Tire Ballasts, Weights &c...

[TractorGunn]

I have no clue about any of these, but realize that adding weight to the back of a tractor adds to its safety from flipping via using the loader, and in other situations.

My tractor dealer wants to add methanol to the tires at a price per gallon. He said it won't cause corrosion to the steel wheels. But then said the wheels don't need tubed. Afterwards I looked up methanol and read that it can corrode steel wheels and needs to be tubed.

Any advice and experience will be much appreciated.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Pure methanol can slowly corrode. It is also extremely flammable! Methanol should be diluted.

Most windshield washer fluid contains methanol, at different percentage, depending on how cold it will prevent freezing.

My dealer (way down south) usually fills with just water. With methanol fill, very little oxygen remains in the tire.... no oxygen = no rust. I opted to fill my own.

I purchased 2- 55 gal drum of "-20°" WWF and a $10 fill valve, short 6' garden hose, and a small pump from Harbor Freight.

https://www.harborfreight.com/plumbing/pumps/transfer-pumps/110-hp-transfer-pump-320-gph-63317.html

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/slime-air-water-adapter-kit-with-bleeder-valve

Took a few hours, but have the tires 80% filled. Total cost was around $250 a few years ago. Plus, I have a transfer pump that I use for other projects. Things have gone up in price , but DIY may be cheaper than the dealer. Plenty of YouTube videos showing how it is done.

Hope this answers your question and relieves your fear. I would ask the dealer what percentage of methanol they use.

 

[JohnT3383]

My dealer advocated a beet-derived fill product, claiming that corrosion would not be likely. It's been only 5 years since, so I don't think that is enough time to find out one way or the other about their recommendation. I took the bait.

 

[jyoutz]

There is another newer non corrosive option named Bio-ballast. My dealer uses this exclusively and filled my tractor tires with it when I bought it. It’s far less messy than beet juice, and non flammable also.

Tire Ballast - EnviroTech Services

envirotechservices.com

 

[TractorGunn]

Pure methanol can slowly corrode. It is also extremely flammable! Methanol should be diluted.

Most windshield washer fluid contains methanol, at different percentage, depending on how cold it will prevent freezing.

My dealer (way down south) usually fills with just water. With methanol fill, very little oxygen remains in the tire.... no oxygen = no rust. I opted to fill my own.

I purchased 2- 55 gal drum of "-20°" WWF and a $10 fill valve, short 6' garden hose, and a small pump from Harbor Freight.

https://www.harborfreight.com/plumbing/pumps/transfer-pumps/110-hp-transfer-pump-320-gph-63317.html

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/slime-air-water-adapter-kit-with-bleeder-valve

Took a few hours, but have the tires 80% filled. Total cost was around $250 a few years ago. Plus, I have a transfer pump that I use for other projects. Things have gone up in price , but DIY may be cheaper than the dealer. Plenty of YouTube videos showing how it is done.

Hope this answers your question and relieves your fear. I would ask the dealer what percentage of methanol they use.

Thanks for the good info. Apparently our dealer wants $400 for the fill, and I'll have to ask what % the methanol is. If you did yours a few years ago, then his price seems fair. The only other thing I am considering is weights. If a tire leaks out the fluid, then their goes the money, but weights are expensive.

 

[TractorGunn]

There is another newer non corrosive option named Bio-ballast. My dealer uses this exclusively and filled my tractor tires with it when I bought it. It’s far less messy than beet juice, and non flammable also.

Tire Ballast - EnviroTech Services

envirotechservices.com

They don't make it very easy to find out who sells that stuff, no dealer search or anything either. It looks like it's about 9+ pounds per gallon. I'm going to contact them and see what they say.

 

[oosik]

I had salt solution in my first tractor. It took about twenty years but, at that point, I began having problems. The salt solution kept "dissolving" the core of the valve stem. I fought it the last seven years.

My 2009 Kubota M6040 has RimGuard in the rear tires. Fifteen years and no problems. At around eleven pounds per gallon - I have 1500 pounds of this stuff in the rear tires. Around 72 gallons per tire.

No idea what it cost back in 2009. The tractor came setup that way.

I would recommend that you not even consider any type of salt solution. Methanol - I really can't say. RimGuard or Bio-Ballast would be my recommendation.

 

[TractorGunn]

I had salt solution in my first tractor. It took about twenty years but, at that point, I began having problems. The salt solution kept "dissolving" the core of the valve stem. I fought it the last seven years.

My 2009 Kubota M6040 has RimGuard in the rear tires. Fifteen years and no problems. At around eleven pounds per gallon - I have 1500 pounds of this stuff in the rear tires. Around 72 gallons per tire.

No idea what it cost back in 2009. The tractor came setup that way.

I would recommend that you not even consider any type of salt solution. Methanol - I really can't say. RimGuard or Bio-Ballast would be my recommendation.

I just sent an email to Rimguard and it said I'll receive a list of dealers closest to me by email in a couple of minutes.

 

[TractorGunn]

It looks like there is a Rimguard dealer about an hour from us. I will call them and ask about their pricing.

 

[oosik]

One other point to consider. Who will be handling the mounting of your rear tires if you get them filled.

My rear tires weigh around 300 pounds when empty. With RimGuard the weight is well over 1000 pounds, each. I'm certainly not setup to handle a tire at that weight.