I have a Kubota L3300 4x4 tractor and I was told that I could weight down the tractor by using water in the tires. I would like to know if you use water, antifreeze, or corrosion inhibitor in the tires. I dont know how much to add nor if it should be add to the front tires as well as the rear. Thanks
Using water as tire weights
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rambler
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I live in Minnesota. About the only thing you can add is calcium cloride or the beet-based product, Rim Gaurd. Anything else is too expensive, toxic, or will freeze & ruin the tires/ rims.
I don't like antifreeze because it is too light; it is toxic; and it is far too expensive for the concentration I need; my tire dealer would kill me if I had him service my tires & I contaminated his good CC supply with antifreeze.
Straight water would only work if you are in the far, far south.
Best is CC mixed with water inside a tube, 75% filled in the tire. You _must_ have an air space in the tire of 20 - 25%. Generally put the valve stem to the top - 12:00 oclock position, and fill with liquid to there. The top of the tire should be air. This will give you the 75% fill.
Fill the tires that need weight or traction, don't fill the ones that already have enough of both - for example, don't fill the fronts if you have a loader, but then if you don't have a loader & use lots of heavy 3pt equipment you might want to fill the fronts only, not the rears.
CC is a form of salt, and it does cause rust if exposed to oxygen. The trick is to have good tires & tubes, maintain them, and flush off an pills right away. The horro stories of rims rusting out come from tractors that have sat, with no maintenence, in a grove for 30 years...... Somethig you take care of, the CC is a lot better & safer for all than toxic antifreeze. Sealed inside the tire without much O2, there will be no internal rust.
--->Paul
I don't like antifreeze because it is too light; it is toxic; and it is far too expensive for the concentration I need; my tire dealer would kill me if I had him service my tires & I contaminated his good CC supply with antifreeze.
Straight water would only work if you are in the far, far south.
Best is CC mixed with water inside a tube, 75% filled in the tire. You _must_ have an air space in the tire of 20 - 25%. Generally put the valve stem to the top - 12:00 oclock position, and fill with liquid to there. The top of the tire should be air. This will give you the 75% fill.
Fill the tires that need weight or traction, don't fill the ones that already have enough of both - for example, don't fill the fronts if you have a loader, but then if you don't have a loader & use lots of heavy 3pt equipment you might want to fill the fronts only, not the rears.
CC is a form of salt, and it does cause rust if exposed to oxygen. The trick is to have good tires & tubes, maintain them, and flush off an pills right away. The horro stories of rims rusting out come from tractors that have sat, with no maintenence, in a grove for 30 years...... Somethig you take care of, the CC is a lot better & safer for all than toxic antifreeze. Sealed inside the tire without much O2, there will be no internal rust.
--->Paul
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
Fluid in tractor tires is the most common way of adding ballast to a tractor. Practically every farm tractor you'll run on to has fluid in the rears. (Fronts being filled is a little less common.)
This is a subject of much conjecture. Some say fluid----Others say cast iron weights. Some say Calc. Chlor. while others say Windshield washer solution (meth. Alcohol), "Rim-Guard" (beet juice derivative) RV anti-freeze, or even common engine anti-freeze.
All options have their place in the grand scheme of things.
Calc. chlor. gives you more weight per gallon. It is the oldest, most common type of mixture. It will rust the daylights out of a steel rim if you get any on them where they are exposed to air. (Making me question why anyone would ever use them with tubeless tires. However, some people do, with mixed results) A typical ca/cl mixture will create a weight of approx. 10 lbs per gallon. (or even higher in strong concentrations)
Sometimes all that weight isn't needed. With todays trends towards big, wide tires on tractors, the fluid capacity is high enough that sometimes a "lighter" mix is capable of giving the desired poundage. The "other options" listed above give around 8 lbs per gallon.
Most tractor tire manufacturers list fluid capacities for specific tire sizes on their websites. (USUALLY based on 75% filling) You can estimate your capacity, then figure weight achieved with any type of fluid. Determine what you need as far as weight, then make a decision on which type "filler" to use.
