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How are liquid filled tires on the road?

L

Lanse

Well-known Member
So I wanted to ask you all if anyone had any first hand knowledge of how a tractor with tire ballast (water, calcium chloride, antifreeze, etc) "rides" on the road versus one with air filled tires.

Some say its like driving a log wagon. Others say its not even noticeable if you leave some air at the top of the wheels... What is it?

I have a tractor that Im thinking of ballasting, but it spends a considerable amount of its hours on the road, and its fairly quick also, 24mph top speed.

What about "rolling resistance" that some people say increases?

Please school me guys... Thanks in advance...
 
I pull 500-600 bu of grain with an 85hp tractor. Dad bought it with fluid in all 4 tires in the 1980s (2wd, the front is to keep the front end down). Hope I can start combining in a day or two, dang it's been a wet fall, and hope it hauls most of my grain away for another year.

I get good traction with it. I also round bale with it, more stable on the road ditches.

It rides fine.

It does wear the tires more on the highway. More grip, it makes more wear, just natural deal.

Paul
 
My experience with high gear has that liquid "sloshing" at top speed. That is a bit like riding in a motorboat over waves. kelly
 
I've had both and never noticed a difference in handling or ride on the road. Being heavier you will get more t it's wear. It will also be more stable from the extra weight, most of which is low down. Never noticed any difference in rolling resistance either.
 
Since 1946 have never noticed it in any tractors. And you are only supposed to fill to valve stem lever with the valve to the top. Some say 75% but I don't think the figures work out quite like that.
 
It can be felt when coming to a stop. (a bit of sloshing) and of course it takes a little longer to get to speed. The ride will be somewhat stiffer because the remaining air volume is much less. On a paved road no ride difference will be noticed. On a rough road or lane speed must reduced in all circumstances for control and safety, so that is also irrelevant. Jim
 
If you ever have a flat it will be a lot harder to fix since you need inner tubes with filled tires (check to see if your tires are tubeless), if you need tubes your looking at $100 for tubes plus having them put in. Fixing a flat with filled tire/tube is no fun, takes more time, and isn't as cheap. I'd make, or find some bolt on wheel weights instead.
 
Hmm. I've never driven a tractor that did not have ballasted tires!

If your tractor is going to do real work, fill the tires. It improves both traction and stability. Calcium chloride is pretty much no longer used. I purchased tires recently, and the dealer filled them with windshield washer fluid; they said Rim Guard (sugar beet juice) messed up their equipment. (I'm not sure I believe them.) Obviously Rim Guard or chloride will give you the most weight.
 
Bought New tractor in December A Kioti 90 hp MFWD... Without fluid! I was going to add fluid; but so far I don't seem to need it; However I think it would run smother on the road with Rim Guard fluid in it! & I would feel safer running the loader on the front. I go 24 MPH also. WONT HAVE a 2 wheel drive tractor without it!
 
At higher speeds, fluid will be forced to the outside of the tire by centrifugal force. No sloshing. Also, never completely fill the tire, 75 % is fine. A full tire has no commpressability and could burst on hard impact. Ben
 
And here I don't think they would work on a tire with washer fluid. They use both rim guard and calcium depending on what you want.
 
I've done thousands of miles of road work with fluid filled tires. Original 45 degree lugged rear tires wore in a crazy pattern, centers wore down fast except for a corner, back of the lugs wore on a bevel. Put new 23 degree lugged tires on with fluid and they wore much slower and evenly across the tire.
No extra noise, no noticable sloshing, tractor acted like it had 500 pounds of ballast on each rear wheel. Will say the rims were a rusty mess a couple years ago when I had a flat, old patch started leaking. Sand blasted both rims and primed & repainted both rims and installed new tubes. My other tractor is three years older, 66 yrs old vs 63 yrs old, never had fluid and I bet insides of rims look fine, the outsides do. Both tractors are loader tractors, more rear ballast would be nice but it will be cast iron.
 

I think if anyone notices tractor loping with liquid filled tires it could be tires have flat(out of round) spots from sitting not the liquid sloshing in tire. I think bias ply tires would be more prone to flat spots from sitting than radial tires
 
Rarely do new tractors come with liquid ballast. If a new tractor is ordered with ballast it's cast iron.
 
WGM I do not know where you are located and you say rarely. Between the three stores last year we sold over 600 tractors and about 84% of them left with liquid ballast. This part of the country almost all dealers use a 1/3 mixture of methanol /water and most tractors get fluid.
 
With the position of the valve stem, you can't get them full anyway. Unless you take it off the tractor & lay it flat. I don't think tractors travel fast enough for the fluid to only be on the outside.
 
And a lot of wheels can be tightened to out of round conditions. I know the thousand series Ford you easily can do that with.
 
(quoted from post at 04:37:52 10/11/17) BTW the tire can be tubeless. People ballast tubeless tires all the time, yes, even with calcium chloride.
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Not without putting tubes in them first, unless you like having to replace the rims when the calcium chloride eats through them.
 
I have had fluid, fluid and cast iron, fluid and concrete weights and just cast iron or concrete and I much prefer fluid. The weighs you hang on stick out farther to catch your barn door or fence post as you are going thru. Fluid you dont't have to watch for that. but I in one tractor had fluid and 3 sets of cast, without the fluid would have had to added 4 or 5 more sets of cast. That would have made the tractor 2 feet wider to get in that barn door. Cast only when fluid is not enough.
 

