Liquid in Tractor Tires

[Thomas L Carpenter]

What is the fluid? Glycol?

Can't be sure today but about 30 years ago it was brine water so it wouldn't freeze in the winter.

[Dan Barber]

Only crazy people today use calcium chloride or a brine of any type. Rim Guard (beet juice), windshield washer fluid, or a glycol of some type is typically what is used today. The CC causes rims to rust, so almost no one uses it anymore.

[Jim Becker]

I also have a carrier on the back which we use to bring in firewood. The lift capacity of the BX is limited. At first I thought I'd get a bigger tractor but after getting the left rear tire off the ground I decided it would be best to have my neighbor do the heavy lifting with him Bobcat. It does all I need done safely.

The small mod I did to increase the FEL lift capacity just a little was worth the time and easy. Look up "Biff's Equipment" on the 'Tube and find the video on how to do it. One should obviously not greatly exceed the capacities on any machine, but this little mod lets you get the most out of the FEL while still not destroying your machine.

[Ken Combs]

Often overlooked in this discussion is the effect of weights on the center of gravity. Loaded tires lowers it, how much depends on how much fluid is in there, that is how high up in the tire is the fluid.

I've always used smaller tractors, large garden or small utility and used all the weight available. Loaded tires, wheel weights and 3pt implement or weight.

With a loader, even a small one, lowering the CG is important to rollover protection. Keeping the bucket low is best, but sometimes one gets careless and needs all the help available.

[Jim Becker]

Very true, Ken...the more weight in the FEL, the lower one should keep it when moving the load around.

[Tom M King]

When I put new tires on the back of the John Deere, they hooked some kind of air powered thing to the stem and pumped the fluid out pretty quickly. Each tire had 55 gallons in it (28" wheel). I had carried the tractor there on a trailer. They took the tires off without taking the wheel weights or even wheels off, put the new ones on, and pumped the fluid back in them. 1979 tractor and I'm sure that wasn't the first new set of tires on it maybe 20 years ago. The wheels looked just like new inside.

I do need to put some air in them every several years. You have to stop the valve stem at the top so it's not inside the fluid. This bare tractor weighs a few pounds less than 6,000. 200 pounds of weights on each rear wheel and between 4 and 500 pounds in each rear tire according to the tire guy. Not sure what the loader weighs. Loader capacity is listed as 2500, but not much more than a ton is what it will pick up-like a cube of bricks. The rear tires have never lifted off the ground when using the loader but if I'm moving wet dirt I have something hanging on the back of it.

[Edward Weber]

A few things to consider that I didn't see mentioned, if they were I apologize.

You need to know the axle specs on you're machine. I have seen many of the sub-compact (BX sized) tractors have FEL weight ratings that are considerable higher than the front axle specs. This should also be looked at for the rear. Adding heavy equipment as well as weighted tires or rims might not be good for the machine life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsZx3bVQgZ0

[John Ziebron]

Often overlooked in this discussion is the effect of weights on the center of gravity. Loaded tires lowers it, how much depends on how much fluid is in there, that is how high up in the tire is the fluid.

There are standard charts, that can be found online, that dealers use to determine how much fluid to put into a given size tire. There has to be enough air left so when driving over a rock or other obstacle that would depress the tire the uncompressable fluid will not cause a blowout.

Most compact/subcompact tractors front axles are not designed to be loaded much more than factory loader lift specs. And although many people, myself included, make modifications to increase the amount of weight that can be lifted I can tell you from personal experience and reading threads on tractor forums that you will sooner or later be replacing front axle seals.

[Jim Becker]

Most compact/subcompact tractors front axles are not designed to be loaded much more than factory loader lift specs. And although many people, myself included, make modifications to increase the amount of weight that can be lifted I can tell you from personal experience and reading threads on tractor forums that you will sooner or later be replacing front axle seals.

I will add that even when staying at or below the front axle loading specs, the ball joints do take a beating over time if you do a lot of hard work. Mine were a little loose prior to moving here from our old property, and are really shot after moving the many tons of soil and stone I mentioned earlier in the thread to prep the base for my shop building. I plan on rebuilding them this year...it's not a hard job, but at this point, it's necessary as the front end is pretty sloppy from the wear.

[Tom M King]

Even full sized tractors that do a lot of loader work are hard on front end moving parts. I had to replace every wear part in the front end of my utility tractor a couple of years ago. This axle yoke (or whatever it's called) weighs several hundred pounds. I had to slide it, lever it, and get help to just move it to cobble up this conglomeration of holding and pushing things in the press. This to replace the pivot bushing. This is my loader tractor-a Category 2 70hp. To replace all the other moving and mating parts, once that was back up under the front end and sitting on cribbing, the other pieces are added one at a time.