Ballast Tell me about filling rear tires with Kubota cab

[schmism]

Not meaning to ruffle any feathers but I find the above very unlikely. In my experience in the engineering field most things designed for safety sake I.E. "ROPS" has a built in safety factor of 2 to 2.5 This is due to the dynamics of a potential rollover is largely unknown and can very greatly for each incident.

From a business point of view it would make very little sense to design a marginal ROPS to save a few bucks in the manufacturing process only to create a huge liability in terms of product defect and the ensuing legal problems.

ummm what world do you live in, becuase its not the US. Every major company has played the EXACT $$ game as above. If we save $100 on 10,000,000 cars , and it could lead to a safty issue, we will proceed, and pay out on the 10 or so $3,000,000 lawsuit claims from the safty issue we cut to save money.

we have now saved a net of what class?

as for the engineering world, yes it may have a saftey factor involved, but that still doesnt preclude the possiblity that the ROPS was TESTED at a max tractor weight of ____, and now with new options, you can exceed this tested number. If you do, who's to say what MIGHT happen as you never tested it under that weight.

So while it MAY be ok, they arnt going to say, oh ya btw it was only tested for a 100lbs, but you should be ok up to about twice that weight....

From my experience working for a company that seals truss designs, the truss MIGHT hold more weight than the paper says, but if it falls down, and it was found to have more weight on it than the sealed drawing said was ok, your SOL buddy

 

[art]

Doesn't help to eliminate the criticism of Kubotas being a lightweight unit. (Ususlly directed at the larger models).

Having sold tractors for to many years this statement only brings to mind all the over weight dogs that are built that are to heavy to begin much less after weighting for proper use for a loader or even rear attachments that are to fat to move! Not funny for the new owners when they want to drive them down the road and they won't max the RPM with just the tractor much less then with towing a load! Much less the excess fuel being burned to move an over weight tractor. I know that on this board it is different then where people want to run a tractor for ten thousand hours without driveline failure but for our farmers this becomes a concern.

I've made the mistake myself do to customers demanded, and I've seen other dealers mistakes come in trade. I wish I would have not sold those units to begin with! We do have gude rules today to keep this from happening that I didn't have then and I like to make deals too!

 

[RickB]

Having sold tractors for to many years this statement only brings to mind all the over weight dogs that are built that are to heavy to begin much less after weighting for proper use for a loader or even rear attachments that are to fat to move! Not funny for the new owners when they want to drive them down the road and they won't max the RPM with just the tractor much less then with towing a load! Much less the excess fuel being burned to move an over weight tractor. I know that on this board it is different then where people want to run a tractor for ten thousand hours without driveline failure but for our farmers this becomes a concern.

I've made the mistake myself do to customers demanded, and I've seen other dealers mistakes come in trade. I wish I would have not sold those units to begin with! We do have gude rules today to keep this from happening that I didn't have then and I like to make deals too!

Hey Art, did I hit a nerve? You conveniently deleted the phrase "If true" then quoted me. Nowhere did I (or anyone else) suggest overballasting tractors, and if I ruffled your feathers (which is obvoius), I apologise. The original poster is trying to determine whether it is within or outside Kubota's recommendations to fluid fill rear tires on cabbed tractors. Your first reply clearly answers that. The rest is speculation. We both know proper ballasting FOR A GIVEN APPLICATION is a component of long tractor and tire life, fuel efficiency, and safety. Let's leave it at that.

 

[lawn_king]

My rear turfs on my B3030 HSDC are filled with rim guard, no issues. I do a lot of fel work, the additional counterweight is an asset!

 

[sunnyside360]

The Operator's Manual for my Kubota M8200 HSDC (Cab) shows a chart for tires filled with fluid so I've got to believe it is okay. BTW, my tires do have fluid ballast and I've had no problems to date with very heavy implements attached to TPH.
You may want to ask Kubota or the dealer for your particular tractor if you are still not sure, but I'd be willing to wager a bet that your tires can be filled.

 

[texasjohn]

My L5030HSTC has loaded rear tires and I add rear weight (sometimes as much as 1000 lbs) when using FEL... no problems... and, I belive that the weight helps me keep from rolling the thing over.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Has anyone heard of filling the tires with blue windshield washer fluid? My friend said he new a dealer who used it. I know its not a heavy as products like Rim Guard but very close. It's cheap and will not rust out the rims or kill the grass if you have a leak on your lawn..

Chris

 

[john_bud]

Blue fluid? Yep, it's in one of mine. The fill is cheap, when bought at the right time of year. Much less corrosive than CaCl2. I used it BECAUSE it is 3-400# less per tire. My trailer can only hold so much and that keeps it under the max cap. The extra weight plus allowance for mud etc would be close or over the top.

Most folks refer to it as WWF or windshield washer fluid.

jb

 

[gemini5362]

I thought I read somewhere on this forum that it is not recommended to fill the rear tires on a Kubota cab tractor. Can anyone comment on this? Is this just me not remembering correctly or is this a fact. If it is true, can you tell me what the problem would be? Thanks

The poster that you are talking about is Pat_g. He posted in one of the threads that the Cab section Supplement to his shop manual for his Kubota has a warning against filling the tires with liquid. Pat said that the only thing he knew for sure was that the manual for his model warned against it. He does not have a backhoe so it was not something for backhoe models. I have met Pat and been to his house if he says that the manual says that I am very sure that is what it says.

 

[RFB]

The owners manual for my L5030HSTC devotes an entire page to rear ballast.

Quote: "The weight should be added to the tractor in the form of liquid ballast, rear wheel weights or a combination of both."

It continues with specs for weight per given amount of fluid at specific temps, and illustrations on recommended levels of tire filling.