Good time to by WWF for loading tires

[SPYDERLK]

Antifreeze in the form of propylene glycol or ethylene glycol should work fine as tractor tire ballast. It typically is a bit more expensive than methanol based freeze resistant fluids but if you can get it cheaply there is no reason not to use it.

Regarding how much to put in a tire: never fill it completely. 75% is max fill for weight. 50% would be right to maximize stability.

Ive filled mine to as much as 95%. No harmful effects. Wouldnt want to tear around on bumpy ground tho.
larry

 

[IslandTractor]

Ive filled mine to as much as 95%. No harmful effects. Wouldnt want to tear around on bumpy ground tho.
larry

I believe you but the big tire companies seem to stick with the 75% recommendation.

That must be a pretty unforgiving ride with a 95% fill.

 

[LBrown59]

Larry, don't tell anyone but these guys are putting this stuff in their tires. shhhh

Yaah But ya kin put it in winshield washers 2

 

[Mustangous]

Regarding how much to put in a tire: never fill it completely. 75% is max fill for weight. 50% would be right to maximize stability.

Maybe a stupid queston, but how do you know how much is 75%?

 

[Ford850]

Sorry for the title typo (by vs buy). Gotta stop trying to post late at night.

No need for tubes with WWF. I intend to simply block up the axles and use a fill adapter (have one already from Tractor Supply thanks) and probably gravity to fill.

Regarding the WWF concentrate economics: these products are not really 10x WWF regardless of what they advertise. If you look at the directions for use in winter you see that they say for a -18C freeze point (the same as basic blue WWF) you dilute 3:1 with water. That makes the concentrate pretty pricy for ballast. 15 gallons plus 45 gallons water yields 60 gallons for 90 bucks or $1.50/gallon which is pretty close to retail for the blue stuff. For the -30 product you can only dilute the concentrate less than 2:1 with water so that would end up costing over $2 per gallon. Given that the antifreeze component in the concentrate is methanol it appears that the concentrate must be close to 100% methanol plus some dye (MSD sheet bears this out). 20% by mass methanol in water has a freezing point of -18C and that is about a 3:1 dilution by volume. Bottom line is that the concentrate is really just methanol at $4 to $6.50/gallon which is not cheap. I looked into buying pure methanol and I recall it was going to cost in the order of $2-3/gallon in 55gallon drums.

I had RimGuard in my last tractor but was wrongly concerned about too much weight on my old barns wood floor when I ordered the new tractor so I went without ballast. Mistake. I liked RimGuard but it is very expensive to do after you leave the dealer as it requires returning to the shop plus the current price is about $3/gallon if not more. Without ballast in the new tractor I am constantly spinning tires even in 4WD when pushing or digging. So, I will use the lovely Kioti orange deicer WWF (-30 rated) to about 75% fill of front and rears which will give me something in the range of 800lbs ballast for a little over $50 plus some time and work to load it. Not bad.

The concentrate is not even as good as you show. -18c is equal to approximately 0F. To get it down to -18F, you have to mix it 2 to 1. -30F would require close to 1 1/2 gallons of water to 1 gallon of mix. It ends up being more expensive than premixed WWF by the gallon.

 

[Mr. Green Jeans]

Maybe a stupid queston, but how do you know how much is 75%?

I always understood the goal to be to get the fluid up over the rim. That way your rim isn't exposed to air while it is sitting. The air / liquid interface is the rust point. That is another good reason to use something with a rust preventative, in my opinion.

 

[IslandTractor]

Maybe a stupid queston, but how do you know how much is 75%?

Either by calculating the volume (the big tire companies have charts showing you the total volume of different tire sizes) or by approximating by loading the tire in the mounted position and filling until you reach the level of the valve. It is hard to fill more than about 75% with the tire mounted anyway so long as you use gravity feed as you cannot vent the remaining tire air above the valve.

 

[IslandTractor]

I always understood the goal to be to get the fluid up over the rim. That way your rim isn't exposed to air while it is sitting. The air / liquid interface is the rust point. That is another good reason to use something with a rust preventative, in my opinion.

The amount of oxygen in a tire is really not enough to allow any serious corrosion. Because it is a sealed system you don't get the sort of exposure to atmospheric oxygen you'd get outside a tire.

From what I have read there is no reason not to fill just to 40 or 50% if you are aiming only for stability. Most of us want the extra ballast so go for 75% or so which is just a little above the rim typically.

 

[IslandTractor]

The concentrate is not even as good as you show. -18c is equal to approximately 0F. To get it down to -18F, you have to mix it 2 to 1. -30F would require close to 1 1/2 gallons of water to 1 gallon of mix. It ends up being more expensive than premixed WWF by the gallon.

You are correct. Bottom line is that the "10X" concentrates are summer products at best and not useful for loading tractor tires as ballast.