cheap stuff to load tires

I was wondering what is the cheapest and safest stuff to load tires with I have found the old H doesn't have enough weight to plow snow and keep the banks back.

Plain water is the cheapest.But ya gotta deal with freezing.Calcium is next cheapest.Lots of guys now use Washer fluid,RV antifreeze,and (most expencive of all) beet juice.

Find more iron.

Cast wts are the most expencive.But they are 'user
friendly',and removeable

What I meant by safest is the freezing bit don't want to ruin the tires and tubes. How much fluid will it take to load 12.4 by 38 tires

Rat, IMO,... I would not load the tires! Start buying cast iron wts. and don't stop till you have 500lbs on each rear corner! You will have a flat sometime and Liquid in the tires just complicates matters a Lot! in extra cost, and trying to find someone who will pump it off, then fix a tube that has had liquid in it, then pump it back in.
IMO put 3 sets of solids on the outside of the wheel and 2 or more of splits wts. on the inside of the wheel. Hope this helps!
Later,
John A.

CaCl solution is heavier than water and can be mixed to various strengths. More salt = lower freezing point. Weights are nice but they are expensive
Zach

(quoted from post at 10:52:20 03/09/14) I was wondering what is the cheapest and safest stuff to load tires with I have found the old H doesn't have enough weight to plow snow and keep the banks back.

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2 sets of cast iron weights and a set of chains will give the traction needed to fully utilize the capabilities of the H.

My chart shows a 12.4 x 38 tire on a 11 inch rim, requires about 46 gals of liquid to fill the tire 75% which is to the top of the rim (valve level). 474 lbs with 3 1/2 lbs solution and 494 lbs with a 5 lb solution of CC.

I would agree with Rusty, I think the IH weights are about 150 pounds each, so that will add 300 pounds per side.

What's cheapest? CONCRETE.

If you build a platform on the drawbar, you can stack 90lb bags of Sakrete on there and get 500-600lbs of weight, quick and easy. Of course you probably will want to mix them up and cast them into slabs first.

Check with local building supplies, big box stores, etc. They may have some bags of cement, concrete mix, mortar, that have gone bad and they're just throwing away.

Rat, calcium has long been "the standard" for loaded tires because gallon for gallon, it's heavy, but it isn't exactly friendly stuff, particularly to steel rims. Eventually, a tube will leak, and because it's nearly impossible to perfectly clean the stuff off, eventually the rims will corrode beyond usability. Given a choice, for long term weight, I'd add iron rather than loading tires. "Wet" tires are miserable (and dangerous) to work with off the tractor (say, for replacing axle seals, or brakes), especially anything bigger than a 24. If there was no other choice but a wet tire, I'd go with beet juice.

A chunk of concrete is a great solution for a temporary weight. I've seen some with a 3pt flat drawbar put through a 2-3' portion of 55 gallon drum, with the section poured full of concrete, or just filled with field rocks. (obviously, the bar goes through the top third of the drum to keep it stable). Same set up could be done with a quick hitch. If you have another tractor to lift with, I suppose a steel box could be made with a pocket on the bottom to slide over the drawbar (and bolt or pin in place) that could be filled with rocks or concrete as mkirsh suggests. I'd be hesitant to do anything that would reduce ground clearance - 500# of drawbar weight sitting in mud isn't too helpful to getting out. A weight on the 3pt (or quick hitch) could be dropped (and dragged from better footing) if the going gets really bad.

I perfer hanging weights and wheel weights.
Next year I will be fabricating boltable brackets that will hold 5 wheel weights per side for my Farmall 140. Cant seem to get enough weight on that tractor for snowy years like this one.