I use windshield washer solution in all my tires. No rusting problems like ca/cl. It's relatively inexpensive when bought in bulk. I have my own pump set-up for filling and "un-filling" tires. That set me back about $120. Well worth it to me. Most tire services will charge you that much to pump a tire out and refill for one flat repair.
You will get all sorts of opinions about theoretical "problems" and advantages with fluid. Bottom line is, farmers have been doing it almost since the beginning of rubber tired tractors, with great results.
Just as a warning, this might just be the most talked about (read CONTROVERSIAL) subject in the tractor world, next to the correct color anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
This is a subject of much conjecture. Some say fluid----Others say cast iron weights. Some say Calc. Chlor. while others say Windshield washer solution (meth. Alcohol), "Rim-Guard" (beet juice derivative) RV anti-freeze, or even common engine anti-freeze.
All options have their place in the grand scheme of things.
Calc. chlor. gives you more weight per gallon. It is the oldest, most common type of mixture. It will rust the daylights out of a steel rim if you get any on them where they are exposed to air. (Making me question why anyone would ever use them with tubeless tires. However, some people do, with mixed results) A typical ca/cl mixture will create a weight of approx. 10 lbs per gallon. (or even higher in strong concentrations)
Sometimes all that weight isn't needed. With todays trends towards big, wide tires on tractors, the fluid capacity is high enough that sometimes a "lighter" mix is capable of giving the desired poundage. The "other options" listed above give around 8 lbs per gallon.
Most tractor tire manufacturers list fluid capacities for specific tire sizes on their websites. (USUALLY based on 75% filling) You can estimate your capacity, then figure weight achieved with any type of fluid. Determine what you need as far as weight, then make a decision on which type "filler" to use.
I use windshield washer solution in all my tires. No rusting problems like ca/cl. It's relatively inexpensive when bought in bulk. I have my own pump set-up for filling and "un-filling" tires. That set me back about $120. Well worth it to me. Most tire services will charge you that much to pump a tire out and refill for one flat repair.
You will get all sorts of opinions about theoretical "problems" and advantages with fluid. Bottom line is, farmers have been doing it almost since the beginning of rubber tired tractors, with great results.
Just as a warning, this might just be the most talked about (read CONTROVERSIAL) subject in the tractor world, next to the correct color anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Henro
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<font color="blue">I use windshield washer solution in all my tires. No rusting problems like ca/cl. It's relatively inexpensive when bought in bulk. I have my own pump set-up for filling and "un-filling" tires. That set me back about $120. Well worth it to me. </font>
For occasional use, a cheap "drill pump" available for a few dollars works quite well.
Here's a previous thread with a couple pictures...
All you need to do is pump the fluid in, and pull the hose off the valve stem once in a while during the process to bleed out some air.
For occasional use, a cheap "drill pump" available for a few dollars works quite well.
Here's a previous thread with a couple pictures...
All you need to do is pump the fluid in, and pull the hose off the valve stem once in a while during the process to bleed out some air.
ejtaylor822
Gold Member
Very timely post on this subject!!
I have been toying with this idea for a while. Was on last night trying to find information on this but the search engine was not working.
Was going to get a local tire dealer to perform this. But, after reading the link Henro posted think I am ready to give it a shot myself. Need to look at something larger than a drill pump though. Any thoughts?
From looking at this before I was leaning towards the windshield wiper fluid for ballast. That seems to be the “safest” and cheapest to use.
Thanks again for the post and information.
Eddie
I have been toying with this idea for a while. Was on last night trying to find information on this but the search engine was not working.
Was going to get a local tire dealer to perform this. But, after reading the link Henro posted think I am ready to give it a shot myself. Need to look at something larger than a drill pump though. Any thoughts?
From looking at this before I was leaning towards the windshield wiper fluid for ballast. That seems to be the “safest” and cheapest to use.
Thanks again for the post and information.
Eddie
beenthere
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Windshield washer fluid works great. No problem at -20° F, and below that the fluid would be slush at worst scenario.
Not as heavy as calcium chloride or water, but close enough to 8# to the gallon (I figured I added 200# to each rear) to give you some good traction.
