Ballast How much does calcium weigh ?

[DieselnHooters]

My friend just bought a Ford 5610 2WD , his rig was slipping and sliding so he figured he needed some weight in the back. Drove his tractor to the nearest garage and had his rears( 34'' rims) filled with liquid calcium.

They told him it added 4000 pounds of ballast.... sounds like a lot , could that be right?

 

[smstonypoint]

See

Liquid Tire Ballast Chart

www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/publist/200Series/210104-1.pdf

Steve

 

[DieselnHooters]

thx Steve, found the other thread about tire ballast just a few lines below mine shortly after I started this one but couldnt delete it.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

It depends! What is the concentration of calcium in water? Easiest way is to find out how many pounds of calcium is added to a gallon of water. It is then # calcium + 8.4 # (weight of one gallon water) X gallons of mixture put in the tire. Only the tire filler will now what concentration he uses and what temp it protects to: Lower the temp the higher the concentration. This link will get you a chart.
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/publist/200Series/210104-1.pdf

Ron

 

[DLTTrekkers]

What about antifreeze mix with water ? Much cheaper ?

 

[Looking4new]

35% Calcium Chloride weighs 13.51 lbs/imp gallon. A Imperial gallon is 20% larger than a US gallon.
Imperial Gallon= 4.54069L
US gallon = 3.78L
13.51/4.54069=2.97531 lbs/L
2.97531*3.78=11.246709 lbs/US gallon

 

[Looking4new]

What about antifreeze mix with water ? Much cheaper ?

Do you want freeze protection or just weight?

 

[Tractor Seabee]

With calcium you get both freeze protection plus the weight. With CaCl your are adding double + to the weight of plain water. No other antifreeze substance adds that much weight. So, what is your goal and do you want to hassle with CaCl just to add a bunch of weight. If you use CaCL make sure it has the anti corrosion inhibitor added. That will save your rims but you still get corrosion where/when ever you have a leak. Hope all this helps the decision making. On my BX small tires; the added weight is not enough to make it worthwhile. I have 500# of suitcase weights that work great and I can adjust in 50# increments and use either front or back. Once that liquid is in the tires you are stuck with that weight. Big tractors it make sense as you probably still need more weight, at times, that the tires have in them.

Ron

 

[DieselnHooters]

Ron

Your link was much useful and more detailed than any I have seen....yay Canada lol

 

[SPYDERLK]

My friend just bought a Ford 5610 2WD , his rig was slipping and sliding so he figured he needed some weight in the back. Drove his tractor to the nearest garage and had his rears( 34'' rims) filled with liquid calcium.

They told him it added 4000 pounds of ballast.... sounds like a lot , could that be right?

No. ... Calcium Chloride solution weighs a maximum of 12# per gallon. Yould have to cram a minimum of 333Gal of fluid into those tires.
larry

 

[MHarryE]

http://www.titanstore.com/pdf/TireInfo.pdf

If you use this link and scroll down to page 282 you will find the max recommended in an 18.4 x 34 tire (my guess on size since you mentioned 34 inch) is about 1100 pounds per tire. That is with 5 pounds of CaCl per gallon, the maximum recommended. The book is now Titan but it was the Goodyear farm tire handbook before Titan took over Goodyear farm tires in North America.

 

[DieselnHooters]

Harry

The BC government Ron linked to on page 1 recommends 6 pounds CaCl per gallon for colder climates like here, they are tubeless tires so were filled upward of 90% . I will have to enquire about tires and rims width but if they are 18.4 or bigger on those wider rims then they could in theory be real close to that 4000 pounds ballast.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Remember the goal, weight or freeze protection. The more freeze protection you need the more weight you will have. If the temp causes the mixture to slush up you could get a lot of dynamic force when the clumps drop off the top. Could blow out a side wall, that is why the 90% fill as it reduces that thump when the tire turns around. Tractors never get to speed that will force it all outward evenly by centrifugal force. Weight is a factor their also.

Ron