70hp 4wd w/loader:

On rare ocassion, the locusts brush can get its way into our much smaller UTV tires, but the ocassion deer antler is also a possibility. Then there's the ballast benefit.

What do you fill your tires with? I'm thinking water/antifreeze in the rear and sealant (or nothing) in the front. Some swear by foam in the rear tires.

Foam is going to give you a rough to very, very rough ride. Also, foam leads to a lot of vibration that can cause things to come loose. I would look at forestry tires for the front and sealant in the rear.

I use airplane tires in front and forestry tires with sealant in rear. Like he said, foam makes for a rough azz ride .

I used to put water and a gallon of anti freeze windshield wiper fluid in all my tractor rear tires per recommendation by our John Deere dealership. The windshield wiper fluid keeps it from freezing or rusting your rims.
I wanted the extra weight for ballast as it definitely makes the tractor carry implements better and makes it more stable on slopes.

mhnatt - I'd strongly consider Liquitube. They have 2 models, liquid-ballast and standard liquid tube. Just search them on the web and you'll find them. We put the ballast in our rear tires (smaller 45 HP tractor) and did the standard LiquiTube in the front tires. Exceptional product. Doesn't rust rims, ballast allows the tractor to carry heavy loads on the front end loader much easier. You have to do some ballast calculations based on your tractor and wheel size and buy enough product to fill the rear tires. We run it in rough rock, mesquite, and pear and haven't had any leaks in 4-5 years. Basically good for the life of the tire.

Gunny comes in for yet another great tip! Thanks man!

ETA: and just saw Dr Boogs - good idea and I'll look that up!

Good post! Good info.

I came across some buzz on a product "Rim Guard". Weighs 11lbs/gal, non-corrosive (made from beet juice), and is viscous enough to provide a mild protection against small leaks.

Brings this thread to mind.

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3107467/1#discussion

Kind of depends what you are doing with your tractor I'm thinking. I have one tractor primarily used for shredding and I have sealant in that tractor. My other tractor that I use grading the road and discing with I have water/antifreeze in the rear tires. I do like the idea of sealant and factory ballast weights though.

I would love to put beet juice in mine, but that stuff is hella expensive.

I've been bouncing this idea around for a while, most likely going to go with one of the liquid sealants plus windshield wiper fluid for my rear tires. I should add right at 500lbs weight by doing that, which would make a massive difference in the performance of my tractor.

Only issue I see is that if I ever need to remove the rear tires it's going to be a massive job. It was bad enough putting them on when I swapped my ag tires out for the R4's. Doable, but will be a bear of a job.

Have done lots of liquid filled tires over the years. They are a pain in the butt when you get a flat, and always seem to rust, no matter what liquid goes in them.

As far as sealant, I've been told it is a great way to get your tire guy to hate you.

I am 100% for dry tires and cast iron wheel weights on the back

Your mileage may vary

We recommend wheel weights first. You don't loose your wheel weights when you get a flat tire. If tire ballast is needed we recommend beet juice. It dosen't freeze and is not corrosive.

I have found Taylor Foundry out of Wichita Falls pretty reasonable for iron weights if a guy wants to go that route.

whoa, weird reply to myself

EskimoJoe said:

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We recommend wheel weights first. You don't loose your wheel weights when you get a flat tire. If tire ballast is needed we recommend beet juice. It dosen't freeze and is not corrosive.

I have found Taylor Foundry out of Wichita Falls pretty reasonable for iron weights if a guy wants to go that route.

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Wheel weights are expensive as hell though, and especially for smaller tractors I don't think you can put enough on there to equal ballast filling tires.

For my little Kubota L3800, a pair of 67lb rear weights runs over $300. That's just dumb.

On smaller tractors the weights often weigh more than what water you can get in the tires. And unless you go with the very expensive ballast fill sealant you still have the leaking issues with just water filled tires.

Seems funny that wheel weights are expensive. Most farmsteads I see have piles of the darn things, though they may not fit anything not John Deere

I guess you could go old school. I used to see tractor wheels from the 30s and 40s. Where the wheel rim was taken off, laid flat, and filled with concrete. I bet it was a job getting them back upright and bolted on

Gunny456 said:

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On smaller tractors the weights often weigh more than what water you can get in the tires. And unless you go with the very expensive ballast fill sealant you still have the leaking issues with just water filled tires.

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I can get roughly 250lbs of liquid ballast in each of my tires. I cannot even come close, to my knowledge anyway, of getting that much on each tire with wheel weights.

I don't have the issue with puncture where I'm at that others do. It's still possible, but a much lower probability due to different terrain and vegetation.

What liquid ballast did you use? What in your opinion were the pros and cons of it?
If I understood you right it was not a sealant type or was it?
TIA

Gunny456 said:

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What liquid ballast did you use? What in your opinion were the pros and cons of it?
If I understood you right it was not a sealant type or was it?
TIA

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I haven't, something that is on my list of things to do. My little Kubota is a workhorse, but it has an aggravatingly light rear end. I pretty much have to have an implement of some sort on it to be able to use the loader to any appreciable degree. Most of the time that isn't an issue but sometimes it is aggravating as hell.

For that weight it would be windshield washer fluid. Each tire can hold anywhere between 26 and 29 gallons based on what I've read. So from about 425lbs total up to around 500lbs total.

If i were to fork out for beet juice I could get an extra ~130 lbs out of the same volume. But given that it is a smaller tractor and I don't need to worry a whole lot about freezes down here, doesn't make sense to spend the money on beet juice. Plus it isn't easy to come by down here and I'm far too lazy to put a lot of effort into sourcing 60 gallons of beet juice from somewhere not close by.

I'd most likely go ahead and throw in something like the Liquitube just as an insurance policy against anything that I do come across that might be able to puncture the tires.

Thanks schmellba. I really appreciate it. Great information. I have an older Case 480 D and would like to add some weight. The wheel ballast weights for it are stupid expensive. I gotta figure out something better but got honey locust thorn trees.