Tires fluid filled tires?

NY_Yankees_Fan · Oct 26, 2002

Any idea how many gallons do I need to fill a 26x12.00x12 tire 75%??

joecdeere · Oct 26, 2002

8.3 gallons for 69 lbs per tire @ 75 0/0 full
** this is with plain water

ColorMeGreen · Oct 27, 2002

Well this is my problem. My father in law found a Ford 861 in AZ and brought it up to me here in UT. The thing goes faster than my 4400 so is great for pulling sleds, has more weight and carries through tough soil better and is fun to putter around on. However the thing was ballasted with water I figure. Only had it since last winter and when it froze up here the ride was terrible. I couldn't see that the tires were out of round or anything but the ride felt like square tires (and my rest-o-ride seat has no rubber cushions so it's like sitting right on the rear differential). So now I'm faced with emptying water and adding a different ballast or just keeping the thing from freezing.

But I do at times consider getting my 4400 tires some ballast. Other than being cheaper and more difficult to "un-ballast", what would be the real difference in buying the iron wheel weights?

JS

Anonymous Poster · Oct 27, 2002

Hi,

My tires are liquid filled on the rear and foam on the front.

I think the only practical difference, if the weight is equal, is that if you get a puncture, it might be nicer having air filled rather than liquid filled tires...

By the way, you might have been lucky running your tires with ice inside. I have read that doing so can severly damage the tires...

Bill in Pgh, PA

ColorMeGreen · Oct 27, 2002

Macher,

I guess ice shards could hurt the tires but otherwise
I'm trying to think of the danger of the water freezing... I guess that the ice would take up more volume than the water and that would increase the air pressure in the tire. On the other hand the air volume decreases with decreasing temperature. Sounds like a great physics problem when all is considered... Like Henry's Law, percentage of tire filled with water/ice.../w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

I think I'll keep the old thing in the shop this winter and work on some parts, particularly the seat. If I don't work on it's seat, it'll work on mine. Also will have to rebuild 3rd, check cylinder pressures, 3ph stuff, consider whether I really want to restore the thing. If I do all that I'll be missing some other good stuff. Priorities, you know. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JS

MarkV · Oct 28, 2002

ColorMeGreen,

If your tires froze then it is a safe bet that you do have just plain water in the tire. Why not pump in a few gallons of anti-freeze rather than completely refilling. I used the environmentally safe anti-freeze that will not attract wildlife if it leaks.

Careful driving that tractor if the tires have froze. There have been a number of stories on the forum about tires being destroyed by ice shredding the interior of a tire.

MarkV

Soundguy · Oct 28, 2002

Ditto on adding a few gallons of eco-safe antifreeze.. sounds like easiest / cheapest fix.

Soundguy

ebeacham · Oct 31, 2002

Thanks,
I might have actually tried it!!
I did some FEL work for hire the past couple of days, one thing is for sure: I won't do that again without putting ballast in the tires.

sheetsg · Nov 4, 2002

Has anybody used MgCl (Mag-chloride) to fill their tires? I've been quoted $200 for my 17.5x24 with tubes. Apperently, this is the same salt as road-salt which is enviro-safe (??). The size of tires requires 60 gal/each as a reference.

My questions, with horses on property, are they at risk if the MgCl leaks?

Greg

ebeacham · Nov 4, 2002

I have not used salt in my tires. I just finished putting 27 gallons of windshield washer fluid and 28 gallons of water in each of my 17.5 x 24 tires. Wound up costing me roughly 30 bucks a tire. Was fairly simple to do and netted about 900 lbs to my tractor. 200 bucks sounds steep to me unless I'm getting a heck of a lot more weight for it.

Soundguy · Nov 4, 2002

Too bad you didn't catch that sale at kmart that everyone is clammoring about.. something like 2 gallons for a buck.... not bad...

Soundguy

sheetsg · Nov 4, 2002

With that mixture, what do you think is the freeze point? Where do you live (State)?

I looked up my state's temps and found -15 F to be the coldest with 15 F being the average low.

ebeacham · Nov 4, 2002

Well, the ww fluid by itself provides protection to -20 F so @ 1 to 1 ratio I conservatively estimate 0 F to -5 F protection which should be just fine here at the southeastern tip of NC.

ebeacham · Nov 4, 2002

Yeah, I was too lazy to go 30 miles so I paid 88 cents a gallon.

nh1520 · Nov 5, 2002

Sunday morning wifey and I got into K-Mart for the "two gallon for a buck" windshield washer fluid special and hauled 56 gallons home. I don't know how many gallon you can get in a typical shopping cart - but I know you can get at least 28 in there. Note here that so loaded - stopping distances with a shopping cart are greatly increased.

I spent the next 4 hours babying approximately 28 gallon in each of my 11.4 x 24 rear tires on my New Holland 1520 ag tires. I don't have a pump so I made this simple device along with a tire water valve to relieve the displaced air. It did take some time this way but I wasn't doing much of anything that morning anyway.

At any rate I figured I added approximately 440# of weight for $28. Made a big difference too! Hey worked for me.

Anonymous Poster · Nov 5, 2002

Re: ww fluid mixed with anti-freeze???

Since my tractor is subject to outdoor temps all winter long, I'd like to get a little better protection than what is offered by straight WW fluid. Does anyone know if it is ok to mix WW fluid with an environmentally friendly anti-freeze? I'd like to get protection down to -30*. It seems like a couple of gallons of anti-freeze in each tire might be a cheap way to get extra protection. Any idea what the mix would be to achieve this? Thanks!

Steve

ebeacham · Nov 5, 2002

Re: ww fluid mixed with anti-freeze???

Do you really need protection below -20 F?
Jeez, How cold does it get in indiana?
By the way, Does anyone know what kind of tire pressure to run with tires filled to 75%?

northcreek2624 · Nov 5, 2002

Re: ww fluid mixed with anti-freeze???

Steve,if WW fluid works for us in Buffalo I wouldn't think you would have a problem in Indiana.....Mike

Anonymous Poster · Nov 5, 2002

Re: ww fluid mixed with anti-freeze???

Yeah, it probably is overkill, but it does occasionally get down to around -20 or so. Seems like it was just a year or two ago when it last got that cold. I'll probably stick with the straight ww fluid, but I am still curious about mixing with anti-freeze...

Steve