Filling tires question

[puckgrinder85]

Have a question on an alternate way to fill tires. Wouldn't it be easier to remove the wheel assembly from the tractor, lay it face down with the rim supported slightly by some blocks, pop the upper bead and dump your fluid of choice in with a predetermined amount you want and then re-inflate to get the bead on seated... I understand the weight of the fluid is going to lay on the tire and pull the upper bead away from the rim flange but if you don't prop the rim underneath that far off the ground, maybe a 2x4 or similar I don't see why it wouldn't be able to reseat. Any ideas? Has it been tried or done? Seems like it would be tons easier than filling it through the valve stem.

 

[whis]

then you have to pick it up and put it back on. I would use valve stem

 

[Brown Dog]

I wouldn't want fluid on my steel rims

 

[Forkie]

All I've ever done is fill through the stem, may take a bit longer but you are not demating and mating the wheel and breaking the bead. forkie

 

[puckgrinder85]

I wouldn't want fluid on my steel rims

You lost me there, what do you mean by that?

 

[Brown Dog]

I wouldn't want water in my "tubeless tires"

 

[oosik]

The "filling" part might be easier but what if you loose the lower bead seal?? How do you expect to re-inflate the tire?? My rear tires - tire & rim - weigh 265 -300 pounds dry. There is an added 750 pounds of Rimguard in each tire. I have no way - safely or otherwise - of raising this much weight and reattaching to the axle. I dismounted a filled rear tire on my previous tractor - much smaller rear tire - and almost got squashed under it when attempting to reattach.

I think you are heading down a path towards a big mess and possible accident. Take the time and fill it safely thru the valve stem.

 

[puckgrinder85]

Might be the way to go, the tires on our new tractor will be considerably larger and much much heavier with fluid in them.

 

[bumpyrider]

I wouldn't want water in my "tubeless tires"

Puckgrinder85, check out some more of the threads on filling tires, there's a lot of info out there on techniques and fill materials. Water is easy, but will corrode your rims unless you use tubes. A lot of people use antifreeze, but if you get a blowout you can create a possible environment issue. You also might check into Rimguard, mentioned by oosik. It's supposed to be a beet juice product, heavier than water, non-corrosive, and no environmental issue, but it's pricey. I don't have a distributor near me, so I don't any personal info on it.

 

[GolfAddict]

Many of the threads on here will describe the fill valve to get for your stem, then use a drill pump to pump fluid out of a bucket and into the tire, burp the air with the button on the fill valve, go back to pumping, etc., until filled to the 75%.

That was how I did it, and it was a bit of a pain and time consuming, but got it done. Shortly after that someone posted their method and I thought it was a great idea. They filled there sprayer with the fluid, hooked that to the stem and used the electric pump of the sprayer to pump it in. Still had to stop and burp the air every so often... Worked way better than those stupid cheap drill pumps.

 

[puckgrinder85]

Puckgrinder85, check out some more of the threads on filling tires, there's a lot of info out there on techniques and fill materials. Water is easy, but will corrode your rims unless you use tubes. A lot of people use antifreeze, but if you get a blowout you can create a possible environment issue. You also might check into Rimguard, mentioned by oosik. It's supposed to be a beet juice product, heavier than water, non-corrosive, and no environmental issue, but it's pricey. I don't have a distributor near me, so I don't any personal info on it.

Definitely will. We had it in our last tractor and had checked the tire pressure one day and out quickly what rim guard was. We are debating between either methanol/water or the rim guard. We can get a 55gal drum or windshield solvent for 145$ which is concentrate and would make 110 gallons at a freeze point of -25* and fill both tires, or I can go with rim guard and have it installed by the dealer for 400$ at 2.75 a gallon with 50$ charge on each wheel, which I thought the charge was a little steep. I could see 50$ setup for both but it is what it is.



