Air pressure in loaded tires

[eyegore]

B3030. 13.6 - 16 rear turf tires. Just got them loaded and with air valve stem at 12 o’clock, when I press air relief stem, ballast is coming out.
So here’s my questions. Is there too much ballast in tires? If so, should I drain out until air comes out? Finally, what would be the correct air pressure with ballast. Kind of new to this stuff so please forgive my lack of knowledge. Thanks.

 

[85Hokie]

Get your tires so that the valve stem is located at 12 o'clock again, jack up that side of the tractor so that the tire is 1/2" off the ground - press on the stem to release air - if fluid comes out continue to release, as fluid stops coming out and only air - stop and then refill with air to the correct PSI. This amount of fill is approx 70-75% ballast to the rest air.

PSI is the same for loaded or unloaded - you determine what is best for your application.

 

[DustyRusty]

I have found it best to get the tire in the air first, and then to put a little air into the tire to clear the ballast out of the valve stem, and then check the pressure of the tire. Unless you blow the ballast liquid out of the stem, it will always appear that there is too much ballast in the tire. If you don't keep the air pressure up to the rated PSI, you run the risk that the rim will spin inside of the tire, and you will be wondering why the tractor has no traction. The first time that this happened to me, I thought that I had a broken axle or the differential had gone bad. Easy fix, added air pressure to the tire.

 

[eyegore]

Get your tires so that the valve stem is located at 12 o'clock again, jack up that side of the tractor so that the tire is 1/2" off the ground - press on the stem to release air - if fluid comes out continue to release, as fluid stops coming out and only air - stop and then refill with air to the correct PSI. This amount of fill is approx 70-75% ballast to the rest air.

PSI is the same for loaded or unloaded - you determine what is best for your application.

Ah, makes sense about getting tire off ground. Will check them that way. Thanks.

 

[mikester]

From the K operators manual

 

[85Hokie]

Ah, makes sense about getting tire off ground. Will check them that way. Thanks.

If you do it while the tire is ON the ground - you will loose more than you really want to loose.

When I placed ballast IN my tires - I actually used the opposite approach, I had the valve stem out, hose and pump hooked up and allow the tire to flatten almost to rim, then I jacked the tire back up and this actually allowed the pump to run fast, almost creating a vacuum inside the tire, once the tire started to fill, I would cut the pump off, flatten the tire again and repeat, Once I got close to the predetermined amount I did NOT flatten the tire out - you can hear the pump struggle when the pressure gets too high - and then you need to burp the air out.

 

[HVACRoger]

B3030. 13.6 - 16 rear turf tires. Just got them loaded and with air valve stem at 12 o’clock, when I press air relief stem, ballast is coming out.
So here’s my questions. Is there too much ballast in tires? If so, should I drain out until air comes out? Finally, what would be the correct air pressure with ballast. Kind of new to this stuff so please forgive my lack of knowledge. Thanks.

When the dealer delivered my L2501 he stated with the tires loaded run the front at 10 PSI and the rear @ 15 PSI. I have the R1 tires

 

[WFM]

We had 9" of heavy snow here today. I took my tractor down back to bucket a path where I feed the deer. I noticed one of the rear tires looked low when I was in the field. So when I got back to my shop on pavement they both looked the same. I have added air to the front in yrs past but never to the rear. So I'm glad I found this.

 

[Henro]

Keep in mind that with loaded tires, the net volume of air in the tire will be much less than if the tire were filled only with air.

So the net effect is if the tire is deformed, the air pressure will increase much more than it would if the tire was not filled with liquid.

So my take on it is that you need a minimal amount of air pressure when the tire is not deformed, to keep the tire on the rim, if it is a tubeless tire, and you live with whatever the tire pressure increases to when the tire is deformed.

So with loaded tires I would set the pressure the same as if the tire were unloaded, and not worry about it...what I have done with my loaded tires and for at least 18 years have had no issues.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Tires should be inflated to the same PSI loader or unloaded!