Tire weighting liquid ?

[Brian VT]

I've heard of using calcium chloride. I also heard it's corrosive.
A friend said he uses windshield washer fluid. Would this be corrosive ? Would it be much lighter than the calcium chloride mix ?
This would be for my old lawn tractor that I'm turning into a firewood wood hauler. I'm modifying some old car chains to fit too.

 

[LLigetfa]

WWF is much lighter and just mildly corrosive. There is a product called RimGuard that is a concentrated beet juice.

 

[Brian VT]

That looks like the way to go. Thanks.

 

[flyingcow]

Would you gain much by filling the tires? if these are just garden tractor tires i would think you need to look at wheel weights or something of that type. A gallon of WWF won't be much more/less than 9lbs, be curious how many gallons your tires will hold.

 

[Brian VT]

Yah, it's probably not much but I figure it's cheap and might help a bit.
The rears are 23"x9 1/2"x12". Might get 2 gallons in there ?
Won't be much in the fronts. I might get weights there too.

 

[Jags]

Hold off on the fronts, unless you "need" it (i.e front end wants to come off the ground.) If bouncing around any kind of rough terrain, adding weight to the front axle should only be used if it has to.

I saw a guy make his own tire weights once. He took long bolts and put them through some holes that were in the tire rim and double nutted them to hold them in place. Laid the rim on its side and lined with aluminum foil. Filled with mixed cement and allowed to dry. Now he has weights that are also "removable". I thought it was pretty interesting.

 

[flyingcow]

Yah, it's probably not much but I figure it's cheap and might help a bit.
The rears are 23"x9 1/2"x12". Might get 2 gallons in there ?
Won't be much in the fronts. I might get weights there too.

You're right its' worth a shot. those are bigger tires than I was figuring. But it might be just what you need, the chains will help more, but both loaded tires and chains can't go wrong. Loaded with calcium would be heavier, how much I don't know. Call a tire dealer in an agricultural area, they should be able to tell you roughly how much the calcium helps, tell 'em your tire size. The couple of old(full sized) tractors I have are loaded w/calcium, filled over 75%. Good advice from jags on the front tires. But sounds like you got a good sized tractor there, not an old Murray that I have.

 

[Highbeam]

People fill with lots of stuff including straight water in warmer climates. Some use antifreeze plus water and some use the WWF. It's a freeze protection thing. I wouldn't bother with mower tires. The side effects are that if you spring a leak you will be spewing some sort of nasty liquid all over the woods. Also, when checking the tire pressure you'll have to swing the valve stem to the top to prevent squirting liquid.

 

[Brian VT]

People fill with lots of stuff including straight water in warmer climates. Some use antifreeze plus water and some use the WWF. It's a freeze protection thing. I wouldn't bother with mower tires. The side effects are that if you spring a leak you will be spewing some sort of nasty liquid all over the woods. Also, when checking the tire pressure you'll have to swing the valve stem to the top to prevent squirting liquid.

Rim Guard is non-toxic, even edible, and weighs close to what a c.c. mix does. It also has a lower freezing point than w.w.f.

 

[savageactor7]

Our first couple of tractors had filled tires. Calcium on one...that rusted the rims and antifreeze in the other. Back in the 80's we stopped filling the tires and just keep chains on year around. That eliminated a lot of tire ruts and we got stuck way less often too.

Brain you don't mention what you need the extra weight for...is it for pulling a plow?

 

[Wallyworld]

Propylene glycol is used also

 

[Brian VT]

Brain you don't mention what you need the extra weight for...is it for pulling a plow?

Nope. Just for pulling a firewood trailer around the woods. The chains will probably get it as good as it's gonna get.
I'm only 160 lbs., and filling the wheels is cheap and easy, so I thought it might help a little bit..
I dunno. Maybe it's not even worth the effort for 40 lbs. ?

 

[Gooserider]

If you haven't already done so, I'd swap the "turf" tires for something with a more aggressive tread.

As to weighting, another idea I've seen mentioned is to use barbell weights that are drilled in the appropriate spots... More weight per volume than concrete, removable, and you can even adjust the weight if needed... There was one guy over on one of the tractor forums that had what I thought was a really neat setup - If I correctly understood what he did, he got a second rear axle and cut it in half, so as to make two stub axles with a tire mounting plate on one end, then used longer bolts to sandwich the wheels between the plates on the tractor, and the plates on the stub axle so that he ended up with an extended axle on each side. He would then slide as many barbell disk weights onto the stub axles as he felt needed for a job, and clamp them on with standard bar weight clamps...

Gooserider

 

[Rowski]

Rim Guard is a great choice. I think its the heaviest per gallon, most dense. A little sticky.

Doesn't taste bad either!

I don't have is anything small. My NH 2120 came from the dealer with calcium. After about 2 years the water valve rotted off. At that time the nearest place was in Keene NH. So I drove down with some 55 gallon drums and got enough for tractor. I filled them myself with a pump for a drill, took a while but it did it. My NH TN70DA was going to have calcium. I said no way! I take care of the ballast on my own. On the way back from pickup I stopped at a Case dealer and they did it for me. I have not had any trouble since. Stays fluid at -40*F. No rotted water valves or cores.

My tractor I have never ran without ballast in the wheels, I have front end loaders, so I can't say if does get better traction. I've been told it does. I've also been told it doesn't. Traction has a lot to do with total weight, among many other things. I say it can't hurt provided you have enough HP available.

 

[savageactor7]

Just for pulling a firewood trailer around the woods. The chains will probably get it as good as it's gonna get.
I'm only 160 lbs., and filling the wheels is cheap and easy, so I thought it might help a little bit..
I dunno. Maybe it's not even worth the effort for 40 lbs. ?

Oh hell yeah if your just pulling a loaded wood trailer chains will be fine. Just so you know Brian the bigger the trailer tire the easier the pull too.

Back in the day we cut in the woods and hauled rounds to the backyard to split and stack. I cobbled a trailer from the front end of a van w 14" tires and planks of hemlock. Those tires could transport heavy loads of wood easily with just a 10hp tractor. I'm guessing it figured out to a cubic forth of a cord. Doesn't sound like much but if your snaking threw 1500' of wetland and all of a sudden your not getting stuck and making production it makes a big difference...couldn't be done without chains though.

 

[LLigetfa]

If you have easy access to RimGuard, go for it. Every little bit helps and putting weight in the tires doesn't affect the bearings and driveline as much. Cast iron barbell weights are not hard to attach either and if you want to cast concrete weights, get some used lead weights from a tire shop to toss in.

 

[Brian VT]

I put the new wood getter to the test today. I had to haul rounds uphill. The 1st trip I loaded the trailer full and went for it.
The tires (with chains) ended up spinning on the way up. I found I had to only load the front of the trailer so there would be weight on the tongue.
I guess some wheel weight would've helped. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll start with the Rim Guard if I can find some.

 

[Gomez]

:coolsmile:

I found there are several good IPAs that keep make an excellent ballast source.
(Just don't bother installing it in the tires.)
They keep me from getting below 180 pounds.
It's a win-win.

 

[LLigetfa]

I found there are several good IPAs that keep make an excellent ballast source.
(Just don't bother installing it in the tires.)

India Pale Ale?

 

[Brian VT]

LOL. I drink way too much beer (4-8 per day) but I've never been more than 165 lbs. I can't gain a pound to save my life so I guess I need some wheel weight.
I make Porter or Old Ale when I brew. IPA is nice. I like Harpoon's. At the rate I go through it, though, I usually buy LaBatt's 50 or Genessee or PBR.