Well.....That made all the talk worthless...... Tire Ballast

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2011

Just called and my tires are there, getting off work in the morning and hopping on the tractor... Asked if they could load them right away and he said they are out of the salt and won't get any before February/March....
Need 80 gallons of something... The salt costs half what wiper fluid would cost if I could get our gas station/parts store to even order me 80 gallon and who knows how long it would take..... Antifreeze costs 4 or 5 times what the wiper fluid would (same availabliity issue)... If I had to buy from the Germans, prices would be about 4 times as much....
So the ????

Anyone ever load the salt themselves??? They won't let me bring something for them to load, but I may be able to find it on ebay and the neighbor kid load them if it's possiblwe without a bunch of special stuff.....

oldironman · Dec 14, 2011

Loading a tire is easy. All you need is a small pump that you can get locally or on eBay. I doesn't need to be anything special, just as long as it will pump water and give a pressure of at least ten to twelve pounds. Put your mix in a pail or something and connect a vinyl hose to the outlet of the pump. I think that the vinyl needs to be 1/4 inch inside diameter. After taking out the valve stem, slide the hose over the valve and start the pump. Every so often stop the pump and take the hose off to let the air out. Make sure that the valve is at the top of the rim. Do this several times until you get fluid out of the valve when you remove the hose. Put the valve stem back in and air up the tire and you are done.

Fritz Maurer · Dec 14, 2011

Dirty anti-freeze? sugar? Bier? Jagermeister?

rustyfarmall · Dec 14, 2011

(quoted from post at 08:13:16 12/14/11) Just called and my tires are there, getting off work in the morning and hopping on the tractor... Asked if they could load them right away and he said they are out of the salt and won't get any before February/March....
Need 80 gallons of something... The salt costs half what wiper fluid would cost if I could get our gas station/parts store to even order me 80 gallon and who knows how long it would take..... Antifreeze costs 4 or 5 times what the wiper fluid would (same availabliity issue)... If I had to buy from the Germans, prices would be about 4 times as much....
So the ????

Anyone ever load the salt themselves??? They won't let me bring something for them to load, but I may be able to find it on ebay and the neighbor kid load them if it's possiblwe without a bunch of special stuff.....

I think beet pulp is the fluid of choice around here anymore. I know nothing about it, except for it is non-corrosive and is environmentally friendly.

in-too-deep · Dec 14, 2011

Order the flakes, mix it and pump it in yourself.
CaCl in a bag

VADAVE · Dec 14, 2011

Gemplers has the pump.

Wayne in MN · Dec 14, 2011

Do you have a sugar beet factory nearby? The by product of processing is beet juice; it is very high in sugar content so does not freeze easily plus it is nearly as heavy as CaCl. It is non-corrosive and will not injure animals.

INCase · Dec 14, 2011

Can you get used antifreeze? I've got 7 or 8 gallons you can have (ha ha).

Not a fan of the salt rusting the rims.

JMS/.MN · Dec 14, 2011

You can let gravity do the work if you don"t have a pump. BTDT. Just need your mixing barrel higher than the valve stem, and a hose to the stem. Loader tractor, high wagon, hill? Need to crack the line occasionally to let the air out of the tire.

Ken Macfarlane · Dec 14, 2011

Windshield washer fluid comes in totes for something like 0.25$ a
litre. Ask around. Brother in law was given 200 litres for free last
year just to get rid of extra his shop had. We have it stashed in
every kind of container we could find.

glennster · Dec 14, 2011

dave, its easy to load them yourself. for a cheap pump, home depot has a little pump that you put on a drill for about 10 dollars. calcium runs about 13 dollars a 50 pound bag for the dow flakes. i mix in an old poly tank. when you mix calcium and water, it will generate heat. let it cool a half day before you pump it in. instead of stirring the solution with a paddle, i use an air hose with a few feet of steel brake line on the end, stuff it in the drum and let it bubble to mix the solution. you dont need full blast of air, just enough to get a swirl in the tank.

mkirsch · Dec 14, 2011

We've been using an old washing machine motor and pump to do the deed for 30-odd years now. Slow, but gets the job done.

The most specialized piece of equipment you need is the nipple adapter. It has a neat little relief valve in it so you can bleed off the air pressure every so often, and keep pumping.

buickanddeere · Dec 14, 2011

DIllute the washer fluid 2 or 3 to 1

wijim · Dec 14, 2011

They don"t have Rimguard? Jim

souNdguy · Dec 14, 2011

easy to load them yourself with a few bucks of common tools.. like a burp valve and drill pump even.

can put in just enough ww fluid or af to keep them from going solid if that is a concern..

soundguy

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2011

I've got a half ton of coarse salt for the driveway in the barn...... Will it serve the same purpose????

There is a beet processing plant about 15 miles away that I'll ask but don't know if they'll let any go.......

ss55 · Dec 14, 2011

How cold do the your lowest winter temperatures get where you live? Try to prevent the fluid from freezing inside the tires or from forming slush if you need to drive the tractor in your coldest weather.

