Tires Ballasting tires with saline (not calcium chloride)

[Ford850]

Just curious if anyone has done a freezer test with a gallon of WWF? Seems easy enough to do, and fairly inexpensive to test Walmart fluid against Home Depot, etc. Most chest freezers are set below zero anyway, and if it stays liquid to -5 or -10, that would be good enough for me.

 

[IslandTractor]

Gempler's has a helpful tech page on filling tires with liquid ballast. They also sell the various styles of adapters and even pumps ($$$).

Installing Liquid Ballast in Tires | Gempler's

 

[ToddW]

I can't see what all the fuss is about, down here in Central Florida we just fill with plain tap water

/Todd

 

[BigE_]

Here is a little statement from a John Deere sales manual that has some interesting opinions. Basically they seem to discourage liquid loading of rear tires and suggest max of 40% fill.

Also interesting that they prefer calcium chloride, and mention tube or tubeless.

My guess is that going above 40% (well probably closer to 50%, but they may be playing it safe) tends to raise the center of gravity, as it would go above the axles.

Lawsuit stuff, etc. Can't say they didn't warn you if the tractor tips.

 

[canoetrpr]

That was me!

Sorry Farmwithjunk.

 

[canoetrpr]

Up here in Canada Rimguard was not even an option. Didn't find anyone that carried it.

Local tire guy who came to my farm said that he has filled before with WWF but supplied by customer. He says it would be way too much hassle for him to have to carry WWF - his truck is only so big. He can fill up with water almost anywhere he goes.

It was cheap and practical so I did it.

He suggested replacing the valve stems in 10 years as valve stems tend to start detoriating and eventually lead to some amount of leakage and corrosion in that area. I don't think I have a problem doing this at the 10 year point if I don't have any punctures by then.

 

[Rara Avis]

Here's their overall take and all options...
John Deere Ag - New Equipment Features for 8130 Tractor (180 hp)

Scan down to this section and then peruse...

Ballasting and optimizing performance
Ballasting and optimizing tractor performance overview... more
Weight, general weight splits for common implements... more
Ballast, using PTO horsepower... more
Ballast types... more
Adding front weights and transfer effects... more
Ballast, suggestions for specific types of implements... more
Weight, determining weight and weight splits... more
Performance, controlling power hop... more
Using liquid ballast in tires... more
Mounting spray tanks... more
Ballast, worksheet to calculate ballast... more
Weight, unballasted weight charts... more
Tire inflation charts... more
Liquid ballast chart... more
Ballast, package chart... more
Front tire/ballast compatibility matrix chart... more
Weight, maximum load per tire... more
Weight, front support - less weights... more
Weight, front support with four weights... more
Weight, front support with eight weights... more
Weight, front support with 12 weights... more
Weight, front support with 16 weights... more
Weight, front support with 22 weights... more
Weight, tractor ballast package 1,605 lb.... more
Weight, tractor ballast package 3,920 lb.... more
Weight, tractor ballast package 5,230 lb.... more
Weight, tractor ballast package 7,820 lb.... more
Weight, rear ballast package 900 lb.... more
Weight, rear ballast package 1,230 lb.... more
Weight, rear ballast package 1,800 lb.... more
Weight, rear ballast package 2,130 lb.... more
Weight, rear ballast package 2,800 lb.... more
Weight, rear ballast package 3,030 lb.... more

 

[IslandTractor]

I just couldn't stand the suspense of knowing what is really in the commercial windshield washer fluid. I looked up material safety sheets and got nowhere. I checked manufacturer's websites and got nothing. No help from the receptionists either and general policies about trade secrets.

So, I decided that I could figure out the percentage of methanol and therefore the real freezing point by simply weighing a gallon of WWF. The idea is that water weighs 8.3lbs/gallon and methanol weighs 6.63lbs/gallon so if you weigh a gallon of WWF you can calculate the percent methanol.

I bought two gallons of standard (-20F and -25F claimed on the bottles) WWF from a supermarket and a hardware store. I had an empty container that I filled to exactly the level of the WWF with plain water. Then got out my handy dandy digital kitchen scale (never use it for cooking but it is accurate to a few hundredths of a pound ).

Results: Water amazingly does weigh 8.3lbs/gallon. Both bottles of WWF weighed the same, 7.85lbs/gallon. By my calculations, that means the WWF is just under 30% methanol. The listed freezing point of a 30% by weight methanol/water solution is -15F. So, there is more than just blue dye in those bottles but probably not enough methanol to really take the freezing point down to what the manufacturer's claim. Still, for most folks in moderate northern climates -15F should be OK. I don't think I'd be happy with standard WWF if I lived in Minnesota or the Dakotas or Canada however.

One final point, 40% methanol by weight doesn't freeze until -40F which should be good for most anyone below the Arctic Circle. It would not be that difficult to add some pure methanol to a batch of WWF to bring it up to 40% and would likely be cheaper to do that than to simply buy the "de-icer" WWF. In my neck of the woods standard WWF can be had for 1.29/gal while the deicer stuff goes for 2.89/gal.

 

[patrick_g]

I don't think I'd be happy with standard WWF if I lived in Minnesota or the Dakotas or Canada however.

One final point, 40% methanol by weight doesn't freeze until -40F which should be good for most anyone below the Arctic Circle.

When I was stationed at Minot AFB 15 miles north of Minot, North Dakota the temps dipped below -40 (*) each of the three winters. I don't know how cold it got at the coldest but I was out in -47F (not wind chill or comfort factor but an honest -47F.) It may have seemed to us that Minot was above the arctic circle but it wasn't and it frequently was not the coldest location in the lower 48.

(*) Oh by the way -40 is -40, C or F as that is where the two systems cross if you plot them.

Pat

 

[Rara Avis]

When I was stationed at Minot AFB 15 miles north of Minot, North Dakota the temps dipped below -40 (*) each of the three winters. I don't know how cold it got at the coldest but I was out in -47F (not wind chill or comfort factor but an honest -47F.) It may have seemed to us that Minot was above the arctic circle but it wasn't and it frequently was not the coldest location in the lower 48.

(*) Oh by the way -40 is -40, C or F as that is where the two systems cross if you plot them.

Pat

You ever meet a Tony Morabito, when you were at Minot?