This general topic has come up before, although not quite in this guise.
What we're talking about here is what I call the "dumbell effect" -- no offense to anyone involved in these discussions.
Imagine a 5' long weightlifting bar. Pick it up. Pirouette like a ballerina. Now put two 25 lb weights on that bar, but in the center. Pirouette again, and you won't see much difference from the first time. Now move those weights out to the ends of the bar and pirouette a third time. You'll find it harder to start spinning and also harder to stop once you get started. This is rotational inertia.
Wheel weights will increase the rotational inertia of the wheels much more than liquid in the tires unless you are really moving at a pretty good clip since the liquid will tend to stay in the bottom portion of the tire and the weights must spin with the wheel.
Both will increase the inertia of the tractor with respect to rotating about the longitudinal (front to back) axis-- also known as roll. Weight on the ends of the axles will resist the start of a roll, but once a roll is started, it will also tend to keep it going.
Similarly, the inertia about the vertical axis is impacted by mass hung outside the wheelbase on the ends of the machine. If this motion is parallel to the ground, it is known as yaw -- skidding in car parlance. If it's perpendicular to the ground, it's known as pitch. A tractor with all the weight in the middle will pitch, yaw, or roll easily. It will also stop that motion easily, like a mid-engine sports car. The more weight we put at the outside edges of the machine, the more we decrease the tendency to change the way it is moving in any of the three directions -- it's harder to start the motion but also harder to stop it once it is started.
So, getting to the comment about the steel weights, I agree. They will increase the rotational inertia of the axle. However, I also think the comments about tractors being designed with full knowledge and expectation of the use of weights in mind. In general, tractors being used in their intended and designed manner will benefit from the increased inertia that comes from adding mass at the sides and ends, which really means greater stability. Just don't overdo it. The manufacturers have recommendations for weight added, either front, back, or wheels.
I imagine that like most things mechanical, these recommendations are probably less than half the amount needed to cause failure in the components during pre-manufacture testing, but that doesn't mean they can be blithely ignored. The sudden stresses induced by unseen obstacles can multiply the effect of the extra weight and cause components to fail.
As a wise man once said," Moderation is a good thing, unless you get too much of it." /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif