Removing/Reinstalling Ballast

Hey guys,

I been thinking today.. Which is usually not good (LOL) but, I have tire problems (as yesterday's post gets into a bit)..

I think I have located a fair set of rubber locally (they should get me through the next couple years till I decide to paint it) at a affordable price..

My question is this: Is there a easy way to remove the liquid ballast (which is the easy part.. I've done that a time or 2..)

Question 2: Is there a somewhat simple way to put said ballast back in? I do not have a pump that I think would work.. is there a way I could perhaps make gravity do the work? (Put the ballast in a drum, then raise drum higher than the valve stem with loader/pallet forks?) I have the "water adapter" that I bought way back and never did use, so I have that..

I don't really want to hear not to load the tires, or that it eats rims.. If you don't want me to load em back up, bring your pocketbook, count out cash till I say stop, then you can do what you wish with the tractor.. I'd just like to hear a way I can accomplish what I'd like to do on a limited budget.. The tires are gonna eat up all my spending cash for the time, and with our wet weather, I don't see work pickin up for a week or 2..

Thanks for your time and helpful suggestions, and sorry if my previous statement seems a little harsh.. I don't tell what to do with your possessions, and I expect the same in return.

Brad

I have used those little plastic pumps you run with a drill to load tires. It was slow but I got it done. You just have to make an adapter to fit the water fitting you have.

I also use a pump up hand sprayer once when money was tight and I had a flat. I took the nozzle off and was able to just spray the fluid back in through the water valve hole. I tipped the tire over at about a 45* angle to allow me to get it over the rim. I had drained the fluid into a plastic kiddy pool. I would fill the two gallon sprayer and pump it up. It took me all afternoon but I did not have the money to do anything else. I had just been home from the service for a few months. I was finishing the crops that my wife and grand father had planted. We had four kids under ten in the house. So I had way more time than money. Got it fixed and was able to use the loader again.

use a cheap $7.00 plastic pump adapted to an electric motor. We us an old drill chuck for the hook up. Adapt a hose, fit over valve stem, to pump. pump fluid out into barrels. (Don't let pump run dry!!!!) For filling I've either used the pump or if I've the time I fitting fit to the bottom side of a 5gal bucket. The bucket rigged with a rope over a pulley hoist pail to let gravity work. (To make this method easier, I've tied a loop in rope so's I may loop it off on an anchor somewhere whilst I do some thing else.) IF I've failed to make it clear, I hope I've given you enough info to figure something out for yourself.
I've tried to find I-net pics of the tools I use to no avail. May have to take pic of mine and post it. Just hollar!
Meanwhile good luck and be careful. Above all make sure tractor is well chocked and blocked.
Fernan

One of my original IH operator's manuals, not sure if it's the M or C, shows how to load tires using a barrel on a stand. I have hung a bad tire from the loader to transfer fluid to a good one. The problem with gravity is it's pretty slow. Most any kind of pump is faster. I used the PTO sprayer pump for a while, then got a drill pump, which lasted only one tire, (ran it dry while I was doing something else) and now use a little electric which is basically a drill pump with its own motor.

Brad this procedure CAN be dangerous however for years tractors shops did the following. You need a good LOW preasure regulator like you run a paint gun or something on. Take a good 55 gal barrel and you make a pipe that goes THRU the screw in bung and stops about an inch from the bottom of your barrel. Mix you mixture and place it in the barrel. Attach a garden hose from top of pipe to your water fitting. Apply no more than 8 lbs of air preasure to the top of the barrel thru the small pulg. Turn you valve stem to about 10 or 2 and let it run in. You will need to shut off the air and push the air bleed button ever now and then. When it gets where you get fluid other than air you have it full enough.. This is a cheap way and can be done safetly if you are carefull with your air preasure.

I have done like you explained a few times and it worked excellent. I had a rubber tipped blow gun and it was just right for the smaller bung on the drum. It saved me some cash when was I young and broke with kids and a wife to feed.

Send me an e-mail and I'll send you a page out of a manual that shows how to fill your tire with fluid, well it shows 3 or 4 ways to be exact. As for removing the fluid if you have a load or a way to get the tire higher then a plastic barrel you can hook up a hose and let it flow

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I can visualize how to make almost all of these suggestions work.. I guess what I should have originally asked was if it was feasible.. and sounds like it is..

Old, I will drop an email later on, I'd like to see the pages from the manual, if nothing else, I think it'd b neat to look at..

Anyone want to chime in on re-using my tubes? They're currently keeping the chloride/air in, so as long as I'm careful I could possibly reuse them, couldn't I? It's totally against how I like to do stuff, but with money being tight I have to do what I have to do. Can't very well accomplish anything with a flat..

Thanks guys,

Brad

I have done it the way JM says to do it and the only improvement on that is to buy a Quik fill tractor attachment from Gempler's $13.95 It vents the air constantly without having to stop filling and push the button to let the air out. It works on rear large tractor tires, but won't work on garden tractor tires. My neighbor borrowed it last week and used the gravity method and he brought it back telling how great it worked.

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To get the fluid out, I have had good luck using
thin 1/4" hard plastic hose, (Like Pex), that I
can fit inside the valve stem. On some tires I
have even had to shave the plastic hose down on
the O.D. so it will fit in the valve stem. I cut
the hose to 5-10" and wrap some tape around the
hose about 16" in to seal the hose to the valve
stem. Rotate tire so valve stem is up and inflate
it with a blow gun. Pull out the blow gun and jab
the hose in. The tape on the hose will make a
pretty good seal on the valve stem. Rotate the
tire so valve is on the bottom.

It may take a while using the tire air pressure
to pump the fluid through the 1/4" hose, and
probably need to rotate the tire back to the top
and re-inflate a couple of times, but when it gets
down to the bottom of the tire, I can rotate the
tire around and turn the hose back and forth and
blow out all the fluid. I think I can remove 99.5%
of all the fluid or more and usually it makes very
little mess.
To refill I have used a 12v sprayer pump. Just
be sure to rinse pumps well after use.