Filling tires with ballast at home.

[Lavender Valley]

Here's another example of filling tires with liquid ballast at home. I wanted to do this at home mostly because taking the tractor (or even just the wheels) to a shop to have them fill them is expensive and time consuming. Spoiler alert - I was able to fill them at home in about 3 hrs which is less than my drive time to the closest tire dealer.

First was the selection of the ballast liquid. I considered three alternatives, all of which cost about the same $$/lb for the material:

- Beet juice, which I have in my other tractor. But it's just too messy, and I couldn't find a source to buy it for home installation. It's a little heavier per gal, so more total weight, but not enough to overcome the down sides.

- Windshield washer fluid: In small quantities, this is inexpensive ($1/gal),But buying 165 gal jugs is just not practical. In 55 gal drums the cost is more like $4 per gal, the same at beet juice or RV antifreeze. Also, windshield washer fluid is toxic, and I really want something that is non toxic. Weight is the same as water.

- RV antifreeze: Weight is the same as water, and it's non toxic, so this worked the best for me. I bought 3 55 gal drums from NAPA in a fall sale.

Next is the pump/transfer setup. I started with one of the readily available adapters to connect a garden hose to a tire valve. But after that I did things a bit differently. I didn't want to use the little push button valve on the adapter to bleed out air because some amount of liquid would also come out and make a mess. I also wanted to be able to monitor the pressure in the tire so I'd know when to stop pumping and let some air out. The result was this assembly of hose fittings. The branch and hose that goes to the tire adapter is also connected to the pressure gauge to monitor tire pressure. Then there are two hose connections with valves. One is liquid coming from the pump, and the other is a drain back to the drum. To fill, you close the drain valve and open the pump valve. Then after 10-15 minutes, close the pump valve and open the drain valve. That lets the air our of the tire, and any fluid pushed out just goes right back into the drum.

This also allowed the connection to the tire to just be a single hose so there isn't a lot of weight hanging off the valve. It also moves all the controls for filling and bleeding to a comfortable location rather than crammed between the wheel and rear end of the tractor.

For a suction pickup in the drum, I cobbled together a piece of copper tube and fittings to a hose that connects to the pump.

Then it was just a matter of sitting around while running the pump, and pausing to occasionally bleed out the air.

You also need to jack up the tractor to take the weight of the machine, then let all the air out of the tire. Then fill it, and top off with air to the final operating pressure. I put 82.5 gal in each tire, which is 680 lbs per wheel. Total time about 3 hrs.

Other than the tire valve adapter, I had all this stuff lying around, so my cost was just the cost of the antifreeze, and my time.

I create a vacuum in the tyre by letting the air out, lower the jack as far as the tyre will allow, and put the fluid hose adapter on and raise the jack, the fluid will enter the tyre on its own. This can be repeated by turning the valve to the top when lowering the jack.

 

[Spanner]

All very interesting.

 

[hayden]

The last i knew Bio-Ballast a competitor to Rim Guard would ship direct to individuals.

I sent them an inquiry when I was researching my tires and I never even got a response from them. That's a pet peeve of mine, and usually causes me to push the company to the bottom of the list.

 

[not2old]

Last time I was at an auto wrecker, they had filtered used anti-freeze for $1.00 a gallon.

 

[garry1p]

I have debated about this and since I think you would be better off long term I would want to have tubes.
Installing tubes is a non starter for DIY, so I will probably go with a 3 point hitch box and sand.

 

[chim]

Here's a method to check the level of the fluid in the tire. A warm humid morning following a cold couple of nights.

 

[EdGooding]

It also says that RimGuard is not DIY friendly because it requires a pump. Well, all of them require a pump. RimGuard isn't DIY friendly because you can't buy it for self-install.

Back in the day, we used gravity to load tires with a calcium chloride mix, so that would work for RV antifreeze or windshield washer fluid mixes. Obviously faster with a pump of some type but not required.

10-4 on AI - it is just a starting point for an answer. To quote a famous President, "Trust, but verify."

 

[WinterDeere]

To quote a famous President, "Trust, but verify."

As much as I was a fan of the guy, this statement never made any sense. These two words are antonyms, trust is belief without verification, and the need to verify implies a lack of trust.

It just shows you what a great politician and eloquent speaker he was, that people would hear that and nod along as if it actually made sense, let alone still repeat it 40 years later!

 

[doccheez]

Has anybody thought of or tried using plasma cutting fluid to fill their tires? It is non toxic and is generally mixed in a 20 to 1 ratio. I would think this would inhibit corrosion of the rims. It is about $200 for a five gallon bucket. so the cost would be about $2.00 a gallon. I realize that it is not going to provide the extra weight like beet juice, but it should be a safe alternative and seems like it is better than wiper fluid for sure.

 

[EdGooding]

As much as I was a fan of the guy, this statement never made any sense. These two words are antonyms, trust is belief without verification, and the need to verify implies a lack of trust.

It just shows you what a great politician and eloquent speaker he was, that people would hear that and nod along as if it actually made sense, let alone still repeat it 40 years later!

