Rim Guard in colder climates

[oldnslo]

Hi all,
I have been considering getting the rear tires on my 2400H filled and was researching Rim Guard Vs CC (Calcium Chloride) and here is what two different local tire shops told me. Both of these shops are n smaller towns and majority of their tires are large Ag tires.

Both of these shops offer either Rim Guard or CC. NOTE: Not sure if both are authorized Rim Guard dealers or not.

Both shops said they have never had a customer that wanted the Rim Guard reinstalled after having a flat.
Reasons stated are:
Difficult to wash the Rim Guard off of some materials.
Rim Guard will stain some materials.
Very difficult to pump in cooler / cold weather
To expensive Vs CC

Has anyone else heard of similar issues in your area?

Not wanting to start a debate on the corrosiveness or environmental hazards of CC Vs Rim Guard. In Illinois the county and state spread more calcium in a day on the road in front on my house than I would ever use in tires in ten life times..

 

[kco]

I don't know about staining but Rim Guard is easy to wash off. It's spread on lots of highways with calcium to stop icing.

When the fellow came out to install mine it was new to him. He looked it up in the WHMS (hazardous materials) guide before coming out and the hazard was rated as 0 (ZERO). He spilled a fair amount on my paved area and the rain washed it off in no time.

In my experience it is not more expensive than calcium--espcially if you have tubeless tires now. You don't need to add tubes.

Difficult to pump in cold weather is likely not an issue. In most cases you can wait to install it in warm weather. I suppose it could be an issue if you get a flat in the winter. For most of us that is unlikely.

One thing--you need to make sure you have proper valve stems for RimGuard. It will eat away the adhesive holding the stem components together in substandard stems. Here's a link to a thread(see post #9) with more info about this:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-owning-operating/203966-arrived-today-my-new-dk50.html

Here's a link to other info:

Comparing Types of Liquid Tire Ballast | OrangeTractorTalks

For me, the environmental and safety benefits far outweigh the additional(if any) cost.

Cheers

 

[radioman]

well -- I went with rimguard and love it. I will again. It doesnt seem to be hard to wash off - but it does have a smell to it. I will not use cacl due to corrosive nature- regardless of cost.

 

[xring100]

I've have rim guard in my tires as well roughly 100 gallons in each tire. cost was just over$300 installed I have had the tractor out in -4 degrees F with absolutely no trouble at all.

taken from Rim Guards site "Rim Guard™ is freeze-resistant down to -35°F". It is very easy to wash off and out of my tire pressure gauge.

 

[koamfps]

Rim Gaurd is the way to go. As they say Patented in 2001, Rim Guard™ is non-corrosive, non-flammable, non-toxic, biodegradable and does not freeze down to -35°F.

 

[94BULLITT]

I have methanol in my tires. It is non corrosive. There is no way I would put calcium in a tire. It will eat your wheels up in no time.

 

[kco]

Rim Gaurd is the way to go. As they say Patented in 2001, Rim Guard is non-corrosive, non-flammable, non-toxic, biodegradable and does not freeze down to -35ｰF.

I wonder if the patent is just a copywright for the name. It is beet juice and there are other suppliers. One is Bio-Tire at Bio-Tire Ballast. I believe there are other suppliers with different names.

 

[Deere Dude]

You may need different valve stems with Rim-guard. Better check that out.

 

[RFB]

I have used Rim Guard (which is sugar beet liquid) down to -30 with no problem. The new tractor has Bio-Tire; equally as good and it is a glycerin product.

I do not use CC due to its corrosiveness and effect (salting) on the ground if spilled.

 

[300UGUY]

I have rim guard in my bota. I had cc in a tractor once, it sprung a leak, and the rim was garbage before I could get it fixed.

 

[tractchores]

I have rimguard, I've found it easy enough to wash off and it's not really colored, so doesn't stain anything that I'm aware of.

 

[oldnslo]

Guys,
Appreciate the feed back.

I was hard pressed to see how beet juice would stain but anything is possible. I could the sugar content causing it to be slimy and sticky.

I can also see were pumping syrup would be much harder than salt water in cooler weather.

For plowing snow I would rather have the weight in the tires Vs hanging on the 3PH. On the 3PH takes weight off the front tores and makes it ever harder to turn.

Guess I will have to call Rim Gaurd and see who their authorized dealers are in this area. Hopefully not the two I talked to already.

 

[RFB]

Bio Tire is also an option if you cannot find a Rim Guard dealer.

http://bio-tire.com/

 

[oldnslo]

RFB,
I looked at their website but I don't believe they have dealers in the Mid-West. Shows only north west USA and western Canada.

thanks for the lead though

 

[RandyT]

I have rimguard, I've found it easy enough to wash off and it's not really colored, so doesn't stain anything that I'm aware of.

The rimguard in my tires looks like burnt chocolate, and smells about as bad.

 

[D7E]

6 of our tractors have calcium in them , some rims are showing flaky rust but it has been in them for 20+ years . Generally when liquid of any kind is removed we never put it back, iron weight is much better .

 

[oldnslo]

6 of our tractors have calcium in them , some rims are showing flaky rust but it has been in them for 20+ years . Generally when liquid of any kind is removed we never put it back, iron weight is much better .

Agree, ran the Calcium weight for years in our tractors with inner tubes in them with no rim failures. Problem today in the innertubes are about like sandwich bags they are getting so thin.

Never was a lover of cast weights on the wheels since it takes a lot of steel to equal the liquid ballast in large ag tires. 18.4 x 38 approx 1175 lbs fluid each tire. Also around here the cast weights are running around $1 lb used.

Even my small tires 9.5 x 16 hold 125 lbs liquid each. I have not seen any wheel weights for that small of a rim and my rims don't have any holes for mounting weights either.

 

[dodge man]

I have it in my tractor. Its a small Kubota, but the only problem I've noticed in the winter, if you are driving fast, say road speed, the rim guard won't go around the tire fast enough. Almost like its too thick to flow well. It almost feels like you have a flat spot in your tire. Its not really an issue though. As far as washing off, I think its kind of messy, but no worse than say grease or oil.

 

[xring100]

I have it in my tractor. Its a small Kubota, but the only problem I've noticed in the winter, if you are driving fast, say road speed, the rim guard won't go around the tire fast enough. Almost like its too thick to flow well. It almost feels like you have a flat spot in your tire. Its not really an issue though. As far as washing off, I think its kind of messy, but no worse than say grease or oil.

How cold are you talking? Ive had mine up to 20mph after is spent the night in the single digits with no problems. Its always a little bouncy when you add rim guard at any temps. Maybee its more pronounced in the cold on smaller tires

Dave

 

[tractchores]

How cold are you talking? Ive had mine up to 20mph after is spent the night in the single digits with no problems. Its always a little bouncy when you add rim guard at any temps. Maybee its more pronounced in the cold on smaller tires

Dave

I haven't noticed it on mine either even around zero.... But maybe its tire size related or fill amount.