Fluid in one tire only?

I had a flat rear tire on the Farmall H this morning, I have got it broken down and will be putting in a new tube, even though this one was only two years old. Tires are 14.9-38 with CaCl. I am wondering if it is okay to just put air in the new tube for now and figure out about if and how to put the fluid back in later. I have read that fluid makes the tractor more stable on hills but I am wondering if having only one side loaded will make it more tippy than with no fluid. It would be much handier to work on without fluid and I am not sure if I need it since I only use it to pull wagons and the haybine and baler, no tillage. Any advice will be much appreciated.
Zach

Based upon what you said, I'd not worry about it. The tractor may rock sideways a tad when you stop fast with the fluid in the fluid tire sloshing back and forth and the other not doing it, but I don't see that as a show stopper.

I'd do it.

Mark

Traction's gonna be the problem. If you do get in a situation where it wants to slip,your dry tire is gonna sit and spin. The neighbor woman called me one night and asked if I'd get up there with the tractor and pull her husband away from the gutter cleaner. He had a Super 90 Massey on the spreader and was just going back and forth and couldn't get away. Only one tire was loaded and it was all but useless. He didn't know she had called and he was still trying when I got up there.

Not safe to have one tire full of fluid and the other not filled. BTDT and found that all it takes is a small incline to make a tractor set up tat way lay over on its side and that was on a Ford that sat lower the your tractor and I came very close to laying it over. This was also in a place I have driven the same machine many many times but found that my dad had not filled the one tire after getting it fixed. By the way if you need info on how to fill one your self send me an e-mail and I'll send you a page telling you how to fill them and one set up you can use and walk away from it and it will do it on its own

I don't know if it would cause mechanical issues, but you would lose the benefit of the other tire's fluid. Without a locking differential, the power goes to the tire with the least resistance, which would be the unloaded tire. In a heavy tillage situation you will spin out as if you didn't have fluid at all. If you plan to put fluid back in before you engage in heavy pulls, it should be okay.

By the way, NAPA carries the adapters that hook a hose onto the valve stem. Just rotate the valve to the top and fill a little bit then bleed some air off and repeat.

SF

For what you are doing with it, I would take the fluid out of both sides and protect your rims. Light work like you described it will do just fine. As far as hillsides go, if you are on an incline sideways and worried about tipping, you probably shouldn't be there to begin with unless you have duals or front wheel assist.

On a tractor the size of the "H" IH...the un-even weight will cause real weird STOPPING problems...
You will need to be careful Stopping and NEED to balance the brakes as you slow and stop..
I would consider it Un=safe to have only ONE tire Loaded..
It is very easy to get all but the last couple gallons of calcium out of the loaded tire..BUT, I would advise you to LOAD that other tire..!
You WILL have a much safer tractor with the rear tires Loaded..
Ron..

Either unload the other tire or figure a way to put the fluid back in this one ASAP.

We've always used an old washing machine motor/pump. Slow but gets the job done.

Thank you all for the help. I can put it back in via gravity, I will put the tube in the tire and blow it up, then take the valve out and put a small hose in the hole and put the fluid in from up in the loft. According to my manual it will drain in if the tank is 5' higher than the tire, so that should be pretty easy. I have the CaCl in 15 gallon containers but none of them has much more than 12 gallons in it so I should be able to carry them upstairs one at a time. I'll post a photo when I do it.
Zach

I ran my 850 ford like that for awhile, did some mowing and so on, did get stuck a little once, used some small logs and such to get out, but had the tire been loaded, would not have happened. Soon after I loaded it up with an inexpensive valve you can get from TSC, to let air out, liquid in. I used a napa drill pump I had in the tool box, the impeller destroyed itself, my friend was over and in his plumbing/hvac van, he had a small pump that fit a garden hose, used that and it worked well, he said later that pump destroyed itself too., really odd, as it was flushed clean immediately, coincidence likely I think. On this repair, I dismounted the tire myself, from the rim, repaired the rim, the tire guy who originally put the new tire on, left a faulty valve, said it would be fine, so I left it, idiot. New tire, rim and CACL, few years later, the valve hole needed some repair, I welded it, ground smooth, primed the rim, which incidentally was in good condition, drilled a new valve hole, (should have flattened that) new tube, mounted the tire, been on there several years now.

Sounds like you may not need the tires loaded, mine I have too for traction, ballast, we have hills, it has a loader etc.

Zach you must be a hoss if you can lug 120lbs up stairs like that.

Gravity should work if you can get a siphon going. Just need to keep the air from building up in the tire....

It's very dangerous on a side slope. My father-in-law turned an old MinnieMo on it's top with a setup like that. When the loaded tire is on the down side, make sure you have your jumpin' shoes on!

I could think of 115 million better things to do than put calcium back in the tubes. I hope whoever invented that $%^& drowned in it. Just take the evil crap out of the other tire too. See how it goes. If you find yourself needing weight again, cross that bridge when you get to it. I've had a couple tractors so far where someone cast concrete dishes with lug bolts, and a propane cylinder full of cement with lug bolts welded to the botton. There must be tons of original H case weights out there... This is the underground mineral block I made for the worms.