Ballast tire ballast in subcompact tractor

[PILOON]

You don't want calcium chloride or salt for ballast if your tires are tubeless or it will rust the rims real quick I would either use rimguard or another non corrosive liquid for ballast to be safe and also you will need to use a tire pressure guage that is made for checking the tire pressure on fluid filled tires .

BUT;
If you add inner tubes you can!

 

[Zephrant]

Well I had a hard time finding pure CaCL- the hardware store has 92% CaCL, and the rest is NaCl and other stuff. I got tired of researching so called a few shops, and did find one that can do the beet juice. I dropped the tires off this afternoon, and will get them back tomorrow for the grand total of $86. I could hardly buy the CaCL for that, so it was far cheaper than I had thought.

Thanks for all the suggestions- I'll feel better not putting in the salt-water.

Next up- modifying a quick-hitch to give me a place to place suitcase weights.

While I figure that one out, I pulled apart the SCV linkage- it's sloppy and worn. Maybe they should have put zerts on those pieces- all dried out, no lube left at all. I can replace the worn parts for $200, which seams pretty steep.

Any ideas on how to turn down the shafts and re-bush it?

 

[buckowens]

I just did my first 50 hour service on my GC2310TLB. To my suprise when removing one rear tire I found it to be liquid filled (and really, really heavy...). I am still not sure if it came that way from the factory or if my dealer did it.

 

[radioman]

not sure if you can rebuild it with bushin and turn old pin. Can you go the next size up and add zerks ? you might have to drill out the hole for new larger pin ( i know i know i would hate to do the same thing) . I am not sure of the size of your old pin so its kinda hard to tell from pics.

 

[jaybrad]

I just did my first 50 hour service on my GC2310TLB. To my suprise when removing one rear tire I found it to be liquid filled (and really, really heavy...). I am still not sure if it came that way from the factory or if my dealer did it.

...and at the other end of that spectrum, I did my 50 hour service this summer and was surprised at how very light it was - and since then have debated about filling it. I've thought the added weight would help when using the backhoe.

 

[gerard]

Think you'll be very ahppy with the rimguard. My only regret was waiting 8 years before doing it. Makes a work of difference, more stable on slopes and when doing loader work and MUCH better traction when doing dirt work, laoder work, or snow work.

 

[Zephrant]

I've not measured the pins, but one is about 3/8" and the other a little bigger. I put it all back together with some grease for now. No more squeaks at least.

I thought about zerks too- but I bet if I just greased it once a year, I'd be fine. This tractor lived outside for four years, so I suspect that didn't help any either.

My filled tires weighed 148 pounds (26x12x12 R4). I forgot to weigh them empty, but they were light. At 10 gallons per tire, and 11# per gallon (according to the Rim Guard site), I added about 220# to the back end.

That ought to be enough to keep the bucket from lifting the rear off the ground when it hits a block of ice.

 

[Zephrant]

Well the 200+ pounds in my tires certainly helps, but I need more to move ice in the bucket. I'm going to buy a quick-hitch and weld a cross-member on it, then hang on 4-6 suitcase weights.

Problem with that is that I don't know how to weld yet. The local Oxarc shop offers instruction for $25/hr, so I'm going to go down and have them jump-start my learning a little. I'm also watching craigslist for a used mig with enough juice to do 1/4" steel easily.

 

[DEWFPO]

Why not just have the shop weld a cross member onto your quick hitch for you?

DEWFPO

 

[greenmule]

I got methinal in my rears[alcohol],not as heavy[weighs same as water basicly] but cheap and won't rust your valve stems like calcium,cheaper than the beet juice.

Got it mixed with water at about 1/3 methinal to 2/3 water,got a tire man with a pump and stuff,he came out and was done with it in about an hour.