Loading tires on a JD4520 cab?

[canoetrpr]

After loading the tires with Calcium on my L3400 Kubota (open station) I was a tire loading convert and wondered why I operated it without. I usually use additional 3PT ballast but there is the odd time when it is convenient to operate without it.

Will the cab add enough weight to the tractor that I might not need to load the tires after all? My wife argues that with it just being a bigger tractor I might not need to.

I'm also going to price out wheel weights from JD. Over the past 6 years my cost to fill my L3400 was about $250 initially and then two service calls for leaks which i would have had with non filled tires anyway but were more messy with the Calcium.

I'm also a bit more sensitive to rust possibility for this tractor as I plan on having it for a long long long time. Beet juice is not a real possibility around here. I could find a supplier but my tire guy isn't going to carry beet juice when it comes time for a repair. Today he will just dump the calcium from my leaking tire in his tank and refill it.

 

[Short Game]

I'm guessing cab weight would not help with your center of gravity. The lower the weight, the better. The higher the weight, not so much.

 

[jenkinsph]

On my 4520 cab I have R4 tires and use 3) 110# weights on each rear wheel, so far so good. I can pull a full load of dirt in my boxblade which is about 35 cu ft. The grader/landplane is 8' wide and is a good load too and no problems with it either.

 

[grsthegreat]

Add the beet juice instead...that way if the tire blows it will only look like you gutted out a cow in your shop.......blood red beet pulp every wheres. However, you'll not have the rust issues like i did on my old JD with calcium.

 

[sunnyside360]

I'd load the tires to help with center of gravity, traction, and balance if you have a FEL. Rim Guard (beet juice) is the way to go -- more expensive but don't need inner tubes because it's not corrosive like calcium chloride and you can fix a leak without removing the wheel, just use a plug like a car tire.

 

[jrepp44]

I loaded my cab Kubota L5030 rears with water and antifreeze myself - feels much more stable when using the FEL.

 

[wolc123]

I will put it to you this way: My nieghbor has a 4720 with unloaded tires. I have a 4120 with loaded tires. When it comes to moving piles of dirt and such, with the front bucket, I can move about 1.5 times what he can in the same time. All that extra hp is getting him is a bigger fuel bill, and he puts a lot of time in spinning tires. Both of our tractors are open station, but the cabs are very light on these and I would not count on that for ballast. I would also not worry too much about the corrosive aspect of the calcium. It is denser than beet juice or antifreeze. It took over 60 years for the rims to rust thru on our old JD M that we had loaded with calcium at the dealer when it was new. Let your grandkids worry about the rust some day like I had to. No tire-man that I know deals with beet juice on his mobil rig. There are many times when I have taken advantage of the in-the-tire ballast on my 4120 when I needed to manuver in tight spaces and didnt want anything hanging off the back (ballast box/implement) or sticking further out the sides (wheel weights). The dealer sold me loaded R1's for the same price as I could have had unloaded R4's, and that selection was the best one I made on that tractor. I have not got it stuck in the 6 years I have had it and it is almost unbelievable how much traction force it can develop, especially on mud or snow.

 

[grsthegreat]

I can guarantee that unless you have rear wheel weights, a heavy 3 point impliment (or ballast box) , and/or rear filled tires , your never going to pick up the maximum weight that the tractor is rated for.

Ive had to have all the equimpent ive leased and owned over the years supplied with filled tires. Im glad to be done with calcium after the last blowout i had with the JD870. It blew in the shop where i stored 4x8 sheets of 12 ga steel, and ruined 4 sheets of metal. The stuff rusted within 24 hrs of the blowout. It also marked up a few panels on the shop. Ive heard tell that when a beet juice tire blows...it looks like a crime scene.....i cant wait:laughing:

 

[RoyJackson]

After loading the tires with Calcium on my L3400 Kubota (open station) I was a tire loading convert and wondered why I operated it without. I usually use additional 3PT ballast but there is the odd time when it is convenient to operate without it.

Will the cab add enough weight to the tractor that I might not need to load the tires after all? My wife argues that with it just being a bigger tractor I might not need to.

I'm also going to price out wheel weights from JD. Over the past 6 years my cost to fill my L3400 was about $250 initially and then two service calls for leaks which i would have had with non filled tires anyway but were more messy with the Calcium.

I'm also a bit more sensitive to rust possibility for this tractor as I plan on having it for a long long long time. Beet juice is not a real possibility around here. I could find a supplier but my tire guy isn't going to carry beet juice when it comes time for a repair. Today he will just dump the calcium from my leaking tire in his tank and refill it.

I think you'd find the cab without tire ballast of some sort (my preference is filling the tires) less stable. You might be adding weight, but it would be added considerably above the center of gravity...not good.

I know a lot of folks don't like Calcium Chloride...I don't either. But, it is the biggest bang for the buck when filling tires and there are a lot of tractors that have had CaCl in their tires for decades with no problems.

Since Rimguard (beet juice) may not be a possibility, how about windshield washer fluid?

 

[canoetrpr]

Gentlemen - thank you for your thoughts. The difference in my Kubota was night and day after they were loaded with Calcium.

I have found a dealer here for RimGuard - about 1 hr 15 min away. He will come out or send a local tire guy out to do it. It ain't cheap! $1.25 per liter! About 4 bucks a gallon. I have no idea how many gallons will go in these 17.5L-24 tires.

The last time I did it in my Kubota I came to the conclusion that it just was not worth messing around with something exotic like RimGuard around here. The tire guy that visits my farm has a tank full of Calcium Chloride mixed already and when I have a leak he just pumps the stuff out of my tires into his tank, fixes the tire and then pumps it back in again.

He says he has done windshield washer fluid before but I would probably have to purchase it, keep some in stock and have a place to pump it out in the case of a leak.