Tires Fill Tractor Tires with ?

[skyline]

Sorry if this has been addressed a bunch before but the search was returning an internal error.

I want to add fluid for extra weight on my new bobcat CT225 tractor. I live near Portland, OR so extreme freezing in not a huge issue but it does freeze.

The various tire shops all tell me different things from "Calcium is old school" we don't recommend that for corrosion reasons, to beet juice, to "biosomething" at $4.00/gallon, to "you need to add tubes to use with calcium"
to calcium isn't a problem since it doesn't have to be as strong for our weather conditions.

I don't know who to believe and what is reasonable.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[RollingsFarms]

my dealer uses water with a few gallons of antifreeze. you might also want to look into rimguard. same thing as beet juice i've heard, and more expensive then water/antifreeze, but does weigh more.

 

[Donkey Shade Farm]

Ditto on the ethylene glycol. Added 90 lbs to each of my compact tractor tires, and no issues with the FEL, even with full buckets of gravel.

 

[Charolais]

In my area we use methanol/water mix. I've seen folks post that they were afraid of the methanol but it's diluted in water so there's no danger. Just have to use enough methanol so it doesn't freeze. Methanol has been used in ballast in this area for over 30 years now and never heard of a danger issue. It doesn't kill grass if you have a leak either. Not enough methanol used to do that kind of harm.

 

[dodge man]

I had rimguard put in the rear wheels of my Kubota BX2350, it cost about $100. I don't know how my tire sizes compare to yours so it might cost more for yours. It does work well and was worth the money.

 

[tugboat-2]

Hello: ...I'm in Ontario, Canada,...where it certainly does freeze,...I'm using Canadian beet juice which is also eco-friendly and you don't need tubes in your tires. If there is an accident, it doesn't harm anything. It's just a (very similar) Canadian version of the Rimgaurd you have there in the U.S. (and of course it does NOT contain "salt") I'm very happy with mine. I always used calcium chloride in my old tractors over the years,.....but I didn't have the heart to put it in my first "brand new" JD-3520-Cab aka: Rolls.

Best wishes to you,
. . . tug

 

[wedge40]

Ditto the rimguard. I finally put in my tires this spring. You'll be amazed at how much the extra weight will help. I put almost 55 gal/tire in the tractor so I added about 1100#. Tractor really sticks to the ground now.

Wedge

 

[WH401]

IMO, Rimguard is the only choice for tire ballast. It's bio degradable/non-toxic so it won't harm the ground or animals if you get a puncture, it's 30% heavier than water, it's non corrosive, and it's freeze resistant down to -35.

 

[jeeps567]

i have a kobota L3240 and also had beet juice put in the rear tires. i have also heard that beet juice is heaver than colride neil

 

[mjonesnh]

Methanol/ water mix. This seems to be the most popular ballast for tires in my area.