Ballasts on subcompact tractors/ loading tires.

Jboyorak · May 18, 2020

Good morning,

I tried to search but I couldn't find my answer. I own a GC1723 MF subcompact tractors, and have been getting conflicting information on the benefits of tire ballasts for it.

Multiple MF dealers have told me that it's not worth the trade off. One dealer mentioned the wheels can have a tendency to spin in the tire, another said it doesn't make much difference and using proper ballasts on the front and rear attachments is the way to go. I also have been in situations where there isn't enough power from the tractor to push me up an incline, and I would assume that a weighted tire/wheel is going to create more resistance.

When shopping for equipment, the Kubota dealer offered to fill the tires for free without me even mentioning it, which makes me assume that this is very common and must serve a purpose on the subcompact lines. I see many other subcompact owners load their tires as well.

Is loading our tires on the subcompact line actually worth the time and energy?

shooterdon · May 18, 2020

I have loaded tires and ballast. I do not mow....weight is my very good friend.

PILOON · May 18, 2020

You goofed, should have taken the tires loaded from that dealer.
Sure an under inflated tire might spin on the rim but that's rare.

I'd venture to guess that 90% of tractor owners add weight be it in the tires or on the 3 point.
Heck many that do snow add rimgard as well as chains plus carry a snow blower.

MF RED in MT · May 18, 2020

Jboyorak,

Welcome to TBN.

I believe any tractor dealership that is not willing to assist their customers with "Rimguard" tire ballast need to correct their thinking and help the customers.

I had my 4 tires filled with this beet juice from a local Rimguard approved tire shop about 10 years ago and the tractor does feel more stable with my cab.

I know that my small tires do not add much weight with the filled tires, but I had all 4 tires filled anyway.

I also have a plastic rim insert that is filled with concrete that adds a little more weight.

If I felt I needed more, then I think I would look into extending the wheel base with after market wheel spacers.

These dealers would rather try to sell you fixed weights front/rear and just take more money out of their customers pockets.

Here is the link to Rimguard for you to gather more information:

Good luck,

KC

Rim Guard - The Original Liquid Tire Ballast

5030 · May 18, 2020

PILOON said:
You goofed, should have taken the tires loaded from that dealer.
Sure an under inflated tire might spin on the rim but that's rare.

I'd venture to guess that 90% of tractor owners add weight be it in the tires or on the 3 point.
Heck many that do snow add rimgard as well as chains plus carry a snow blower.

I'm in the 10%. I don't believe in loading tires at all because of what I do with mine. Compaction from loaded tires on hay ground is a big no, it crushes hay plants for one and can rut hayfields for another. Last spring bought a used M9 and first thing I did was have the farm tire service come out, suck the ballast out of the tires, dismount them both and replace the tubes. Never had a traction issue using the units around the farm and if I lack tractive effort, I slip them into FWA and in an extreme case, lock the front wheels or the rears, I have differential locks on both ends. I rarely use them. In fact I rarely use FWA. On both my units, the rear centers are cast iron and the wheels, tires and centers weigh almost 900 pounds each.

jeff9366 · May 18, 2020

The tires front and rear on a subcompact tractor have so little internal volume that filling them with liquid does not make much difference. Filling two rears adds only about 130 pounds. (slight variation in tires)

Adding iron wheel weights to the rear wheels will be more effective.

Most effective of all is to carry Front End Loader (FEL) counterbalance on the Three Point Hitch. As TPH counterbalance extends beyond the rear axle cantilevered counterbalance is more effective pound-for-pound than rear wheel ballast at holding down rear end due to LEVERAGE of counterbalance.

