Another liquid tire question

[Catoosa]

Really have no desire to have liquid filled tires as I do allot of mowing and the Ag tires do enough damage when the ground is soft without adding weight. That being said, next spring I am going to be plowing about an acre to plant sunflowers and what little experimenting I have done tells me I need more weight. This is a Ford 3000 diesel pulling a 3 bottom 14 inch plow. Has the power just needs a little better traction.

I believe if I just fill the tires with water after any chance of a freeze I will be good to go. After the plowing is done I will want to drain the tires. The question is how the heck can I get all of the water out without removing the tires?

Thanks

 

[George2615]

Without removing the tires you'll never get all the water out. May get 80-90% of it but not all.
Have you looked into wheel weights? They can be easily removed when not needed. Some times you can find used on the interweb for half price of new.

 

[Shaneard]

The only way to get it all out is with a vacuum machine. The problem with that is it will suck your tube "closed" and if you have any wrinkles in your tube it won't last long after pumping it back up. If your tires have been on for a while your tube is stuck to your rim and you risk damaging it if you separate it from the rim with a vacuum machine and will have to have new tubes anyway. If it's going to be an ongoing process of plowing each year you may be better off getting some rear wheel weights.

 

[ovrszd]

Yep, you are definitely going to have traction issues if your soil is tight. Might get by if you plow shallow. Sunflowers are very hardy. They'll grow about anywhere. So deep tillage won't be required anyway.

Do you have a disc?? If your ground isn't frozen now you might disc a couple times and then let it sit thru Winter. Then next Spring disc again and plant.

 

[Texasmark]

Jack the rear up, roll the valve stem down and let it out till it quits. What's left won't be all that much. If 5 gallons only 35# per tire, not that much on a 3000+ machine. I have 50 gallons in 13.6x28s on my 3000 and works fine for me plowing/discing. Not that much soil compaction with a tire that wide on that tractor, as I see it anyway. I had thought about removing the contents since I don't plow with it any longer, but decided it wasn't bad enough to warrant the effort.

 

[s219]

The problem with even a little water left in the tire is that once it freezes it's going to throw the wheel out of balance pretty bad. Tractor wheels/tires are not usually balanced like cars/trucks because tractors seldom go over 15mph, but I think a chunk of ice would be enough to exceed even our low/sloppy expectations for tractor wheel/tire balance. If the tires are large, that is a pretty good slug of weight. If you ever road the tractor or even move around fast in a higher gear, this could be noticeable. Even if there's not a balance issue, I am not sure I like the idea of a slug of ice in one section of the tire once the tire starts rotating and flexing. It would have to be real small to not concern me.

Anyhow, if you fill and plan to drain, I'd either use an antifreeze / washer-fluid mix to start, or add in some pure antifreeze after draining the tires. Do whatever it takes to ensure any residual fluid will not freeze.

 

[tcreeley]

Wheel weights or rimguard are your best choices. Rimguard (beet juice), it it ever leaks will not pollute your ground like calcium chloride or antifreeze/windshield washer solutions. - always try chains!

Good luck.
-

 

[Catoosa]

Thanks for the replies gang. Looked into wheel weights already and around here they seem to be made of gold, the sellers are real proud of what they have. Been thinking about this situation. Water is more or less free and my tractor never moves if the temperature is under 50, this old coot has no reason to get on a tractor if it's cold.

The area is basically native prairie with allot of what we call buffalo grass, if it isn't turned under it becomes a clumpy mess of grass dirt and roots. No disk but have a tiller, the plan is to turn the grass under then till shallow just to level the ground. Have tried tilling without plowing and spent two days with a landscape rake trying to get rid of the clumps, really turns into a mess.

If I remember, been a while, the valve stems come apart leaving a fairly large hole. What about slipping a small tube in the valve stem to get that last little bit. The tube would let air in around it (maybe) and not completely collapse the tire tube. I have allot more time than money

 

[ovrszd]

I wouldn't worry about removing the last drop. I'd park it with stem down and let the tractor weight push out the water. When it stopped coming out I'd blow the tire back up and go on.

I understand the heavy sod thing. Might have been beneficial to have spray killed it last Summer so you'd be dealing with less material when you plow? Or maybe burn it off to get rid of all the vegetation you can before plowing? Even with a Roto Tiller it's hard to get rid of heavy sod.

Post your progress whatever you decide!!!

 

[Gary Fowler]

S19 has the right idea. Just fill with plain water for your plowing job then drain the water out as much as possible (might be 5 gallons left) the put in about half gallon of antifreeze in each tire and it will be good to go all winter in your area