Not as heavy as calcium chloride or water, but close enough to 8# to the gallon (I figured I added 200# to each rear) to give you some good traction.
BGL990
Gold Member
<font color="blue">Need to look at something larger than a drill pump though. Any thoughts? </font>
I used the pump from my homemade sprayer rig. It doesn't produce a huge flow, but was quite adequate to fill the tires. It was doubly convenient for me because I used regular auto antifreeze and the pump was already connected to the 15 gallon sprayer tank which served as a perfect mixing vessel. I disconnected the pump outlet from the sprayer nozzles and ran a hose to the tire valve (core removed and tire jacked off the ground). Just dump antifreeze & water into the tank to mix, pump it in, pull hose to release air from tire, repeat as necessary. It took about 45 minutes per tire and was a piece of cake. You don't even necessarily need a pump. I've heard of people just using gravity feed with a pail up high and hose stuck in the bottom of it. Might take a little longer, but should work fine.
BTW, I also filled my front tires. I don't mow so don't care about hurting the turf. For me more weight is better and since the weight of the fluid is not supported by wheel bearings or axles (ie. no additional wear & tear), I figured why not ...
Oh yeah, a note about using auto antifreeze: Some don't like it because it is toxic and they have concerns about punctures. For my location and use, the risk of a puncture is almost nil. I refuse to use CaCl because of the possible rust issues, and I need something that won't freeze down to -40 deg or so. Up here the stores sell "summer" windshield washer fluid in the summer and "winter mix" in the winter (different methanol concentrations). I did my tires in the summer and the winter mix wasn't available at the time (and the summer stuff will freeze solid in the winter). Auto antifreeze is cheaper than the RV stuff, so that's the way I went.
I used the pump from my homemade sprayer rig. It doesn't produce a huge flow, but was quite adequate to fill the tires. It was doubly convenient for me because I used regular auto antifreeze and the pump was already connected to the 15 gallon sprayer tank which served as a perfect mixing vessel. I disconnected the pump outlet from the sprayer nozzles and ran a hose to the tire valve (core removed and tire jacked off the ground). Just dump antifreeze & water into the tank to mix, pump it in, pull hose to release air from tire, repeat as necessary. It took about 45 minutes per tire and was a piece of cake. You don't even necessarily need a pump. I've heard of people just using gravity feed with a pail up high and hose stuck in the bottom of it. Might take a little longer, but should work fine.
BTW, I also filled my front tires. I don't mow so don't care about hurting the turf. For me more weight is better and since the weight of the fluid is not supported by wheel bearings or axles (ie. no additional wear & tear), I figured why not ...
Oh yeah, a note about using auto antifreeze: Some don't like it because it is toxic and they have concerns about punctures. For my location and use, the risk of a puncture is almost nil. I refuse to use CaCl because of the possible rust issues, and I need something that won't freeze down to -40 deg or so. Up here the stores sell "summer" windshield washer fluid in the summer and "winter mix" in the winter (different methanol concentrations). I did my tires in the summer and the winter mix wasn't available at the time (and the summer stuff will freeze solid in the winter). Auto antifreeze is cheaper than the RV stuff, so that's the way I went.
wushaw
Elite Member
I used the same method as BGL990 did with winter blend washer fluid and it works great.
Henro
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<font color="blue">Need to look at something larger than a drill pump though. Any thoughts? </font>
Eddie,
I would ask how large the tires are that you want to fill...
The drill pump worked fine for me several times and I think it will pump about a gallon per minutes average, as the pressure in the tire builds to 10 or a bit more PSI. I was actually surprised how well those little pumps work.
The largerst tires I filled just took about 23 gallons each though...I guess if I were putting in a hundred gallons per tire I might want something that would pump faster... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Eddie,
I would ask how large the tires are that you want to fill...
The drill pump worked fine for me several times and I think it will pump about a gallon per minutes average, as the pressure in the tire builds to 10 or a bit more PSI. I was actually surprised how well those little pumps work.
The largerst tires I filled just took about 23 gallons each though...I guess if I were putting in a hundred gallons per tire I might want something that would pump faster... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif