Filling tires on my T574

[Torvy]

This is what the dealer installed in my rear tires. Their literature says it’s non corrosive to rims and keeps the tire rubber soft. It does also protect from freezing.

Bio-Ballast® - EnviroTech Services

envirotechservices.com

Isn't this basically another brand of Rim Guard? I am trying to keep cost and hassle to a minimum. I don't really need the cold protection that you may need at elevation.

Adding tubes would mean added expense and hassle. It seems easy enough to add a gallon of rust inhibitor to the tires along with water up to 75%. Now I have to find a a rust inhibitor that I don't need to buy in bulk.

 

[Torvy]

I have never broken a tire bead on any of my three tractors when tire pressures were maintained at tire manufacture's suggested pressures.

I have air in all tractor tires.

I get that, but I need to add ballast in my tires. It is the risk of losing bead during that process that is my primary concern.

 

[jyoutz]

Isn't this basically another brand of Rim Guard? I am trying to keep cost and hassle to a minimum. I don't really need the cold protection that you may need at elevation.

Adding tubes would mean added expense and hassle. It seems easy enough to add a gallon of rust inhibitor to the tires along with water up to 75%. Now I have to find a a rust inhibitor that I don't need to buy in bulk.

It has the same purpose as Rim Guard, but isn’t the same formulation. It adds weight over pure water and tubes aren’t required because it is non corrosive. Also, didn’t most of Texas experience a deep freeze a few years ago?

 

[2manyrocks]

If you are thinking about lifting your T574 with a hydraulic jack, I'd suggest think about how you intend to block it up so there no chance of it falling. I wouldn't trust a normal car safety jack for this.

House movers typically use 6"x6"x4' oak stacked in 4 rows overlapping each other that's hard to turn over. Not sure how to describe it to you except to say that they don't just stack it one on another that could tip or slide.

Have you priced having someone come out and fill them on site? By the time you buy the ballast and all the rest, maybe having it done could be worth it?

I remember reading about some sustained freeze and power outage in TX a couple of years ago that burst a heck of a lot of water lines. If you couldn't start your tractor to move it or the power went out, I'd sleep better knowing that my tractor rims weren't going to freeze and burst.

 

[jyoutz]

If you are thinking about lifting your T574 with a hydraulic jack, I'd suggest think about how you intend to block it up so there no chance of it falling. I wouldn't trust a normal car safety jack for this.

House movers typically use 6"x6"x4' oak stacked in 4 rows overlapping each other that's hard to turn over. Not sure how to describe it to you except to say that they don't just stack it one on another that could tip or slide.

Have you priced having someone come out and fill them on site? By the time you buy the ballast and all the rest, maybe having it done could be worth it?

Wouldn’t a 3 ton jackstand work?

 

[2manyrocks]

I own one of these. Amazon.com

My concerns are that the lifting pad is relatively small in comparison to the axle on a tractor and the metal on metal contact could slide if the lifting surface is uneven or not level. However, it would trust it more than a plain hydraulic jack without any built in jack stand. But I'd still be thinking about what else I could slide under the axle as a backup. I might even cut the butt end of a log if it were wide enough or something that I know can't go anywhere as backup.

 

[jyoutz]

I own one of these. Amazon.com

My concerns are that the lifting pad is relatively small in comparison to the axle on a tractor and the metal on metal contact could slide if the lifting surface is uneven or not level. However, it would trust it more than a plain hydraulic jack without any built in jack stand. But I'd still be thinking about what else I could slide under the axle as a backup. I might even cut the butt end of a log if it were wide enough or something that I know can't go anywhere as backup.

I lift with a hydraulic Jack and brace with automotive jack stands mine have a wide V in the support, so it’s less likely to slip.

 

[2manyrocks]

It might be appropriate to mention that car jack stands vary widely in stability. If Torvy has to go out and buy really good ones, that's money he could have put towards having this job done for him.

Probably one of the most important things is to do this job on a level concrete floor where there's less chance of anything sliding like an uneven gravel surface.

Rim guard has a YT video of their installation process. They leave 5lbs of pressure in the tire, use a special valve connector, and then pump the fluid into the tire to reduce the chances of the tire bead coming off the rim.

Rim Guard also has this calculator for estimating the amount of fluid required to fill a particular tire size. Tire Fill Tools - Rim Guard

 

[2manyrocks]

I think the odds are pretty good that it will freeze sometime in the 20+ years you own your T574.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I think the odds are pretty good that it will freeze sometime in the 20+ years you own your T574.

There's a big difference between an ambient air temperature that gets down "below freezing", and it actually getting cold enough to freeze a large tractor tire into a solid block of ice.

When I was growing up on a farm in AZ, everyone just used straight water in their tires (now inside Phoenix, but was "north" of Phx back in the 60's).

It would get "below freezing" a couple times each winter, just overnight, but it never got cold enough to freeze one of our tractor tires solid. A little slush inside the tire (that is still mostly liquid water) won't hurt anything.

Up here, it has gotten cold enough to make beet juice (Rimguard) slushy at -45F. But again, a little slush on top of the liquid is no big deal. The other advantage of Rimguard is that it's the heaviest liquid ballast (weight per gallon) that you will see used in tires. When you want all the ballast you can get, Rimguard is a good choice, even if freeze temperature is not the main concern.