Saturated table salt (NaCl) brine will freeze solid at 0F, a higher temperature than saturated clacium chloride (CaCl) brine freezes at. Snow plows have to switch from NaCl to CaCl when temperatures approach 0F. Some people say CaCl is less corrosive to cars than NaCl, I don't know if that's true or not.

One tractor operators manual lists these freezing points for tire ballast:

2 Lbs CaCL per gallon of water - slush free at +13F, solid at -23F;

3.5 Lbs CaCL per gallon of water - slush free at -12F, solid at -52F;

5 Lbs CaCL per gallon of water - slush free at -53F, solid at -62F.

Your tire dealer should know what mixtures work well in your area.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2011

It looks as if you still have some time to make a decision. If you can mount the tires tubeless I would certainly do that and find some weights to put on it. In all of the discusion I didn't see any mention of tubeless tires. For some time now every tire we mount is tubeless if possible. This makes repairs as simple and inexpensive as putting in a plug. Saves a lot money on repairs and takes only a few minutes. Some people have used CCl fluid in tubeless tires but it is not a good idea and Rim Guard or antifreeze would be better. If your rims are good there should be reason why you couldn't mount the tires tubeless. It would probably save you $160 on tubes, make repairs easier, and you wouldn't problems with tube failure.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2011

(quoted from post at 13:59:30 12/14/11) How cold do the your lowest winter temperatures get where you live? Your tire dealer should know what mixtures work well in your area.

If it hits 0 F , it's real cold...... I believe he was gonna sell me the 3.5 pound mix. Got no other choice than to see how it works with just new tires for now. Neighbor kid has the filler adapter and we have plenty of pumps. I've got a 12volt pump that I got to suck out oil that hasn't been used yet. If I can use the salt I have (maybe a stronger mix??), even better.

armand tatro · Dec 14, 2011

I WILL NOT use PLUGS to repair tires on my semi-truck or any other of my cars wagons or tractors as those plugs can and will leak air into the sidewalls and cause blisters on the sidewalls leading to side-wall blowouts! The only time I will consider using a plug would be to get out of a unsafe area and than the tire would be broken down and repaired properly. NO PLUGS!!!! Armand

paul · Dec 14, 2011

No.

Might get to 20 degrees or so be4 freezing. Regular salt does not 'disolve' enough to work, you need CC.

--->Paul

johndeereman · Dec 14, 2011

Any auto salvage yards near you? Around here they always
have used antifreeze cheap. I wouldn't use it in an engine but
would be great in a tire

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2011

(quoted from post at 16:15:41 12/14/11) Any auto salvage yards near you? Around here they always
have used antifreeze cheap. I wouldn't use it in an engine but
would be great in a tire

Have a better chance of smoking dope with the Pope.......... But you gave me an idea... we have a junk yard on post and the guy that runs it is my old soldier roommate. They have to drain everything before parking on the line. I'll call him tomorrow and see what he has. They have to pay big bucks to get rid of it.... Same as individual garages. Things are lookin up.... The simple stuff never crosses the mind....

onefarmer · Dec 14, 2011

I usually do my own tire work(can't afford the tire place to do it). I have in the past used a drill pump, short hose, and a tire/hose adapter to reload the tires. This summer I used a sump pump and it loaded the tire a lot faster. A plastic trash can works good for a tub to put the sump pump in.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 14, 2011

I have been using Bl**k J**k tire plugs for several years and have not had any problems. They were the ones that the local tire dealer recommended. Bl**k J**k claims their plugs are better than patches because they keep moisture from getting to the steel belts and rusting the steel wire. I will admit I was skeptical at first but we just haven't had any problems with the plugs. A few years ago farmers around here were having so much trouble with stubble damage in the spring that the tire repair places could hardly keep up. They recommended that we get plugging kits to save time. I decided to give the plugs a try and just have not had any problem. I have even plugged a few semi tires with no problem even though they are not recommended for semi tires. Plugging semi tires is dificult because the plug are hard to insert. If you have had trouble with plugs what brand were they? I will avoid that brand.

Ryan - WI · Dec 14, 2011

Make a deal with the tire guy. You get your flakes and some extra flakes for him shipped over; he mixes it and pumps it in your tires.

buickanddeere · Dec 15, 2011

Probably not a good idea. Dave2 doesn't get along
well with flakes.

Leroy · Dec 15, 2011

Tire store does not use plugs any more, they only use the inside patch and at times with the little plug molded into the patch. No plugs for me.

Leroy · Dec 15, 2011

Dave, DON'T EVEN CONSIDER THAT, you love your animals and with that if bu some reason you would have a flat around them even if you only lost a couple of cups and they could get to it they would lap it up very fast and if they would survive would be very expencive and they would never be right. If you can get it through customs pay the price and get the flakes shipped in and it will be cheaper in the end.

JOHNNYfromMI · Dec 15, 2011

If you have any springs or fast running rivers
in your area just get some water from them. They
never freeze, so you should never have any problem.

Well.....That made all the talk worthless...... Tire Ballast

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