Rim Guard in BX2660 Information

[Kabuki Tractor]

I recently added Rim Guard to my BX2660 and thought I would share the information for anyone else who may find it interesting or useful.

Rim Guard dealers in Southwest Virginia is hard to find! Ended up driving 3 hours to the nearest dealer. Because of the distance and time constants I decided to buy the Rim Guard and install it myself. I took a 55 gallon plastic drum and three 5 gallon metal paint thinner cans and bought a total of 70 gallons of Rim Guard for $3 a gallon. I purchased the $9 liquid tire filling kit and the $4.50 3/4" brass valve stems from gemplers.com. I borrowed a 12V diaphragm sprayer pump that was rated at 2 gallons per minute and 45PSI. The pump worked great because I could push the Rim Guard under lots of pressure and not have to bleed the air out very often. I high recommend a garden hose shut off at the tire end of the hose. I bought a nice quality brass garden hose ball valve at Lowes for around $8 which allows you to easily close off your Rim Guard hose while bleeding air from the tires. The data below for most tires is about a 75% fill, pretty much level with the valve stem when it is at the top. Ignoring the controversy I loaded my front tires also. My thinking is it will help stability as you can't get weight any lower to the ground than in the tires. The R4 front tires are a little under 75%, and the front turf tires are a little over 75% filled. I plan to push snow with the turf tires and wanted all the extra weight I could add. I had no super accurate measuring equipment, measured the volume with a gallon jug and marked each gallon on the side of a 5 gallon pail, measured the weights with a digital bathroom scale. The Rim Guard I purchased was a little heavier than the advertised 10.5 pounds per gallon. A 5 gallon can weighted 59.8 pounds, and I'm guessing the can weighted about 1 pound, they are very thin tin cans. My calculations shows the Rim Guard to weigh around 11.75 pounds per gallon.

(all weights are in pounds and include the tire and rim assembly)

Tractor: Kubota BX2660

Front R4 (Industrial) tire: OTR Traction Master 18x8.50-10 (single tire and rim, not a pair)
Empty weight: 21.4
Loaded weight: 52.0
Weight added: 30.6
Rim Guard Used: 2.75 Gallons (slightly under 75% fill)

Rear R4 (Industrial) tire: OTR Traction Master 26x12.00-12 (single tire and rim, not a pair)
Empty weight: 50.8
Loaded weight: 179.6
Weight added: 128.8
Rim Guard Used: 11 Gallons (around 75% fill)

Front weight added 30.6 x 2 = 61.2
Rear weight added 128.8 x 2 = 257.6
Total weight added 61.2 + 257.6 = 318.8



Front Turf tire: OTR Grass Master 18x8.50-10 (single tire and rim, not a pair)
Empty weight: 18.6
Loaded weight: 57.8
Weight added: 39.2
Rim Guard Used: 3.5 Gallons (slightly over 75% fill)

Rear Turf tire: OTR Grass Master 26x12.00-12 (single tire and rim, not a pair)
Empty weight: 41.8
Loaded weight: 167.2
Weight added: 125.4
Rim Guard Used: 11 Gallons (around 75% fill)

Front weight added 39.2 x 2 = 78.4
Rear weight added 125.4 x 2 = 250.8
Total weight added 78.4 + 250.8 = 329.2






(just for information)

Tractor: Woods front mount Zero-Turn diesel

Turf tire: Carlisle Turf Master 20x10.00-8 (single tire and rim, not a pair)
Empty weight: 20.6
Loaded weight: 83.4
Weight added: 62.8
Rim Guard Used: 5.25 Gallons (around 75% fill)

Total weight added 62.8 x 2 = 125.6

 

[timster2]

I was considering filling the tires on my BX 2230 so I could eliminate the weight box so your post is exactly the information I was looking for. I love the details regarding the weight of the finished tires. I do have a question or two, however. Is it necessary to change the tire valve to fill with liquid? Just in case I decide to try to fill them myself. Does anyone have an idea what a tire/rimguard dealer would charge for labor to fill two rear turf tires? A friend just had a flat tire fixed and refilled with rimguard and it cost him $180, B2320 rear tire. I am hesitant to just drop the tractor off and say fill em up. Is there any practical or technical reason for not filling the front turf tires as well?

