

Thanks Shooter