Loading tires

[Conservation]

How long did it take using gravity to fill the tires? What is the brand of the valve? I found one at Far and Fleet made by Milton. I will decide for sure on the weight after trying my new R1's which should be here next week.
I still think we are just about all talking about the same thing here. I am a believer in weight and narrow tires when traction is an issue. But..that traction gives you the abililty to tear things up also. For lawn mowing, I would think turfs are best and R4's next regardless of conditions. If it is too wet for R4's, it doesn't need mowed.
So, baring any genius methods for adding weight without spending a fortune, what is the safest method for changing filled tires? The other problem I will have is that I won't want to change them where I store them. I don't think the bucket will pick up a filled tire on my 1050 jd.

 

[EE_Bota]

Loading the rear tires on a tractor is almost always a good idea in my opinion.
The fellow from Texas is correct in everything he said.

Light weight of the overall tractor can help you not get stuck to begin with, however, you are not in control of the weight. The designer is. The engine weighs what it weighs. So does the tranny. The engine can peg the front end in the slightest mire unless you have four wheel drive.

With a loader on, unless you have put a heavy implement on the rear, you are ruined unless, again you have four wheel drive.

A tractor with a front end loader with unloaded tires cannot be relied upon to move itself, let alone a load in the bucket. With loaded tires, it will move itself reliably. With a heavy implement on the rear, or a concrete barrel, it will move an actual load. Four wheel drive will improve this somewhat, if the front tires are aggressive.

My rear tires are loaded. My front tires are not because Kubota says not to load the front.

Having said all this...if I had to change my tires twice per year, or something like that..I would take a barrel, knock holes for a drawbar through the barrel, throw in some old rebar vertically, and fill the barrel with concrete with lots of aggregate, after having done careful calculations about the lift capacity.

I think instead, however, I would try to just use R4's unloaded with the concrete barrel when needed, but without the barrel when possible. If this would not suit, I would have two tractors.

 

[ctown75]

Bottom line- if you have the option of removable weight that is probably your best bet for your scenario, or at least if I were in your scenario, that is the route I would go.

 

[PILOON]

I got just plumb lucky.

Somewhere somehow I acquired a 300 lb elevator counterweight.
It's about 45" wide, 4" thick and 8" deep.
As luck would have it it had 2 holes to allow stacking the weights that matched the width of a 3-point class 1 implement so I simply added a pair of 3-point pins and 'let it hang' on my 3-point arms.
I also added a 3-point vertical leg and attach the upper adjustable link.
On the 'upper leg' I welded a trailer ball onto a short arm for towing things around.
Also installed a reciever at about 45 deg. to be able to slide in a hoisting arm.

(don't ask for pics, it's under 4 ft of snow)
And my tires are loaded as well.

 

[greenmule]

You never hear of methinal,thats what I got mine loaded with,dealer had 55 gal drum of it,you mix it with water,freeze rating depends on how much your mixture is,like wiper fluid.

I got a tire man with his truck and pump to come to my house and do it. weighs about the same as water,but like beet juice and wiper fluid won't rust your rims,and has got to be the cheapest of the three

 

[dravin21]

for a while i used to plow snow with a 50's massey TO35 wich isnt to far from an 8-9n (infact the steering box came off a 9N) tubes and calcium allways worked for me .. tire chains are a must in deeper snow altho in highway gears they make it bounce so hard you about lose your brain through your ears (seriously rattles you) that has allways been good for me weather plowing or even skidding logs for firewood never been stuck and the tractor is small enough so even with loaded tires as long as your not out playing in the mud your lawn is safe in dry weather with the chains off

 

[mcd176]

I did my Kubota L4200 rears and fronts myself, I bought the fill valve from Gemplers, 2 55 gal drums of windshield fluid from NAPA and used a sump pump, it took a few hours but well worth it!

 

[Conservation]

Was the price better getting it in the drums?

 

[stub]

Rimguard may not be as expensive as you think. Contact the Rimguard folks for a list of dealers in your area. In my area there were 2. One wanted $2.35 a POUND, the other priced it correctly by the gallon. They put 35 gallons in my B7510 and charged me $80 for 375# of ballast. Did it right on the tractor sitting on the trailer. It's helped the balance greatly, esp. when using the loader. Shop around.

 

[RobJ]

lifting a bush hog to transfer weight to rear wheels is same as loaded tires. BUT- what if you dont have it connected ? then what ?

This is a problem on our small tractors, when you get stuck, you can't lift the BH high enough and it drags and stops everything. Everytime I've been stuck it was because an implement got stuck. Twice the ground was dry but I was going through a ditch.

Recently I was skidding some brush from a playground, nothing on the rear. Busted through some youpon and into a water filled ruts. I gassed it and did the lean forward trick and didn't get stuck. My R-1's are filled with water but if I had a RC on the rear I would have gotten stuck as it would have hit the ground.

Personally I think SCUT or CUT 4wd tractors are not much better in mud than a 2wd tractor. Couple rotations of the R-1s and you are down to the axles and SOL. At least with a 2wd you might be smart enough to stay out!

Rob