Hydroinflation

[glennmac]

Which is Firestone's mungey word for filling tires.

Aside from the ballast and weight issues, I'm puzzling over whether it affects driving "performance". If, say, you were driving with hydroinflated rears on a perfectly smooth road, compared to unfilled tires, would it be stiffer, softer, bumpier, herky-jerkier, less steerable, slower to respond? Anything like that.

Glenn

 

[MarkV]

Glennmac,

I have the rear tires on my B21 filled 75% with water and antifreeze (the safe kind) and can't say I have noticed any change in the ride. My tires are R4's, which are pretty stiff, so others may have felt more than I. I did feel a huge improvement in traction.

 

[Bird]

Glenn, I have R1 (ag) tires and I ran my B2710 awhile before filling 75% with water and antifreeze, and I had the same concerns you do, but I just can't tell a bit of difference (except for a little better traction). And a neighbor bought a bigger tractor (Oliver 1755) used a few years ago and we both used it quite a bit without ever knowing the tires were filled with calcium until he punctured one.

Bird

 

[W5FL]

I have R1 (Ag) tires filled with water/antifreeze (non/toxic). All four tires are filled with 35% or so antifreeze. The stability is very much improved, but see no change to the ride of the tractor. Kubota does not recommend filling the front tires as there is a possibility at road speeds (20 mph or so) that it could create an out of balance condition. I have never noticed it, but spend very little time on roads.