Beet juice as ballast

[Stewardculture]

My 'bota dealer offered to fill my back tires with beet juice as ballast/weight since I also had the FEL. I admit, that I have had a few loads in the bucket that made my L2501 a bit squirly to handle and I could feel the tractor want to roll on a couple of occasions.

My question is, I opted out on buying the beet juice for ballast in the back tires but I'm wondering if I made a mistake and should I have them add it when I take it in for a 50-hour check up?

I know having the extra weight gives better traction (I have ag tires) and I am sure it would counter balance a heavy FEL bucketful.

 

[JWool]

Unless you want to hook a ballast box to the 3 point it's almost a must in my opinion.
I have AG tires on my B2650 loaded and still have been in situtions with the loader I could use a little more weight.
I did because I didn't want to have to hook a ballast box up every time I used the loader plus I may need to work in tighter areas from time to time.

 

[Bmyers]

I have my tires filled with beet juice and I also put an implement on the 3pt. Otherwise the rear gets awful light.

 

[Tim Horton]

If you can get beet juice in your tires at a reasonable price, I'd recommend you go for it.

Our tractor came with salt water. It hasn't been a problem, but I wish I could have had anything but that at the time we got the tractor..

In this area, beet juice is not widely known and expensive. On an older tractor we had, I did a home fill job with auto antifreeze, and washer fluid mix. This mix may not be the best, but was cheap and easy to DIY...

 

[BigG]

if you do not need to worry about freezing you could just add water to the rear tires and save a lot of money. What ever you do add the weight and hang an implement on the three point hitch when you are using the FEL.

 

[Nicfin36]

My L2501 came with filled tires. Plus, I have a backhoe on it. It has felt stable when using the bucket, but I have not done anything crazy with it and even slight inclines make me nervous, so I avoid them.

I have been curious about what they are filled with, and I forget to ask the dealer every time I have stopped in since purchasing the tractor.

 

[Stewardculture]

Thanks for the replies and I guess the beet juice is worth the squeeze ... ahahaha. Alright, I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I'll likely get my back tires filled. It might be nice not to feel that pucker factor when I have a heavy FEL load.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

query.... do they install TUBES when they add 'juice' of any kind ?

 

[Bmyers]

query.... do they install TUBES when they add 'juice' of any kind ?

Not to my knowledge.

 

[SidecarFlip]

No 'juice' of any kind in my tires, none needed. I spec cast centers instead. Having said that I would want tubes in ANY tire with liquid ballast added. No exceptions.

 

[RCW]

Friday I saw a tanker tractor-trailer labeled Rim Guard.
Thought that would fill a lot of tires.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ccoon520]

query.... do they install TUBES when they add 'juice' of any kind ?

They only do it with the Calcium Chloride stuff because it will eat the paint and rim. They do not with water or juice.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

interesting , as water will rust out a rim....yeah, might take a few days.....
just thought it'd be good ,cheap protection

 

[ccoon520]

interesting , as water will rust out a rim....yeah, might take a few days.....
just thought it'd be good ,cheap protection

The inside of the rim is painted. Fresh Water is fairly nonabrasive and the wheels rotate at such a slow speed that it won't wear through the paint quickly. Also, it would take longer than a few days to rust out the rims anyway. The tires are filled to 75% capacity with water so the actual air contact is minimal reducing the surface area for oxidation to occur. Also since the tire is Air Tight if rust does start to occur it will stop once the oxygen is all used because there is no further oxygen for the reaction and there is not sufficient energy to split the water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.

 

[ccoon520]

The inside of the rim is painted. Fresh Water is fairly nonabrasive and the wheels rotate at such a slow speed that it won't wear through the paint quickly. Also, it would take longer than a few days to rust out the rims anyway. The tires are filled to 75% capacity with water so the actual air contact is minimal reducing the surface area for oxidation to occur. Also since the tire is Air Tight if rust does start to occur it will stop once the oxygen is all used because there is no further oxygen for the reaction and there is not sufficient energy to split the water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.

I should also mention that iron or steel engine blocks also have water jackets for cooling (yes there is antifreeze and other additives but is a much more open system than a tire), and they mostly only run into rust issues when the jacket is drained and the block has sat for an extended period of time.