Tire Ballast

[GE222]

BearKiller,

I wholly agree with you regarding calcium in the tires. I suggest it only as a really last resort, and usually not even then. My Ford 4000 cane with them in the rears. I have been putting it off getting them empted , cleaned and painted. I guess my biggest delay has been getting alternative weight for the back. I only want some ballast due to the loader on the front.

I have experienced many destroyed rims due to calcium. Sweaty rims during humid days with temperature change doesn't help with corrosion also.

I also agree with your comment, if that much weight is needed to get the job done, find a bigger machine. Some wheel slippage is a good thing as it will save the drive train.

 

[BearKiller]

Some wheel slippage is a good thing as it will save the drive train.

That is a very good point and one not often heeded.


In my many years and hundreds of thousands of miles of custom livestock hauling, every time I ripped a rear-end or wrung a drive-shaft was when heavily loaded, in 4-LO, and on blacktop.

If the wheels can't spin, something else is going to give.

 

[Soundguy]

Since I am not a collector but would still like to try your technique PLEASE take the time to write up more detailed instructions and teach us poor but interested farmers some new tricks.

Not much to it more than I posted.

have a 12v bat charger.. not the 'smart' type.. just the regualr old xformer with clips and a switch..

6a-10a works the best.

electrolyte material... is powdered PH+ addative you can get at walamrt in the pool section.. it's 'sodium carbonate'.. have to play with concentration.. but I've found 1.5 cups per 5g of water is usually enough.. if your amps don't come up to full scale, add a lil more powder, and / or move your anodes closer tot he work piece.

use a big rubber or plastic insultaed tub.. plastic tub crates or smakk kids swimming poow for large parts like hoods and fenders.

scrap iron.. these are your sacrificial anodes.. arange them around the perimeter of your tub.. can place one onthe bottom, if you also put in some plastic blocks to keep your work piece from touching the anode onthe bottom,.. or it's feed wire.

some people cut us a small piece of steel fence wire and run that around.. works fine.. and I used uninsulated fence wire to run my connections.

+ cable tot he anodes.. keep the + cable out o fthe soloution or it will erode.

negative cable to the piece you need to de-rust. I like to keep the negative cable clamp out of the water as well.. just because.. though it will not erode if it is in the soloution.

work piece needs to be completely covered inthe soloution.. and the closer tot he anodes.. the better. if the entire piece is real rusty.. sand out a clean spot just good enough to attach that - jumper clamp.

fire up the bat charger and adjust anodes and electrolyte so that you are near rated amps... soloution should start rolling bubbles out.. do this outside away from a source of ignition.. since this is electrolysis.. you are making gasseous O2 and hydrogen..

also.. I'd leave any chromed pieces out as well!.. and can be rough on aluminum and yellow metals... pretty much for iron/steels.. etc..

the longer it cooks.. the cleaner it gets... most 'normal stuff cooks in 4hrs or less.

painted items take longer.. but the paint will soften and lift almost always.

afterwards, a cood pressure wash removed 99% of anything that stuck.. and then you can wire wheel it to remove and black oxide powder.. she should be washed againwith a degrease and then dried and needs to be 'used' immediatly.. IE.. prime and paint, as the metal is pristine and can surface or flash rust within an hour!

soundguy

 

[jsborn]

Thanks for the write up I will try it on some small stuff first .

Thanks again

 

[Bedlam]

here is an interesting like to a procedure on a smaller scale
Electrolysis Coin Cleaning - Easy Tutorial in Pictures

 

[BearKiller]

I lost touch with those things for a few years and figured they'd been outlawed!

They are, sort of.

No USA-manufactured truck after 1-1-1978 can have them.

BUT, there was no provision in the law to prevent their being on trucks of foreign manufacture, i.e. Canada, Mexico, Europe, the orient.

Also, no provision was made for trailers or such things as fork-lifts, loaders, etc.

They should be illegal PERIOD, regardless of year of manufacture or country of origin, or type of vehicle.

Our local phone company has several brand-new Canadian-made GM trucks, all with 10.00-20 two-piece rims, 31 years after them being outlawed on US-made trucks; our wonderful government for you.


As for using the "cage", you still have to roll the tire/wheel out of the cage, squat down right in front of it and muscle it up on the hub, wrestle it into proper alignment, install the lugs, and let the jack down.

At our shop, most that blow do so the instant the weight of the truck comes onto them when the jack is lowered.


Were it my say-so, our shop would simply refuse to service them; no other shop in our area will mess with them.

 

[Soundguy]

I've seen guys that work on split rims actually chain then around the outside thru the rim in a couple places before putting air to them.. etc..

soundguy

 

[BearKiller]

I've seen guys that work on split rims actually chain then around the outside thru the rim in a couple places before putting air to them.. etc..

soundguy

Me too; the chains didn't even slow the ring down when it went into orbit.


We have what used to be a nice straight-sided OSHA-approved inflation cage; so many have let loose inside it that the nice straight sides are more like balloon-shaped.

 

[tugboat-2]

YEP !!! Chains and cages,...been there, done that but WHAT do precautions like that tell you? There are laws against things "much" less dangerous!!

I didn't realize split-rims had been outlawed in the US of A,...but so glad to hear it!! However, as you point out,..someone always finds a way around the law.

