ice in tires

I just got a tractor and was going to take it down the road about 7 miles. It started bouncing bad thought the tire were cold and they would get round well they never did found out there is water in the tire no calcium. What can I do to keep them from freezing?

If you drove the tractor home the ice will have broken up and likely cut your tubes if no tubes perhaps little damage .If it was mine tractors I would jack up the tractor remove the valve stem and let the water run out on the groundyou may need to lower the tractorto flaten the tire to remove the remaining water,Or you could add calcium after you make sure the TUBES are ok to hold the calcium, Best of luck Barney

Well there are three possible solutions:
Keep it warm
Put antifreeze in the tires. (replace the water)
Take all the water out.

Best solution for fluid (opinion) is Beet Juice.
Next best is Windshield washer fluid
Next is used (or new) auto antifreeze
Next is Calcium Chloride.
Jim

Park it in a heated building for as long as it takes to thaw and then remove water, leave it out if you don't need the weigh. If you need the weight you already know the answer.PS if you chose to leave the tires "dry" make sure all the water is removed if tractor is to be used in freezing weather. reasons should be obvious.

you can get an adapter from garden hose to valve stem at TSC or stores like that. Then you can get a pump that goes in your elec. drill chuck. This will help a lot in moving the water to where you want it.

Get the water out and refill with CaCl. However......... if they're frozen already, getting the water out WILL be a chore. We had a pair freeze once years ago and it took nearly a week sitting at the tire shop before they got enough out to break the tire down...
You may need to tarp the tractor and get a big salamander under it for a day. Rubber is a great insulator...

Rod

Absolutely nothing wrong with CaCL- been used for over six decades. Cheapest form of additional weight. Only problem comes from people who don"t fix a leak when it occurs. Sure, wait months or years, and the rim rusts.

I agree with most of the answers here if not all of them but we had a neighbor that had the same thing happen. We tarped the tire and put one of those diesel fueled shop heaters that remind you of a jet engine under it with the tire. We started by heating it for about 3 or 4 hours and then rolling it 180 deg, then heat it for another hour and roll it 90 deg. and then another couple of hours then turning it another 180 deg. Then we made sure the valve stem was on the top and brought the inflation pressure to the highest recommended pressure, then rolled the stem to the bottom. We then took the core out and slipped a piece of 5/16" tubing onto the outside of the stem and put the other end away form the work area and enjoyed another cup of coffee. Luckily we had two heaters and we were able to do both at the same time. After we figured they were as drained as we were going to get them we took and heated about 10 gallons of Polypropylene Glycol in a couple of 5 gallon buckets. We bought the Glycol from the local RV dealer as that's what they use in the water systems on RV's because it's non toxic. We started using this about 1986 when we could buy it by bulk at a reasonable price, and if we did get a leak it wouldn't poison the dog or other animals and it is safer for us to work around than CACL and won't poison your crop soil etc. As I say you can drink the stuff with no ill effects. So we heated it up to almost boiling and with a little hand pump we pumped the fluid into the tires The hot glycol finished melting the ice out and then it kept it from refreezing. We then rolled the stems up to the top and put another 5 gallons in each tire and then 5 gallons of water and then 5 gallons of glycol and 5 gallons of water until we had the amount that they wanted and then inflated to the correct pressure.

It's going to be work and time consuming but you will get it this way.

Now I want to share with others in this group that I am recommending The POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL OVER ANY OTHER FLUID FOR TIRES. The reasons for this are some that I gave but one that I didn't mention is that IT WILL NOT CORRODE YOUR WHEELS AND HARDWARE. I am currently running it in some tubeless and its working great. When we last put rubber on this IH 1206 we removed the corrosion from the wheel that was caused by the CACL that had leaked and it was really messed up as it became apparent that the CACL had been seeping for a long time if it hadn't been spilled when it was first serviced. We wire brushed them and used phosphoric acid on them. We rinsed them off thoroughly and then neutralized it with baking soda, rinsed and dried. Then we primed them and painted them with epoxy primer and painted with aluminum paint and then clear coated them so the rubber wouldn't rub off the aluminum so easily. Put new stems in and seated the beads. Then loaded them with the 50-50 mix of polypropylene glycol and inflated. That was done about 9 years ago and when we bloke one down to patch a nail hole, the inside looked just like it did the day we mounted them. Yes it costs a little bit but what's the cost of a wheel or two wheels and the cost of maybe the animal that is poisoned by the Etheline Glycol. And I have had that CACL burn the heqq out of my hands and arms and even a drop in the eye once when I have had to work with it. And yes I was wearing safety goggles.
Sincerely, LarryT

One answer--- Rim Guard!

http://www.rimguard.biz/

JMHO, Dave

What do you plan on doing with the tractor in the immediate future?

If you're going to work on it in a heated shop for the rest of the winter, the problem will take care of itself. Let it melt, drain it out, and replace it with something that doesn't freeze.

If you're going to use it immediately, you need to get that water out of there somehow. Whatever it takes to melt the ice, then drain the water.

The way to dump the water is by using the tractor's weight and air pressure.

Put it up on a jack, somewhere you don't care if the water flows.

Pump the tire up to about 25PSI.

Rotate the valve stem to the bottom and remove the valve core. Let'er fly!

When the flow starts to get lackluster, rotate the tire so the valve stem is back on top. Pump 'er back up, and roll the valve stem back to the bottom.

As the water level gets low, you need to squash the tire by letting the tractor's weight down on it. You can get about 95% of the liquid out.

From there you either need to pull the tube and suck it dry, or add a few gallons of antifreeze and leave a little bit of water in there.

Thanks so much for this information. I am out here in New Mexico and had never heard of this product but will definitely keep it in mind for the next time we need to load tires. Will have to see if the cost will offset the shipping and handling. LarryT

Years ago my dad was in the used tractor busines. We would gets lots of tractors from the south,where they used water for fluid in tires. We tried to keep check and drain any with water right away. If you drive a tractor with frozen wheels you almost always ruin the tube or cut the valve out. Find a heated shop and wait. It takes forever to thaw a frozen tire. Been there done that,no wonder I don't have any hair left.