What shortcoming on your GC1723 is making you second guess yourself?

kenmbz · May 18, 2020

There are times when I would like filled tires for carrying large objects, even with the BH on, or for pulling roots etc.
I would worry about lawn damage with heavier wheels, since I need to go across grass to get to my woods and most areas where I use the tractor.
Where are you located? Do you have mostly hills or flats? Lots of woods or open fields.
Carry a lot of heavy objects in the FEL?
Th next upgrade for me is probably wheel spacers as I have a lot of slope on my land.

i7win7 · May 18, 2020

I have a 23hp BX with FEL unloaded tires goes everywhere I want. Use it to mow, till and roll lawn. Also have 26hp B with SSQA FEL loaded tires and use it for everything. If I encounter something that requires real power (ie pallet with 1 ton of weight) I have to drag out the old Ford 4000 also loaded tires. The lighter BX is 1st tractor used in spring to prevent lawn damage. Is it too early to consider used compact tractor or 50-70's era utility tractor as backup equipment?

Jboyorak · May 18, 2020

Thank you for the responses everyone.

jeff9366 said:
The tires front and rear on a subcompact tractor have so little internal volume that filling them with liquid does not make much difference. Filling two rears adds only about 130 pounds. (slight variation in tires)

Adding iron wheel weights to the rear wheels will be more effective.

Most effective of all is to carry Front End Loader (FEL) counterbalance on the Three Point Hitch. As TPH counterbalance extends beyond the rear axle cantilevered counterbalance is more effective pound-for-pound than rear wheel ballast at holding down rear end due to LEVERAGE of counterbalance.

What shortcoming on your GC1723 is making you second guess yourself?

I am not really having any issues that I know of. But, I am so new to tractors, I don't know if I'd even know if I was having problems. I have seen a lot of people load their subcompacts tires, and been questioning if I'd actually benefit from it or not.

jeff9366 · May 18, 2020

Jboyorak said:
I am not really having any issues that I know of. But, I am so new to tractors, I don't know if I'd even know if I was having problems. I have seen a lot of people load their subcompacts tires, and been questioning if I'd actually benefit from it or not.

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Neophyte tractor shoppers are often intimidated by instability of tractors with small front wheels and large rear wheels, therefore frequently purchase tractors too light, too small for long term satisfaction. Often subcompacts are gussied up with wheel weights, SSQA FEL bucket and grapples, bucket hooks, work lights, etc. making a subcompact into a big-boy's tractor in the newbie's mind. The options are lipstick on a baby pig.

Bare tractor weight is the tractor metric that best defines tractor capability..

Five reasons owner/operators trade up from Subcompact Tractors:
More tractor weight.
More FEL lift capacity.
More ground clearance.
Three-range (3) HST (Lower LOW, Higher, HIGH) ~~ rather than two-range (2) HST.
More tractor power.

Within subcompact and compact tractor categories, a significant tractor capability increase requires a bare tractor weight increase of 50%. It takes a 100% increase in bare tractor weight to elicit MY-OH-MY!

DMW · May 19, 2020

Most SCUTs are used for mowing, the extra weight will cause more ruts. Unless you are working on a slope, the loaded rears won't give much benefit. A proper counter weight (ballast box or other) will be of better use, as it actually reduces the load on the front axle when using the FEL. I did foam fill my fronts to give some added weight when using the rear snowblower for better steering control.

FTG-05 · May 19, 2020

MF RED in MT said:
Jboyorak,

Welcome to TBN.

I believe any tractor dealership that is not willing to assist their customers with "Rimguard" tire ballast need to correct their thinking and help the customers.

[snip]
Good luck,

KC

Rim Guard - The Original Liquid Tire Ballast

You can't make that assumption - BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN A POSTER (THE OP) FAILED TO PROVIDE HIS LOCATION. So if he's from MT like you, easy peasey. If he's in FL, fresh out of luck.

Rimguard isn't available everywhere. Here in SC TN, the closest location is 120 miles north in KY. Of course, it also doesn't help that Rimguard refuses to do what virtually every business on the planet does and tell you where they you can buy Rimguard and have it installed. No, you have to call or e-mail them. Retarded.

