I need to put in ballasts on my tractor. There is quite a bit of variation depending on who you talk to. I think I would be fine with just liquid weight and do not think I need the extra weight of Calcium Chloride. So I was thinking about using antifreeze. If I go that route anyone have suggestions on a proper ratio of antifreeze to water? 50/50 would be pretty expensive. That would put me at about 20 gallons of antifreeze per back tire and about 6 gallons per front tire. That would be over $400 for the project just in antifreeze. Suggestions?

If you still live where your profile says you do, water is all you need.

Are you sure you need it? It's a huge PITA. Leads to rusting of the rims.

I prefer wheel weights that are (relatively) easy to take on and off and don't require special tools to fix a flat.

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Agree

The antifreeze added really seems to keep the rusting to minimal or zero.
A 1:4 ratio (antifreeze to water) will protect down to about 10deg F.
Most of todays "weekend farmer" size tractors will greatly benefit from the extra weight, for any kind of "pulling" work (grading, discing, etc), as the HP/weight ratio is quite high.

Will someone tell a city boy why you put water in the tires.

Water adds weight to the drive wheels resulting in better traction for pulling or pushing things

And if you're using a front end loader or other high center of gravity equipment, it help keep you stable.

Currently using a rig like this with NO water ballast, even though it can be used with ballast in front and rear wheels.





When I was a kid, I would see tractors from the 30s and 40s with concrete on the rear wheels. They would take the wheels off and lay them on the ground, and fill the area between rim and hub with concrete. When it hardened, they would put them back on and have permanent ballast.

Often this was a second set of wheels for heavy use, and they would switch back to spoked wheels for lighter work like cultivation.



[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 8/15/2010 3:12p).]

More traction.

Agree with 77 on wheel weights but if you use water there is a cheap filler that fit on a garden hose that lets the air out while you put water in.

similar to putting sand over the rear axle in an empty truck?

Back in the cold snap in '83 or '84 all the tractor tires froze... you couldn't get a tire tube in the state of Texas.

I'm planning on running a hydraulic pecan harvester with my m6800 kubota this season so I'm going to get slapped around in the river bottoms unless I put some water in those suckers. My water has so much rust in it I'm really only interested in antifreeze for the corrosion inhibitors.