Loaded Rear Tires Without Loader

[chim]

The rears on my L3200 were filled before the dealer delivered it, so I can't cite the differences between filled and non-filled tires. My tractors are mostly used for mowing grass. The loader is never mounted unless I'm using it.

I can tell you that the L3200 has handled much better than I expected it to. I go places with the L3200 in 2WD that required 4WD with the B7500 I had. I recently backfilled (more correctly built a large hump) to cover a 1,000 gallon LP gas tank. When I mowed with the 6' RFM it was very impressive to be able to go uphill / downhill / sidehill in 2WD on wet grass.

 

[art]

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

Aaron Z

The tires and wheels are heavier, the tractor as such isn't if they were removed from their axle. They if in holes will not come out as easily and will not turn as easily.

 

[art]

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

If there was a way to assure the air pocket in a filled tire was on the bottom then you could still have good traction with it vs the cast weights!!!!! The problem with it is that at 4 mph you are about 3' beyond where you needed it to absorb an undulation in the ground to help with traction and you actually loose traction in most conditions being most noticiable in radial tires where we have seen te life of tires more then double with cast vs fluid.

 

[aczlan]

The tires and wheels are heavier, the tractor as such isn't if they were removed from their axle. They if in holes will not come out as easily and will not turn as easily.

I dont buy that. What would the difference be between having loaded front tires vs front weights or a loader on? 300# of water in the front tires of our L3830 will be easier on the tires, axles, etc than a 1200# loader frame or 5-600# of weights on the front bumper.
Yes, you lose some of the bounce that a tire full of air gives you, but I don't generally go fast enough for that to be a problem.


Aaron Z

 

[kubotacres]

I dont buy that. What would the difference be between having loaded front tires vs front weights or a loader on? 300# of water in the front tires of our L3830 will be easier on the tires, axles, etc than a 1200# loader frame or 5-600# of weights on the front bumper.
Yes, you lose some of the bounce that a tire full of air gives you, but I don't generally go fast enough for that to be a problem.


Aaron Z

I kind of agree on this. Whatever liquid is in the tires is weight transfered to the ground unless you get one tire up in the air. Loader/frame weights is actual weight on the tractor. I can also see with loaded front tires, the steering would have more weight to move...........Regardless, I'm not loading the front because the manual doesn't suggest to do that, and I don't need more weight there anyways....

 

[kubotacres]

The rears on my L3200 were filled before the dealer delivered it, so I can't cite the differences between filled and non-filled tires. My tractors are mostly used for mowing grass. The loader is never mounted unless I'm using it.

I can tell you that the L3200 has handled much better than I expected it to. I go places with the L3200 in 2WD that required 4WD with the B7500 I had. I recently backfilled (more correctly built a large hump) to cover a 1,000 gallon LP gas tank. When I mowed with the 6' RFM it was very impressive to be able to go uphill / downhill / sidehill in 2WD on wet grass.

I'm assuming you don't have a loader because you didn't mention it.. Good Info... I do very little bushogging in the winter, and plan to do none this winter. Even without loaded rear tires, I still rut in wet places(common senese). Either way i will cause ruts IF I decide to go places that are wet, which I try to avoid it possible.

 

[EE_Bota]

Consider a tire filled with air, and consider one COMPLETELY filled with water. What would be the difference? One would be rock hard. Although a water filled tire is not completely full, it will certainly perform differently during an impact than one with only air. This MAY be the basis by which some manufacturers for some models say don't fill the front tires. It could be with a heavy load, the tires need to soften the impacts with the air in the tire.

 

[kubotacres]

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.

And your reply brings up another question. Considering Calcium will cause damage to the wheels long term, then why the heck does Kubota recommend using it... This is straight out of the manual..

"Water and calcium chloride solution provides safe and economical ballast. Used properly ,it WILL NOT cause damage to tires,tubes or RIMS. The addtion of calcium chloride is recommended to prevent the water from freezing. Use of this method of weighting the wheels has the full approval of the tire compaines"..yada yada yada.....

Interesting.

 

[creekbend]

When I bought my L4400, my dealer put in water and antifreeze as a ballast in the rear AG tires. I have a FEL and the front tires don't have liquid ballast.

 

[Verticaltrx]

And your reply brings up another question. Considering Calcium will cause damage to the wheels long term, then why the heck does Kubota recommend using it... This is straight out of the manual..

"Water and calcium chloride solution provides safe and economical ballast. Used properly ,it WILL NOT cause damage to tires,tubes or RIMS. The addtion of calcium chloride is recommended to prevent the water from freezing. Use of this method of weighting the wheels has the full approval of the tire compaines"..yada yada yada.....

Interesting.

They are suggesting calcium chloride because it is dirt cheap, heavy, safe (won't burn), and they want to sell you a new set of rims several years down the road.

All of our tractors have methanol in the tires. It obviously is very flammable, but once in the tires I've never heard of anyone having any trouble. It does weigh considerably less than ca.cl. (about half, IIRC) but it's what almost all the dealers around here use. From what I've read Rim Guard is a good choice but expensive.

I'll also say, that every tractor we own (both 2wd and 4wd) have fluid in the rear tires, and most of them have cast iron wheel weights as well. The only downfall to extra weight is it will slow the tractor down some going up big hills and it can be a concern if you are trailering a lot. Otherwise, a tractor is going to preform better in almost every situation with filled tires, more stability and more traction.