 

[RaydaKub]

I've got a BX 2230 as well. I filled mine with washer fluid. Rimguard would have been heavier for sure, but if you have a FEL, the fluid is NOT going to be a substitute for a weight box. I've got universal gym weights on a drawbar to add 275 lbs to the rear. I've got 50 lbs weight on the wheels in addition to the fluid. I've still lifted the rear end off the ground. Also, for FEL use, the fluid does nothing to help remove weight from the front axle while the weight box will transfer weight off the front. So while I recommend it, I don't believe you'll be satisfied with that.

 

[RaydaKub]

The manuals say to not put fluid in the front. First, it doesn't add all that much weight, but the front end is not built as heavily and they want a little "give" there. Same advice for front chains. But some guys do both anyway. No, the same valves.
The fluid does add weight as low as you can get it, so there is more stability for hills when you add that vs a weight box.

 

[radioman]

I didnt put rimguard in my front tires either. Never felt the need to. rimguard dealers was hard to find, but I emailed rimgaurd and got a reply for nearest one to me and it was an hour from me.

 

[timster2]

My limited experience plowing snow with the bx and weight box has left me wondering if more weight up front would help steering while plowing. With the lift valve in float I don't get the traction on the front tires for good steering. I was wondering if adding the weight to the front and rear tires would help with directional control and traction at the same time. The weight box seems to lighten the front end and effect the steering. The weight box works good while using the FEL but I haven't tried different combinations while plowing. Like I said my experience is limited as I only bought the plow last year and it only snowed twice. I still have my front attach snow blower waiting in the wings for a big storm to try that out as well. With the FEL installed the filled front tires may add more weight to the front end that I don't need. My first attempt to make things better will be to fill the rear tires and loose the weight box for plowing and see what does for me. Any other suggestions, inspiration, or experience is greatly appreciated.

 

[Kabuki Tractor]

My thoughts on Rim Guard: I see no reason not to use Rim Guard. It seems like the perfect tire ballast. The only disadvantaged I can find is the cost, hard to find dealers, and it stinks. As long as you keep it inside your tires the stink is not a problem. I stunk after filling all my tires! I wore rubber gloves while working with the stuff but while bleeding air from the tires the Rim Guard foam does blow out and gets everywhere. It gets sticky as it dries, but washes off pretty good with plain water. It seems to dissolve very well in water.

Tire Valves: I changed mine to brass because so many people recommend it, even the Rim Guard website. They claim on most rubber valve stems the brass valve stem is glued into the rubber piece and after a couple years the Rim Guard can dissolve the glue and the brass stem will pop right out of the rubber. The first dealer who I spoke with who was a tire retread company said they ALWAYS replace the valve stems with brass stems. My logic was having a brass valve stem can't hurt, and for $4.50 its worth it to do now than later after the tire is full of Rim Guard.

Cost: The first dealer I spoke with quoted $55 to fill two rear tires including the cost of the Rim Guard, brass valve stems, and the labor to install the stems and Rim Guard. I had planed to take all my tires and wheels off and take them to him to have filled and due to distance I was going to wait. But when I got ready I called him to setup an appointment and he was out of Rim Guard and said at this point was not planning on ordering any more due to the foaming problems he had with his last batch. Thats when I contacted the next closest dealer. He was a little hard to talk too, great guys but the conversation was all over the place. The best I could tell he was quoting me $60 per tire labor just to install the Rim Guard because of how long it took to get the Rim Guard through the small valve stems. And while I was wanting 8 tires filled, that was why I decided to just pick up the Rim Guard and fill them myself. And I can tell you, it does take a while to get the stuff through those small valve stems, even with a 45PSI pump.

Finding a Dealer: Yep, they are hard to find! I too emailed Rim Guard to find my nearest dealers, the first time I emailed them it took them over 3 weeks to reply. A couple months later (I waited until I bought a set of turf tires) I emailed again hoping to find a closer dealer, they responded in a day with the same three dealers. In my case the closest was 2.75 hours away, then 3.00 hours away, then 5.00 hours away. The first one was in my state, the other two were not. The closest one seemed the best but they ran out of Rim Guard and said they may not order any more. They said their last batch foamed really bad causing it to be really hard to measure. It seems all the guys I dealt with pour the Rim Guard out of their large storage tank into a barrel then pumps from the barrel into the tires, then measures the barrel to determine how much Rim Guard they put in your tires. Sounded like a good idea so I did the same. The first guy said he had to let it sit for several hours to let the foam settle before he could put it in the tires. The second guy said he has had the same problem but found that pumping it slower helps to keep it from foaming.

