Why not sugar water in tires instead of beet juice?

[etpm]

I have seen the ads for beet juice for tires. I have not been able to find pricing. In order to get pricing I must fill out a form with all my info and then I will get a quote. But after speaking to a few folks they spent over 300 bucks per 11.2 x 24 tires. I assume beet juice is used because of all the sugar dissolved into the beet juice. Looking at my Yanmar YM2310 manual it says the tires can be loaded with 235 pounds of a calcium chloride and water solution. Water will dissolve, by weight, pretty much the same amount of sucrose, which is table sugar. Since water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon if I was to make a saturated solution of sugar and water I would need to buy 235 pounds of sugar. Really though, because of the way sugar is packaged in bulk I would need to buy 250 pounds. A quick look online resulted in me finding sugar for 80 cents per pound delivered. So 200 bucks for 250 pounds of sugar. But sugar dissolves 2.4 times, as much, by weight, as calcium chloride into water. So I would need to use more water and less sugar to get to the 235 pound weight shown in the manual. It looks like I can just add sugar water to my innertubes instead of beet juice. Is there a good reason(s) to not use sugar water instead of beet juice? Will it eat up my tubes? I don't get it. Since the sugar water is way less corrosive than calcium chloride I wonder why I have never seen a sugar water solution being mentioned for adding weight. Anybody here have any info on this?
Thanks,
Eric

 

[jyoutz]

My dealer filled my tires with a new product named bio-ballast made of corn. He said it’s far less messy than beet juice, cheaper, and non toxic. I don’t know what it costs; it was wrapped into the deal.

Bio-Ballast® - EnviroTech Services

envirotechservices.com

 

[stuckmotor]

There are plenty of small tires around to test the sugar solution on.

 

[von-mil]

Possibly, depending on your climate. I don't know if adding sugar to water will lower the freeze point.

 

[Thomas]

Dealer told me it's because winter cold temps also.

 

[stuckmotor]

Does anyone here know the result of driving on tires with ice inside?

 

[Have tractor did travel]

etpm You've discovered something really interesting. From google search

At what temp will sugar water freeze?

If it is pure water and pure sugar (glucose+fuctose) then it will freeze at or about 22F or -5.5C. At 2:1 it will freeze at 12.5F or -11C.J

A 2:1 ratio would work for most of America

Stuckmotor - don't know what it'll do to the rubber, but it'd make for a rough ride

 

[rScotty]

You might want to try your tractor without loading the tires. Tire fluid isn't always an advantage. Whether loading tires is an advantage depends on your soil & what you do with your tractor.

Farmers using their tractors for Ag use in for plowing ground often have the tires loaded. Harvesters rarely, and machines used for construction projects almost never.
rScotty

 

[LouNY]

Does anyone here know the result of driving on tires with ice inside?

It will shread tubes and slice and break sidewalls.

 

[stuckmotor]

The clear liquid is municipal tap water. The one with the brown tint is a 50:50 mix with sugar from the grocery store. The bag didn't state whether beet or cane.
After 1 hour and 44 minutes in the freezer The straight water is frozen on top and at the sides. The 50:50 mix is syrupy but not frozen. I don't know the temp in the freezer.