It does make sense if you do not interpret the words from the perspective of a grammar ****. Having changed the oil successfully in my tractor many times over a number of decades, I trust my ability to change the oil and replace it with the correct amount of oil, but I still verify that by checking the dipstick after the oil change.

 

[Highlandr]

Looking at the URL at the bottom of the attached ballast weight chart, it looks like I swiped it from here about 9 years ago. Which is about when I got the new rubber for the NH.

 

[JRH02]

Has anybody thought of or tried using plasma cutting fluid to fill their tires? It is non toxic and is generally mixed in a 20 to 1 ratio. I would think this would inhibit corrosion of the rims. It is about $200 for a five gallon bucket. so the cost would be about $2.00 a gallon. I realize that it is not going to provide the extra weight like beet juice, but it should be a safe alternative and seems like it is better than wiper fluid for sure.

Why not use the right stuff?

 

[TMGT]

Has anybody thought of or tried using plasma cutting fluid to fill their tires? It is non toxic and is generally mixed in a 20 to 1 ratio. I would think this would inhibit corrosion of the rims. It is about $200 for a five gallon bucket. so the cost would be about $2.00 a gallon. I realize that it is not going to provide the extra weight like beet juice, but it should be a safe alternative and seems like it is better than wiper fluid for sure.

Are you talking about water table additive or the torch coolant? I dont believe either one that I've used has anti-freeze properties. Also they are more expensive then some of the other options out there.

Sent from my SM-S921U using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[dnw64]

Here's another example of filling tires with liquid ballast at home. I wanted to do this at home mostly because taking the tractor (or even just the wheels) to a shop to have them fill them is expensive and time consuming. Spoiler alert - I was able to fill them at home in about 3 hrs which is less than my drive time to the closest tire dealer.

First was the selection of the ballast liquid. I considered three alternatives, all of which cost about the same $$/lb for the material:

- Beet juice, which I have in my other tractor. But it's just too messy, and I couldn't find a source to buy it for home installation. It's a little heavier per gal, so more total weight, but not enough to overcome the down sides.

- Windshield washer fluid: In small quantities, this is inexpensive ($1/gal),But buying 165 gal jugs is just not practical. In 55 gal drums the cost is more like $4 per gal, the same at beet juice or RV antifreeze. Also, windshield washer fluid is toxic, and I really want something that is non toxic. Weight is the same as water.

- RV antifreeze: Weight is the same as water, and it's non toxic, so this worked the best for me. I bought 3 55 gal drums from NAPA in a fall sale.

Next is the pump/transfer setup. I started with one of the readily available adapters to connect a garden hose to a tire valve. But after that I did things a bit differently. I didn't want to use the little push button valve on the adapter to bleed out air because some amount of liquid would also come out and make a mess. I also wanted to be able to monitor the pressure in the tire so I'd know when to stop pumping and let some air out. The result was this assembly of hose fittings. The branch and hose that goes to the tire adapter is also connected to the pressure gauge to monitor tire pressure. Then there are two hose connections with valves. One is liquid coming from the pump, and the other is a drain back to the drum. To fill, you close the drain valve and open the pump valve. Then after 10-15 minutes, close the pump valve and open the drain valve. That lets the air our of the tire, and any fluid pushed out just goes right back into the drum.





This also allowed the connection to the tire to just be a single hose so there isn't a lot of weight hanging off the valve. It also moves all the controls for filling and bleeding to a comfortable location rather than crammed between the wheel and rear end of the tractor.







For a suction pickup in the drum, I cobbled together a piece of copper tube and fittings to a hose that connects to the pump.




Then it was just a matter of sitting around while running the pump, and pausing to occasionally bleed out the air.




You also need to jack up the tractor to take the weight of the machine, then let all the air out of the tire. Then fill it, and top off with air to the final operating pressure. I put 82.5 gal in each tire, which is 680 lbs per wheel. Total time about 3 hrs.

Other than the tire valve adapter, I had all this stuff lying around, so my cost was just the cost of the antifreeze, and my time.

I don't know how far Pete's Tire Bark ranges - I assume it's mostly NorthEast. But they will come to your location and fill your tires (or do a buncha other stuff) for no service call charge. In fact, I had them come fill my tires with Rim Guard, and when they got there they told me that the PO had already filled them - still no charge! I had them come pick up my front tires to foam fill them (can't do that on site), and they didn't charge me for anything but the fill.

 

[Gord Baker]

I don't know how far Pete's Tire Bark ranges - I assume it's mostly NorthEast. But they will come to your location and fill your tires (or do a buncha other stuff) for no service call charge. In fact, I had them come fill my tires with Rim Guard, and when they got there they told me that the PO had already filled them - still no charge! I had them come pick up my front tires to foam fill them (can't do that on site), and they didn't charge me for anything but the fill.

Mounting a 40gal plastic Barrel filled with concrete, with connections to the 3ph ( I used a drawbar with ends shoved through tight holes near the bottom and a toplink and drawbar out the rear, that I had available I was able to add several hundred pounds (150 per cu ft?) of weight Plus distance from Centre Line to the rear. I left it a few inches below the top to hold chain etc.