Is Rim Guard the total solution: I have to agree with others, if you are using the FEL to its max you need more weight than Rim Guard will provide. But for stability purposes it is great. I can tell you it is a huge difference using the Rim Guard with the FEL as compared to empty tires, but Rim Guard alone is not enough weight. When I bought my tractor I asked the dealer not to install any tire ballast since I wanted to find Rim Guard, the dealer by default filled every tractor with a FEL that they sold with water and methanol. So for many months I ran mine with empty tires and I can tell you it is scary using a FEL with empty tires. With just Rim Guard it is much safer and works pretty good but like said above, you can still easily lift the rears off the ground with just Rim Guard.

 

[radioman]

I stated this before -- its an art to using the FEL controls on how much pressure you can get on front tires related to dips or hills in path you are plowing or leaving it in float all the way as long its not wet stuff piling up in front of tractor. You guys need to remember where the pressure is put on the tractor frame when using the plow or FEL. With FEL it pushing towards rear of tractor tires. With plow that is mounted to front of tractor frame - you have some weight but it can act like a wing lifting front up in float. The only way in either cases to fix the weight issue is to have suitcase weights or simalar hanging on front of tractor and/or keep your hand on the FEL control and adjust continuously from float to lift to get the weight on front of tractor.

As for weight on 3pt - remember it will help with traction, but it also can be a fulcrum point forcing lifting front tires off ground.

Remember its a scut , not a full sized tractor so we have to use it accordingly.

 

[Kabuki Tractor]

My limited experience plowing snow with the bx and weight box has left me wondering if more weight up front would help steering while plowing. With the lift valve in float I don't get the traction on the front tires for good steering. I was wondering if adding the weight to the front and rear tires would help with directional control and traction at the same time. The weight box seems to lighten the front end and effect the steering. The weight box works good while using the FEL but I haven't tried different combinations while plowing. Like I said my experience is limited as I only bought the plow last year and it only snowed twice. I still have my front attach snow blower waiting in the wings for a big storm to try that out as well. With the FEL installed the filled front tires may add more weight to the front end that I don't need. My first attempt to make things better will be to fill the rear tires and loose the weight box for plowing and see what does for me. Any other suggestions, inspiration, or experience is greatly appreciated.

My guess in your case of plowing snow the Rim Guard will help a lot. The disadvantage of the weight box while plowing snow is it hangs behind the rear wheels, which does increase the weight on the rear wheels but decreases the weight on the front wheels. Any weight added to the tractor that is not between the front and rear wheels will take weight off the opposite end of the tractor, its simple physics. Think of a titer toter and the pivot as your rear wheels, the more weight you add to one side the lighter the other side gets. So in your case the more weight you add to your weight box the lighter your frontend is going to get. Now move the weight of the weight box forward to the rear wheels and you will no longer be lifting the frontend up with that weight, it will only be making the rear heavier. This only applies while plowing snow where the object is to have as much weight as possible on all wheels. If you are using a FEL you want to keep your weight box, the farther back you can add weight the less weight it will take to counter the FEL weight. So I think you are right on track, for plowing snow loose the weight box and add Rim Guard. With the Rim Guard installed when you go back to using the FEL you will not need quite as much weight in your weight box.

My main use of the turf tires will be to plow snow so I wanted to add as much weight to the front as I could, and the Rim Guard added 80 pounds to the front of my tractor which I think will make a noticeable difference. Another thing I have been thinking about is making a couple hundred pound weight to hang in place of the MMM while plowing snow. This would keep the weight centered front to rear and add weight to both front and rear with a single weight. I have never seen it done but I think it would work well. Anyone else seen a MMW (Mid Mount Weight) used before?

 

[My Hoe]

Another thing I have been thinking about is making a couple hundred pound weight to hang in place of the MMM while plowing snow. This would keep the weight centered front to rear and add weight to both front and rear with a single weight. I have never seen it done but I think it would work well. Anyone else seen a MMW (Mid Mount Weight) used before?

Interesting idea, IMO....

Never saw a MMW, but if you could find an old MM mower deck, and turn it upside down and fill it with concrete, then hook up like a normal belly mower, that might be pretty cool. Makes me wonder what the cost of just the SHELL of a MMM deck would be, sans arbors, blades, pullies, etc... (assuming just the deck [shell] itself is even sold)?

Of course if you can fab and weld, you could (presumably) build something to mate with the MMM pickup points, then fill with the ballast of your choice. I can weld (still learning) but have no fabbing skills. I bet 4shorts could whip one up before breakfast! :laughing: (No sarcasm here--just admiration for his skill, ingenuity and energy).

My Hoe