Rim guard or not? Why a ballast box instead of boxblade?

[ovrszd]

I think you make a good point. Tires are normally filled ~80% so if the tractor starts to roll that fluid in the bottom 80% of the tire starts to slosh into the top 20% of the space that's normally just air. Especially the fluid in the tire on the "top" side of the tractor. Makes an already bad situation a bit worse.

At this point it will be irrelevant and non-provable.

 

[fishhead]

NOT PHOTOSHOPPED... JD has a low front bumper designed to keep from bumping into trees and rocks and cracking plastic hood.... Discovered bumper wedges under lip of FEL when it died on most remote back corner of property (naturally most inconvenient place) and I had to move/drag it down to shop .... Yes its all just wedges and leverages and balance.

Keep in mind that this set of graphics was carefully setup for photo shoot only I don't usually push little tractor beyond its limits, I have learned if tractor says no, then I don't do it....

Thanks for the reply- makes sense

 

[WilliamBos]

I also have a dedicated lawn mower. If I can mow the lawn with two machines instead of one, I'll gladly do it just to get the job done quicker.

I bought a zero turn last year, can get the grass done faster than with the tractor/rear finish mower. The tractor/RFM are great in tall grass, such as a first ever cut.

 

[WilliamBos]

This is almost always overlooked. My rears are 75% filled. This means I only 25% the volume of air to ride on. This means you have to run slightly higher pressures to get the same tread pattern on the ground. So ride is changed. Good point that hadn't been discussed.

More pressure is not always better, you are doing more damage via soil compaction. This is why the majority of AG tractors come with Radial R1 which are not loaded. They add wheel weights, leave the tires unloaded so the air pressure can be adjusted as soil conditions require.

 

[OzarkChris]

Been out here 40+ years and had a tractor all that time. I thought about a ballast box a few times. For me - a ballast box is of no use. I have VERY FEW really tight places and have no business with my tractor in those that are tight.

I have 1550# of RimGuard in the rear tires and a 1050# rear blade on the 3-point.

The M6040 Kubota is just not a tractor for tight places.

However - I do see the definite advantage of a b-box if you have a smaller tractor and need to do work in tight spots. I see some very "enlightened" designs for b-boxes - increases their usefulness.

I think of a ballast box as most other 3-point implements. If you need it - fine. Otherwise - wise money says use a 3-point implement and get more bang for your buck. JMHO

I agree! I too have very few tight spots that my tractor goes into. My rears are filled with cow friendly antifreeze - the Mahindra dealer doesn't do rimguard. When I need more ballast, be it due to a tight space or maxing out my FEL/forks/bale tines etc with a very heavy load, I back into a round bale. During the winter I usually have a bale or two that aren't "cow" good so I'll wrap mostly in plastic and leave out in the elements to gain weight. Don't think I'd go back to weights or other means of ballast - just another step to drop an implement and add another when 50+% of the time I just leave the bale tines on the back end.

 

[ovrszd]

More pressure is not always better, you are doing more damage via soil compaction. This is why the majority of AG tractors come with Radial R1 which are not loaded. They add wheel weights, leave the tires unloaded so the air pressure can be adjusted as soil conditions require.

Air pressure in the tire has minimal to no measurable difference in regards to compaction. Weight does that.

Radial tires are used because of the gain in traction.

The tread pattern that my tractor sitting in the machine shed right now has is determined by the weight on the tire. It's distribution is somewhat varied by air pressure. Which can be adjusted the same as one without fluid.

 

[lostcause]

Seems like a lot of people on here dislike Rimguard. Totally disregarding any discussion of whether ballast is needed or not, what are the downsides of Rimguard? The only thing I see is the potential for staining a surface if you puncture a tire. it' supposed to be relatively freeze proof and non-toxic. I remember calcium chloride filled tires when I was a kid, but that's pretty corrosive unless I am mistaken?

 

[WilliamBos]

L

Air pressure in the tire has minimal to no measurable difference in regards to compaction. Weight does that.

Radial tires are used because of the gain in traction.

The tread pattern that my tractor sitting in the machine shed right now has is determined by the weight on the tire. It's distribution is somewhat varied by air pressure. Which can be adjusted the same as one without fluid.

A major advantage to radials is less soil compaction.

Should I Buy a Radial Farm Tire?

A few reasons why radials are now becoming the go-to tire type for farm equipment.

yohta-blog.yokohama-oht.com

 

[OzarkChris]

Change the drawbar hitch to a piece of 3X12 (or similar) steel bar, as long as there is room for.

Under the tractor, the weight would be out of the way. ...

I would be curious to know how much additional weight you would add doing this. Doesn't seem (to me) it would be very much more than the actual draw hitch itself. My filled tires add ~750# each (~1,500# total). As mentioned earlier, I'll back into a round bale (1,200-1,500+# depending on the time of year) if I need to offset the front end any more than that.

 

[OzarkChris]

Seems like a lot of people on here dislike Rimguard. Totally disregarding any discussion of whether ballast is needed or not, what are the downsides of Rimguard? The only thing I see is the potential for staining a surface if you puncture a tire. it' supposed to be relatively freeze proof and non-toxic. I remember calcium chloride filled tires when I was a kid, but that's pretty corrosive unless I am mistaken?

You can reduce the potential for staining and mess made by using the green slime stuff that is specifically made for filled tires. I have my fronts filled with green slime and the filled rears have the equivalent type of slime that is made for filled tires - can't remember the brand. The other option might be to just not have anything that will stain - dirt floors in barns/shops nothing but gravel roads, etc.

Some of the biggest deterrents I've heard about fill/nofill have been tire & rim issues. Although I've not had any rim or tire issues, I've heard that some of the older fills were corrosive enough to destroy rims and eat away at the tire - seen pictures too. I don't think that the tractors of my youth (8N's) were filled but for the last 25 or so years my tires have been filled and I haven't had any issues.