So the rim guard equates to like 2$+ more per gallon, not sure if its worth it. I figure it will add 500lb more than what 50/50 of methanol and water would. Not sure if the methonal would have an adverse effect on the rubber tire over time or not. We don't care about getting a puncture anywhere as a safety concern. The solvent is not as flammable as everyone makes it out to be either. A cup poured on the floor hardly will light on fire, and that's the concentrate, not even mixed with the water yet.

 

[arrow]

Many of the threads on here will describe the fill valve to get for your stem, then use a drill pump to pump fluid out of a bucket and into the tire, burp the air with the button on the fill valve, go back to pumping, etc., until filled to the 75%.

That was how I did it, and it was a bit of a pain and time consuming, but got it done. Shortly after that someone posted their method and I thought it was a great idea. They filled there sprayer with the fluid, hooked that to the stem and used the electric pump of the sprayer to pump it in. Still had to stop and burp the air every so often... Worked way better than those stupid cheap drill pumps.

GA this is where one of those cheap Harbor Freight DC pumps come in handy. Took less than 5 minutes to pump in 20 gallons of liquid into the tire. I used a 20 gallon muck bucket so I could do it all at once. Both the tire and myself got burped (good ole Rolling Rock)

 

[GolfAddict]

GA this is where one of those cheap Harbor Freight DC pumps come in handy. Took less than 5 minutes to pump in 20 gallons of liquid into the tire. I used a 20 gallon muck bucket so I could do it all at once. Both the tire and myself got burped (good ole Rolling Rock)

That would be better than the cheap drill pumps, that's for sure. And if you don't already have a tank sprayer.

 

[puckgrinder85]

So, got our new tractor and went to fill the tires and found the valve stems were a two piece design. The valve core would unscrew like normal, and the housing for the valve core would also unscrew leaving an even larger housing which I could feed a 3/16 brake line through easily and use that to fill the tires. This also allowed the air to escape while filling, no burping needed! 17.5l-24 tires took all of 2 hours. 110 gallons total.

 

[FTG-05]

There's no way doing all that is "tons easier" than screwing on a valve stem, hooking up a couple garden hoses, then flipping on a small pump.

 

[toomanymachines]

Jack the tractor up with valve stem at the top. let the air out and pump in the fluid, or whatever you use. You may have to stop and burp it one or more times, depends on how much you fill to. In Manitoba it can get down to minus 40 so calcium chloride is all I have ever come across. I use an air diaphragm pump, but my father who ran a tire shop of 39 years used gear or impellor pumps for decades.
Just get an adaptor to fit the large bore of the stem to a garden hose. I use a brass ejector, but change a few hundred every year.

 

[boggen]

75% fill of tire with fluid, not 100% not 50% but 75%.
100% fill with fluid = tire never gives, and one good bounce of tractor, and tire could rupture,
50% full of fluid, and the fluid is just waving back and forth inside the tire. if you were on a hill and all of a sudden wave of fluid would down hill. guess were you might end up? bottom of the hill...

75%, puts fluid right at the the valve stem. when position the valve stem at 12 o'clock, and filling / burping air / filling with fluid / burping air. it keeps enough air in the tire. so it smooths out the ride, (the tire gives and takes some), and it helps keeps the waves being formed within the tire to a certain degree, it also keeps the entire rim completely under fluid, to help avoid possible chance of rim rusting.

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i have had enough flats, i don't want to mess around with breaking beads on tires, and dealing with fluid gushing out of the tire. or beads not seating properly. i simply don't want to mess with it.

it is easy enough to fill a tire with fluid via the valve stem. gemplars, sells a tire valve stem fluid thing, that connects to tire valve stem, a hose from pump, and a second hose coming off of it, so you can burp air out. all through a single simply valve.
if ya don't have the special fitting, even then it is easier to deal with filling tire with fluid in my opinion. i don't like dealing with a few hundred pound fluid filled tires. let alone 100 plus lbs tire than is not even on a rim. KISS (keep it simply stupid)

ya not filling / unfilling rear tires daily, weekly, monthly, only time ya really mess with them, is when ya initially get a new tire, and/or if you have to deal with a leak (thorn, or like) in tire.