Too bad they wouldn't ENFORCE the law by STOPPING a suspect vehicle at the border, (ALL borders) and just as for an illegal person,.. turn the vehicle away PERIOD !! ZERO tollerance! How long would it take for these companies like GM and Volvo etc to change their wheel type?

ENFORCEMENT is a very powerful weapon, however,...unfortunately money is even more than a powerful force. Try telling China they can't send those things to North America!!

Anyway, split rings are extremely dangerous and I personally would love to see them eradicated from the "world".....PERIOD!!

God Bless you guys and gals that have to work with that stuff !!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[Soundguy]

Me too; the chains didn't even slow the ring down when it went into orbit.


We have what used to be a nice straight-sided OSHA-approved inflation cage; so many have let loose inside it that the nice straight sides are more like balloon-shaped.

I've seen those cages.. heavy walled conduit and expanded metal... Uh.. I think I'd take my chances on some gr70 chain WAY before I trusted it to chinese tubing and bad spot welds.

sounds like someone didn't secure their chains and just had an open loop rolled around the rim??

soundguy

 

[BearKiller]

I've seen those cages.. heavy walled conduit and expanded metal... Uh.. I think I'd take my chances on some gr70 chain WAY before I trusted it to chinese tubing and bad spot welds.

sounds like someone didn't secure their chains and just had an open loop rolled around the rim??

soundguy

Our old battle-scarred cage was built at the local fabrication shop out of 3-1/2-OD 3/8-wall pipe and stands on a solid 3/4-thick base; it still seems puny when one of those rims lets go.



As I already stated, the cage does nothing for you once the tire is aired up; you still have to bolt it onto the truck and get it off the parking-lot.

 

[tugboat-2]

This is only a tractor forum, (biggest and the best of course!!),...but I'm wondering if we have so many stories to tell on the subject,..... what sort of stories could places like GM and Volvo etc tell us?

Which also makes me wonder both HOW and WHERE those assembly line type companies "deal" with their wheels? Surely they all must have some sickening stories to tell, . . "IF" they were allowed to tell 'em?

AND,...they are Union shops,...so how does the Union treat this extremely dangerous situation?

Would be interesting to hear from someone who is connected to the industry that could enlighten us on the matter,...one way or another?

How do you feel driving on a multi-lane highway and look over at the transport passing you, or just sitting beside you at a traffic stop,....and nortice it has split-ring wheels, . .(that could, or might just explode at the next pothole or bump?????) Never seem to "hear" of such things, but just knowing it "could", . . . makes me want to get clear of it!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[BearKiller]

This is only a tractor forum, (biggest and the best of course!!),...but I'm wondering if we have so many stories to tell on the subject,..... what sort of stories could places like GM and Volvo etc tell us?

Which also makes me wonder both HOW and WHERE those assembly line type companies "deal" with their wheels? Surely they all must have some sickening stories to tell, . . "IF" they were allowed to tell 'em?

AND,...they are Union shops,...so how does the Union treat this extremely dangerous situation?

Would be interesting to hear from someone who is connected to the industry that could enlighten us on the matter,...one way or another?

How do you feel driving on a multi-lane highway and look over at the transport passing you, or just sitting beside you at a traffic stop,....and nortice it has split-ring wheels, . .(that could, or might just explode at the next pothole or bump?????) Never seem to "hear" of such things, but just knowing it "could", . . . makes me want to get clear of it!

CHEERS!
. . tug

We had one truck leave our shop and, about half-a-mile down the road, a ring blew off and went through the wall of a house, after first scooping a trench across the front yard.

We had another make it to the next town, fifteen miles, the ring let go and took out the gas-pumps at a filling-station.

One went through the roof, not slowing down as it took out the steel rafters.

We had this one old slow fat guy working for us, comical as all get out; he couldn't hear it thunder.

UNTIL........, he rolled under a dump-truck to let down a hydraulic bottle-jack.

The rims were the worst of the lot = BUDDs = the kind where fully half of the wheel sort of connects to the other half by four tiny little nubs.

When the tire contacted the ground, the ring blew off, wrapping around the big leaf-springs right beside his head.

Being a dump-truck, there was old sticky black-top coated all over the springs and everything else under there, with millions of little rock chips embedded in this tarry mess.

The blast blew this shrapnel through his hide, making his entire head look like hamburger, blood all over.

He came crawling out and staggering around.

We mopped away the worst of the blood and picked the fragments of his eyeglasses out of his face, and doped him good with mercurichrome.

For days he complained of a constant ringing in his ears; but, when the ringing finally cleared, he could hear a pin drop a hundred feet away.

He never was hard of hearing again after that episode.


I sort of hoped that those who are always over-ruling my judgement would see the light and decide to quit messing with them; that was over twenty years ago and we are still fixing them today.

 

[wampum]

Just curious; does anyone use "Metal Shot" for tire ballast?

Worked in a cement plant for years. Our mills were ball mills. We used those mills to crush limestone and finish cement. The hardened liners had to be replaced every few years and were over 8 inches thick. In time,I think your filled tires would just wear the rims out. Lead is softer then steel and the rim would last longer,but steel shot would wear your rims out in a couple of years of normal use. Just my 2 cents,and I could be wrong,but metal against metal is not good.

 

[Soundguy]

IMHO.. I think you'd have a tire full of toxic lead dust after a while..

soundguy

 

[wampum]

That shot would probably wear out the inside of the valve stem in short order.