Loading/filling tires

[txnbygod]

How good or bad an idea is it to fill tires with water?

The dealer is asking way too much money to fill them with water and sealant

I am in central Texas, so I don't have too much of a worry about freezing

 

[spacemanspiff]

I am in south Alabama and the water in a tire will freeze. My big tractor is over 7k lbs and with 5 shanks not very far in the ground, it was spinning the tires. Next year i will have water with antifreeze mix and some better rippers since I bent most of them.

 

[85Hokie]

How good or bad an idea is it to fill tires with water?

The dealer is asking way too much money to fill them with water and sealant

I am in central Texas, so I don't have too much of a worry about freezing

Water is really fine in those conditions - you could add a little rust inhibitors to keep the rims from rusting over the years or tube the tires.

Water is excellent - if it leaks, you can find where easily, and it will not harm anything around either. And you can do it yourself without a lot of work!

 

[txnbygod]

My property is still pretty raw; cedar stump's and lots of surface limestone. Nothing too sharp

No superheavy loader work, more box blading rocks and pulling stumps

Would you prefer just sealant in tires or filling for ballast?

 

[L.C. Gray]

Consider foam filling them. Not cheap but well worth the price for what you get out of it. Plenty of weight and flats are a thing of the past.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

My property is still pretty raw; cedar stump's and lots of surface limestone. Nothing too sharp

No super heavy loader work, more box blading rocks and pulling stumps

Would you prefer just sealant in tires or filling for ballast?

Considering you haven't said what tractor your dealing with, and the price and situations for filling the tires varies allot, this will be a shot in the dark.

Sealant in tractor tires is pretty much a waste of money, and you can't do sealant and water or any other ballast type in the same tire.

Doing water ballast in your parts is probably fine on the aspects of freezing, and as others have noted if you do get a puncture in a tire it's not a big issue.
You can get a fluid fill valve a do it yourself, and save a whole lot of money.

EDIT: Like L.C. Gray just said foam is the ultimate, lots of weight and no more flats, but a real rough ride on hard surfaces and rocks, and that would run you about 2k on most medium to small size tractors.

 

[txnbygod]

I've just ordered a L4701
Industrial tires

Plain sealant is $500
Dealer said water and sealant would be a bit over $1k. Can't afford that; I'm scraping my pennies together to pay cash

 

[ipz2222]

Simple,, 80 percent water, 20 percent the new enviro frindly antifreeze. Does not rust the wheels and does not harm ground and does not freeze and does not harm animals if you spring a leak. Go 70 - 30 a little farther north.

 

[txnbygod]

I'm assuming the diy kit to fill the tires uses a water hose...
How is antifreeze added?

 

[85Hokie]

I'm assuming the diy kit to fill the tires uses a water hose...
How is antifreeze added?

Got tractor supply near by?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/slime-air-water-adapter-kit-with-bleeder-valve?cm_vc=-10005

works like a charm!

 

[skeets]

OK well this is not a problem, there are charts that will tell you how much liquid goes in what size tire, unless somebody has it right at hand I ll look for it,,
1 jack the tractor up, both rear wheels off the ground maybe an inch or so,,,
2 turn the wheel so the valve stem to high 12. remove the valve stem guts
3 Now you can go to most any tractor store and buy the adapter for your garden hose that goes on the valve stem.
4. Now you can do this a lot of different ways,,,, once you figure out how much liquid goes inthe tire use an old pump type spreayer and remove the srpay end and put in one of thos needle valves inthe hose,, fill the pump up with how much anti freeze you need and pump it in,, Then fill wit water.
Check every so often by turning off the water hose and see if any water mix is coming out of the valve stem when it does you have it filled ( that way there is an air space in the tire which will soften the tire and easy the abuse on the tractor and you)
5 Put the valve guy back in and pump the tire up to the stated pressure on the tire,, and Your good to go,, then do the same thing to the other side,,,,
ONE WORD OF CAUTION,, don't take the tire and wheel off and fill it, do it on the tractor,, those wheels are heavy enough all by them selves,, fill them with water and you will bust a gut getting it back on,,,, dont ask

 

[txnbygod]

Ty Hokie

I'm thinking to cancel to dealer's tire seal and use that money for a ballast box

I will fill the tires

 

[D2Cat]

Do a search for ballast box and you'll end up saving yourself more money if you're the least bit interested in fabricating something yourself.

Some guys put cement in a barrel with the draw bar going through the cement and a PVC pipe or two suck in the cement to provide a storage space of shovel, chain, or anything else you can imagine.

 

[coachgeo]

Good number of threads in here in this tire forum on this topic. If recall right thing there is even some videos and pics of how others have done it.

(ps moved this thread from operating to tires

 

[coachgeo]

Well this question comes up enough think it is time to get off my arse and do an ULTIMATE STICKY in this forum as well.

So now it's done.. but a work in progress. First item on the menu is links to several threads on this topic. One of them contains great videos of DIY

 

[txnbygod]

Ty!!!
Very helpful

 

[ipz2222]

You'll need a garden/yard pressure sprayer. The kind you spray insecticides with. Let the air out, best to block the tractor so the weight doesn't keep pushing down, pump the anti freeze in, you can only push in so much then the inside pressure stops anymore from coming in, release the pressure and pump in the rest. Make sure the valve is at the top. I removed my wheel assembly and leaned it over so I could get more in it. Just be advised, it will be heavy when you go to put it back on.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

DO NOT lift the tire off of the ground. You want the tractor blocked up so that the tire is just touching the ground. If you lift the tire off of the ground and try to fill, there is a good chance that the tire will get pulled off of the seat of the rim and then you have a non seated tire with liquid in it and a HUGE mess to deal with.

There is also no need to use a pump of any kind at all. If you have one great, but there is no need to purchase one just to get whatever you are going to add to the water into the tube.

Just use a short piece of hose and a funnel. Even with the valve stem at the top, this is not a problem and when done with your additive, put some water through to rinse the left over additive into the tire and remove and fill the rest of the tire with the garden hose.

This is very simple and should take only an hour or so to do. Maybe 2 just because you have not done it before.

PS, either your dealer is an idiot or he simply does not want to fill the tires.

 

[eipo]

Simple,, 80 percent water, 20 percent the new enviro frindly antifreeze. Does not rust the wheels and does not harm ground and does not freeze and does not harm animals if you spring a leak. Go 70 - 30 a little farther north.

I know your post is 2 weeks old, but I don't get around much.

If you are referring to propylene glycol... It will most definitely kill whatever it leaks on. It is environmentally friendly in that it will break down, but I have a patch of lawn and 2 white pines that didn't find it non toxic.

 

[eipo]

Got tractor supply near by?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/slime-air-water-adapter-kit-with-bleeder-valve?cm_vc=-10005

works like a charm!

Yes it does.