Loaded Rear Tires Without Loader

[aczlan]

We have loaded rears on our L3830 (which doesn't have a loader). We loaded them when we were pulling a 3 bottom plow with it and they helped quite a bit.

Aaron Z

 

[fred239]

I'll always have loaded rears! No negatives in my book and a lot of added traction.
I'm goin to add wheel weights also.

It would depend on what you are doing. I trailer to various sites for grading and mowing, so I like mine light, and less rutting. I guess rear weight on the 3pt would be advisable when using the FEL, especially if using front wheel assist, as the shaft coupler can take a beating. Extra front weight would be nice when I pull the disc, but I can live without it, even though the disc is all the 3pt will lift. Depends on what you do the most.

 

[repete]

How do you figure cast iron wheel weights load axle bearings differently than liquid ballast?

I was referring to having weight hanging off the 3PH. I should have been more clear on this i suppose.

 

[Bluegill2]

It would depend on what you are doing. I trailer to various sites for grading and mowing, so I like mine light, and less rutting. I guess rear weight on the 3pt would be advisable when using the FEL, especially if using front wheel assist, as the shaft coupler can take a beating. Extra front weight would be nice when I pull the disc, but I can live without it, even though the disc is all the 3pt will lift. Depends on what you do the most.

True, it does depend on what you are doing. I don't trailer mine and I don't need the extra weight when mowing. But have been skidding some large white Oak logs lately and the added traction is needed. True too, added weight on the 3pth when using FEL is Very important!

 

[LD1]

Re: Loaded Tires Without Loader

I have heard of not loading fronts with a loader but without I see nothing wrong. Loading them would put the same weight on the front end as the loader would.

Not even close

 

[art]

For the additional wear on the steering components I don't recommend adding fluid to front tires at all.

Rear wheel steel ballast vs the fluid in the tires has beeen debated all over. I'll take 3/4 the weight in cast of the fluid filled rear tires anyday!

 

[aczlan]

For the additional wear on the steering components I don't recommend adding fluid to front tires at all.
Rear wheel steel ballast vs the fluid in the tires has beeen debated all over. I'll take 3/4 the weight in cast of the fluid filled rear tires anyday!

What additional wear would there be on the steering? I could see additional wear on the front drive line, but steering?

Aaron Z

 

[My Hoe]

For the additional wear on the steering components I don't recommend adding fluid to front tires at all.

Rear wheel steel ballast vs the fluid in the tires has beeen debated all over. I'll take 3/4 the weight in cast of the fluid filled rear tires anyday!

Art,

I'm not nitpicking; rather, I just want to be sure I understand your point. I believe what you're saying is that you can attain three quarters of the weight you would gain, if you used fluid filled tires, simply by adding cast wheel weights to your tractor. Do I have that correct?

If so, I'm assuming that it would also depend on the size of one's rear wheels, in that a BX, for example, would presumably be able to accept significantly less cast wheel weights then would say, a B-series, with their larger diameter rear wheels. So then I would ask, which model tractor do you have?

I asked because I am currently debating between fluid filled tires, wheel weights or TPH-based ballast options.

Thanks again.

My Hoe

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have the rears loaded on my L2550. It has it's pro's and con's. It can, and probably will, increase traction. Some corrosive liquids can trash your rims if you get a leak. At higher speeds it can cause quite a bumpy ride as the liquid tries to roll around as the tires are not 100% filled (I could go faster with my landscrape rake on my driveway but the out of balance slows me down).

If I were to do it again, I would use wheel weights (tractor bearings not carrying the weight). No corrosion issues, no balance issues, cheaper flat repair. Of course you would have to wrestle with the weights though if you had a flat.

I have ran big Ag tractors with wheel weights AND loaded tires and never had a balance problem. You cant make water run up a tire enough to cause a balance problem. Most CUTs only run about 12 MPH in high where our Ag tractors run 25 + MPH and never had an issue with water causing rough riding or bouncing. That would be caused by over-inflation only.
I have trouble believing loading front tires would cause wear on the steering components or bearings especially if they (mfg.) say it is ok to add front weights. There is much more stress on the axles from adding cast iron weights than could ever be cause by adding 5-15 gallons of water which is all most front tires on CUTs would hold. I could see it putting a bit more strain on the transmission/driveshaft components but 120 lbs per tire shouldnt put that much more strain on the unit and if it is built so weak that putting a little weight on the drive train damages it, I wouldnt want that tractor in the first place.
The only thing I can believe is negative to adding liquid ballast to all 4 tires would be trailering weight. I know that my 12K rated trailer would be overloaded if I had water in my LS P7010 tires but they hold significantly more water than a CUT tire as my front tires are as big as some of the BX rears.

 

[arrow]

Can anybody shed some light on the Pro's/Cons of loading the rear tires on my L3200? I don't have a Loader but the extra weight would come in handy especially pulling/boxblading. I know the old Jubilee I owned was loaded and I didn't have any issues. A little weight wouldn't hurt my L because it's light as it is without a loader...Any thoughts?????

The controversy of loaded tires has to do more with inconvenience when tire troubles occur. Some people prefer as least amount as weight on their tractors for grass mowing and such. Loaded tires do come in handy when the tractor is pulling weight or ground engaging implements. You can go wheel weights at about a buck a pound but loading them would be much cheaper. Beet juice (RimGuard) has no corrosive properties and you do not need a tube. You can even plug a tire with RimGuard. Not so with calcium chloride where a tube is just about mandatory. I just changed out my two rears (24" rims) which had calcium in them and it is not such a bad job (with some good advice from some folks here at TBN). I Chassis Guarded (POR-15 same stuff) the rims before remounting. I do not expect to see the inside of these rims again. If you bring your tractor into the woods, be sure to put a valve stem guard attached to the rims. In 27 years of CC, I've had one incident where I had no stem guard and sure enough that's where the branch hit. This time both tires had to be replaced as they were cracked to smithereens. Draining out the calcium, breaking the beads, prepping the rims, remounting the new tires and tubes and filling tires back up only twice in 27 years puts things in perspective for me as to whether or not to fill my tires weighed in comparison to the extra traction it affords.