schweizer
Gold Member
Knowing that my rear tires when filled w/ ballast are upwards of 700 lbs, I wouldn't be taking them off by myself....
fill tires or not?
- Thread starter thomas9n
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NHmitch
Platinum Member
This may be a helpful guide for you. I would fill them without hesitation, you will be so much safer. I have windshield washer fluid in mine, because it was a lot cheaper than beet juice, and calcium chloride will wreck your expensive rims.
Courtsey of:Comparing Types of Liquid Tire Ballast | OrangeTractorTalks
Courtsey of:Comparing Types of Liquid Tire Ballast | OrangeTractorTalks
hslogger
Platinum Member
Fill'em Fill'em fill'em. Rimguard is the newer technology and it won't eat the rims up like Calcium. I had Calcium in my old machines and in my newest one, just the other day I had rimguard installed. It added a little under a thousand pounds for 300 dollars at the local tire shop. I have an L4400 and it is tubeless.
greg_g
Super Member
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- Dec 18, 2003
- Messages
- 6,126
- Location
- Western Kentucky
- Tractor
- JD3720 Cab, 300X loader with 4-in-1 bucket
I don't see how that's possible. Whether 2wd or 4wd, wheel and/or tire ballast is centered over the axle and directly above tire tread contact patch; where the rubber meets the road so to speak. And it doesn't move the center of gravity. As I stated, the purpose is for increased traction and improved lateral stability. The rearward position of a ballast box actually does shift the center of gravity, and is intended to relieve stress on the front axles during loader operation. The purpose is counterbalance and longitudinal stability.
//greg//
greg_g
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2003
- Messages
- 6,126
- Location
- Western Kentucky
- Tractor
- JD3720 Cab, 300X loader with 4-in-1 bucket
I take it you have no trailer? I didn't even consider taking mine off. Whereas I could manage to remove them and get them on the trailer (empty), I had no faith in my ability to get them off the trailer (filled) and over to the tractor. The fronts, no problem. But the rears? Just the Rimguard alone in each tire was well over 400 pounds. So I just put the tractor itself on my trailer, and hauled it to the RimGuard dealer. Then all I had to do when I got the tractor home, was drive it back off the trailer.
//greg//
meburdick
Platinum Member
A couple of other things came to mind this morning...
1) Ask your dealer for specifics on Deere's recommendation to NOT fill the tires. I would be very interesting to see what sort of Bulletin or Documentation they produce (and you should ask for it) to show this.
2) You may very well want to consider whether or not buying a tractor from this dealer is what you ultimately want to do or not. Once you've bought the tractor and had the tires filled, this dealer is likely to get pretty irritated if you have any sort of warranty claim or request for them to do something that might be considered "good will". Your dealer makes up a large part of your overall satisfaction with your machine. And, if your dealer won't fill your tires, you're already starting the "relationship" off in a poor way.
1) Ask your dealer for specifics on Deere's recommendation to NOT fill the tires. I would be very interesting to see what sort of Bulletin or Documentation they produce (and you should ask for it) to show this.
2) You may very well want to consider whether or not buying a tractor from this dealer is what you ultimately want to do or not. Once you've bought the tractor and had the tires filled, this dealer is likely to get pretty irritated if you have any sort of warranty claim or request for them to do something that might be considered "good will". Your dealer makes up a large part of your overall satisfaction with your machine. And, if your dealer won't fill your tires, you're already starting the "relationship" off in a poor way.
vtsnowedin
Elite Member
Yes you need a better dealer, one that sells farm tractors not just glorified lawn mowers.
A truck and tractor tire repair service can send a truck to your yard and fill them there but it is like a wrecker call and not cheap. If you can get it trailord to a tire dealer that does Ag tires that's the cheapest. They don't even have to take the tire and rim off the tractor just drive it to the valve stem up position then support the axle on a jack. Then they let the air out and remove the valve from the stem and pump the beet juice (Rim-guard) through a hose with a nozzle tip that fits in the valve stem leaving enough space to let the displaced air out around the tip. Looks like a big hypodermic needle. When it's full to the stem level they screw the valve guts back in the stem and add air and your done. You could do it yourself but you'd want to rig up the right needle tip funnel and it would take all day to pour that many gallons through it.
I'm going with rim guard in mine as it is the safest thing. I wouldn't use toxic antifreeze for fear of a leak that the dog would lap up and poison him. Also I'm not afraid of calcium chloride. We use it on roads all the time to settle dust. It is a salt and causes corrosion but if you get a flat or leak from an older tractor that still has it in the tires just dilute it with a lot of water. It's the concentration level that makes it harmful.
A truck and tractor tire repair service can send a truck to your yard and fill them there but it is like a wrecker call and not cheap. If you can get it trailord to a tire dealer that does Ag tires that's the cheapest. They don't even have to take the tire and rim off the tractor just drive it to the valve stem up position then support the axle on a jack. Then they let the air out and remove the valve from the stem and pump the beet juice (Rim-guard) through a hose with a nozzle tip that fits in the valve stem leaving enough space to let the displaced air out around the tip. Looks like a big hypodermic needle. When it's full to the stem level they screw the valve guts back in the stem and add air and your done. You could do it yourself but you'd want to rig up the right needle tip funnel and it would take all day to pour that many gallons through it.
I'm going with rim guard in mine as it is the safest thing. I wouldn't use toxic antifreeze for fear of a leak that the dog would lap up and poison him. Also I'm not afraid of calcium chloride. We use it on roads all the time to settle dust. It is a salt and causes corrosion but if you get a flat or leak from an older tractor that still has it in the tires just dilute it with a lot of water. It's the concentration level that makes it harmful.
FunnelWeb
Member
greg_g said:
Filling the tyres adds more weight to the tractor closer to the ground. This in turn brings the centre of gravity of the tractor closer to the ground. The closer the centre of gravity is to the ground, the less tippy a tractor will be. This is particularly the case in hill country, even if the tractor doesn't have a FEL fitted.
meburdick
Platinum Member
I don't think it moves it very much though. It's equivalent to "unsprung weight" on cars, which has minimal effect.
Set the tires as WIDE as they can be before filling (it is a lot easier that way), I used rim-guard and could not be happier. I just looked for the "local" dealer, even though he was almost 60 miles away the job was reasonable and I could not be more pleased. I used the tractor for about a year before filling, there is no comparison. Set the tires wide and fill them.