Some manufactures do not recommend filling front tires on 4wd tractors over half full. It suppositly stops wear on the front steering..... Since I dont have 4wd, I cant tell you if its true.

Otherwise, no problems "roading" a ballasted tractor. As others said.. will be rougher due to less compress-ability on bumps, a bit more momentum to stop with brakes, lots more traction, and a bit more wear. Much needed for loader tractors and plowing tractors.

In soTex, we just use water, with lots of "slime" in in, for thorns.
 
Normal practice with liquid ballast is to fill to the top of the rim. That leaves about 25 percent air and 75 percent fluid. When filled to the top of the rim, the ballast smoothly flows over the top of the rim at any speed without noise or imbalance. Filling less than 75 percent full will cause balance problems. IMHO, nylon bias ply tires seem to be the worst for getting flat spots after sitting, especially in sub-zero temperatures.

On older tractors, tire fluid levels may be lower than the top of the rim because they are only re-inflated with air. Any fluid that leaks out over the years is almost never replaced unless a tire store patches the tire.
 
(quoted from post at 10:28:47 10/11/17) . How did you read that into such neutral and non provoking statement ?
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I guess the same way you read into a statement of someone desiring to purchase a used tractor & you suggest they should buy a new tractor. :roll:
 
I was sent by the owner of a jd 4040 about ten miles with only one side ballasted. Very noticeable. Very uneasy feeling with only the empty side bouncing. He had repaired the tire and sent me to have it filled.
 
(quoted from post at 07:48:21 10/11/17)
(quoted from post at 04:37:52 10/11/17) BTW the tire can be tubeless. People ballast tubeless tires all the time, yes, even with calcium chloride.
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Not without putting tubes in them first, unless you like having to replace the rims when the calcium chloride eats through them.
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Only eats through if there's a leak. Calcium chloride can only corrode in the presence of oxygen. Once the oxygen in the air bubble inside the tire is depleted, it stops rusting.

Not something I would personally do, mind you, but it can be, and is done.
 
I had a Ford 8000 with calcium filled tires, used to really bob and sway at road speed, tried all different air pressure, just figured it was the nature of a tall tractor with big tires. Pumped the calcium out after a few years to be easier on soft hayfields since I didn't need the weight, what a difference it ran down the road much better! No sway and bounce it was a whole different machine
 
Well, if one puts tractor in neutral and decides to freewheel on a hill they do! More then one county worker here has had to be pulled outta' the trees/ ditch after trying that with loaded tires! I've seen it :)
 
Fluid won't cause wheel to be unbalanced while in motion, -IF- the wheel is properly filled. Proper fill is one inch below top of inner rim. With proper fill, the air stays at top of wheel, even in motion. If improper fill, the air will start to rotate around with the motion of the wheel. This can happen with to much fluid, or not enough fluid.
I have driven multiple fluid filled, and non fluid filled tired tractors. And I can't tell any difference in the ride. However, fluid filled tires add weight. And there for, that adds to more momentem to stop, and more power to get going.
I am currently fighting rims that have rusted out due to seeps and corrosion from the calcium chloride. What a head ache. If you can add wheel weights instead, and get by with a set or 2 of them, I would sure consider doing that instead.
 
(quoted from post at 00:42:07 10/12/17) Fluid won't cause wheel to be unbalanced while in motion, -IF- the wheel is properly filled. Proper fill is one inch below top of inner rim. With proper fill, the air stays at top of wheel, even in motion. If improper fill, the air will start to rotate around with the motion of the wheel. This can happen with to much fluid, or not enough fluid.
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I was taught to fill tire even with valve stem when stem was at 12 o clock. How can air rotate with liquid when air is much lighter than any liquid? How did one see inside tire to see this phenomena you refer to?
 

I do a lot of road haulage with a tractor on radial tires, cast centers and fluid in the rears. Tractor had fluid when delivered new from dealer.

Other tractors here have bias ply tires with fluid and no cast weight

No sloshing, no bouncing due to the tires on any of them.
 
Lance I owned a farm tire shop for 22+ years. Some of these guys know what they are posting about. The majority of them haven't got a clew, they are just posting to be doing something. 1 You cannot pump beet juice with the same pump as cal. 2 You can pump fluid below 0. I don't like to but have done it many times. You cannot pump beat juice at those temps. 3 Fluid filled tires don't ride any different on the road than empty tires, my own tractors are proof of that along with years of questioning reliable farmers over those 22+ years. 4 These guys are complaining about tubes, most tractor rims are made to be used with tube type tires. To use a tubeless tire on most older tractors is just shooting yourself in the foot. 4 most of these guys remove tire and rim from their tractor when they farmer repair a tire. That is not the way to fix a tire, why because 90+% of these guys don't get the rim remounted straight back on the tractor hub. That causes the rim to warp, causing the tire to wobble all over the place when traveling down the road. Most blame this on that ##%%$# fluid in the tire when in most cases the problem has been created by them. I cannot begin to count the number of tractors I have straightened or attempted to straighten warped rims. Makes no difference if you use liquid or steel. If things are right there is no difference.
 
Don't know why anyone would take the rear (or front) wheels off a tractor to put new tires on, or fix a flat. Its a lot easier to do leaving the wheel(s) on.
 
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