Having said that, if I could RG here, I'd get it in a heart beat. The only real downside is the cost and inconvenience of having to take your tractor or your tires to a Rimguard dealer. Which, by the by, is another retarded decision by Rimguard. Why can't I order it in 55 gallon drums off of Amazon?

MF RED in MT · May 19, 2020

FTG-05 said:
You can't make that assumption - BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN A POSTER (THE OP) FAILED TO PROVIDE HIS LOCATION. So if he's from MT like you, easy peasey. If he's in FL, fresh out of luck.

Rimguard isn't available everywhere. Here in SC TN, the closest location is 120 miles north in KY. Of course, it also doesn't help that Rimguard refuses to do what virtually every business on the planet does and tell you where they you can buy Rimguard and have it installed. No, you have to call or e-mail them. Retarded.

Having said that, if I could RG here, I'd get it in a heart beat. The only real downside is the cost and inconvenience of having to take your tractor or your tires to a Rimguard dealer. Which, by the by, is another retarded decision by Rimguard. Why can't I order it in 55 gallon drums off of Amazon?

Sorry if I hit a nerve because I live in Montana.

I had to remove my tractor tires and travel 65 miles to have RimGuard installed.

I did some research for RimGuard and this is the best I could come up with for TN:

KC

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Organic-100-Beet-Juice-32-fl-oz/10452481

FTG-05 · May 20, 2020

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

It wasn't about you and/or MT. It was about the OP not telling us his location that requires location-specific advice. Plus about Rimguard's retarded marketing dept.

Jboyorak · May 20, 2020

FTG-05 said:
:laughing::laughing::laughing:

It wasn't about you and/or MT. It was about the OP not telling us his location that requires location-specific advice. Plus about Rimguard's retarded marketing dept.

Not sure at all how my locations has anything to do with the question "Is putting **** in your scut really worth it?"

MF RED in MT · May 21, 2020

FTG-05 said:
:laughing::laughing::laughing:

It wasn't about you and/or MT. It was about the OP not telling us his location that requires location-specific advice. Plus about Rimguard's retarded marketing dept.

Again, sorry, I seemed to have just glossed over your capitalized words.

As I can remember, when I searched RimGuard over 10 years ago their website, I think they listed the tire shops and it wasn't top secret information back then?

I do not even know if the tire shop I used is still filling tires with RimGuard?

It would be interesting to know how many end providers they have now and also back 10 years ago,

KC

FTG-05 · May 21, 2020

Jboyorak said:
Not sure at all how my locations has anything to do with the question "Is putting **** in your scut really worth it?"

I was responding to another member who made an assumption; an assumption that is based on location.

To whit: Rimguard is readily available where it freezes. It's not where it doesn't.

To make a recommendation on what kind of ballast to use is location dependent. This is based, of course, on the fact that is usually far better to ballast than it is to not ballast. Where you are located determines the kind of ballast that will work - for your location.

This is but one simple example of how advice is location-specific; there are many others.

I hope this helps.

FTG-05 · May 21, 2020

6 Reasons to Liquid Ballast your Kubota’s Tires | OrangeTractorTalks

Comparing Types of Liquid Tire Ballast | OrangeTractorTalks

How to Ballast your Kubota’s Tires | OrangeTractorTalks

For your rear tires, you'll gain ~90 lbs/tire or 180 lbs weight total.

FTG-05 · May 21, 2020

MF RED in MT said:
Again, sorry, I seemed to have just glossed over your capitalized words.

As I can remember, when I searched RimGuard over 10 years ago their website, I think they listed the tire shops and it wasn't top secret information back then?

I do not even know if the tire shop I used is still filling tires with RimGuard?

It would be interesting to know how many end providers they have now and also back 10 years ago,

KC

I just looked at the RG link again. Yep, to find a dealer, you have to e-mail or call. For e-mail, they want your name, address, e-mail address (duh) in order to make the request. All they need to answer the questions is zip code and an e-mail address. Do I have to give all that information out to find a Walmart, CVS, Autozone, Publix, Johnny's Pizza.... well you get the idea.