Tires Do loaded tires cause problems in road gear?

[Oliver1655]

When my tires were properly filled to where the fluid is above the top of the rim I had no problems. One day I developed a leak and did not have time to fix it and just added air to get the job done. Because the fluid was low, I definitely could feel a lunge/drag motion when at higher speeds. I can go around 20 mph.

 

[RoyJackson]

That will make it worse.

Doesn't for me. I get a lot of pitching with just the loader...smooths out considerably with the ballast box. Might be dependent upon the road surface, or the speed (tractor tops out about 15 MPH, but I don't run at top speed).

 

[willfick]

well heres my experience with loaded tires on the road. i purchased a ford 8000 with the rears loaded, on the road it would do about 18 mph, but could only go about 15 to 16 before it would start swaying side to side pretty bad. ran it this way a few years, a good bit on the road since i had some hayfields here and there at the time. decided after a few years to pump out the calcium, didnt need the weight and thought it would be better on the fields when it was a bit wet. well it ran down the road like a car after that! no sway etc! maybe mine were overloaded dont know, but it sure rode alot better without it. tractor got up to speed faster without the extra 3500lbs too!

More likely they weren't loaded enough. The manual for my old Farmall says that the rears must be 3/4 full - that would be to the top of the rim - for them to be stable.
Wm

 

[RickB]

well heres my experience with loaded tires on the road. i purchased a ford 8000 with the rears loaded, on the road it would do about 18 mph, but could only go about 15 to 16 before it would start swaying side to side pretty bad. ran it this way a few years, a good bit on the road since i had some hayfields here and there at the time. decided after a few years to pump out the calcium, didnt need the weight and thought it would be better on the fields when it was a bit wet. well it ran down the road like a car after that! no sway etc! maybe mine were overloaded dont know, but it sure rode alot better without it. tractor got up to speed faster without the extra 3500lbs too!

Probably if the rims and tires were mounted straight on the cast centers, the tractor wouldn't have wobbled going down the road. The liquid ballast compounded the problem. Power adjust rims can be a bear to lock down true & straight.

 

[Gary Fowler]

We had a Ford 9000 with dual 18.4 x 38 rears and 10" wide tires on the front and all were loaded with water. Never had any handling problem or swaying or anything to suggest that there was an issue with water. It ran about 25MPH if I recall. I know that the water was somewhat above or just about level with the valve stem because you would get some water along with air coming out when you checked the tire pressures.

 

[markct]

yea it may have been some other issue causing the sway, but i do know they were filled plenty high, maybe too high, i know it was up over the rim top as you could sometimes see the line of condensation after the tractor was parked that showed the fluid level. the wheels were on straight and ran true, and didnt change any of that when i pumped the fluid out, left the wheels on the tractor just jacked up the axle. so not sure why but after it was out the tractor rode straight and smooth down the road.

 

[slowzuki]

No problems other than bumpier than unfilled. Both my current tractors and all the previous loaded. Current are 50 and 100 hp machines. One with R4's (bias ply, they aren't round for the first 10 minutes of drive) the other with R1W radial michellins. Feel great no matter how long it was parked.

 

[wolc123]

I once bought a Ford 2000 with turf tires on 24" rims because I got it at a very good price. I found a used set of loaded Ag tires on 28" rims and put them on it. The first time I got it out on the road, the tractor was very unstable at top speed but that was nearly 30 mph due to the larger rims on a tractor set up for 24's. I found that my problem was not caused by the calcium-fill, but rather by an external, unbalanced iron weight of around 100 lbs that was attached inside of one rim. I got rid of that, and the tractor then handled as good as a car at top speed.