Filling my tires - suggestions.

PBinWA

PBinWA

Member
I want to fill the rear tires on my tractor and am looking for the cheapest way to do it (other than straight water).

I need to put 25-30 gallons in each tire

My local tire place quoted me around $150 for Calcium and $160 for RimGuard.

I've heard of people using Anti-freeze Windshield Washer fluid and RV Antifreeze but those are more expensive than RimGuard (at full strength).

So are most people diluting the RV Antifreeze with water?

What else can I use? Can I just use anti-freeze and water or does it have to be RV Antifreeze?

Suggestions, comments, whatever?
 
Depends how cold it gets I suppose.
I have 25% antifreeze and 75% water in mine, it doesn't often get cold enough to freeze that here.

Another possibility is to use antifreeze that has already been used, the stuff that you drain out your radiator. Maybe filter it, but it should still provide the protection you need.
 
So I guess the reason people don't generally admit to the "Anti-freeze" thing is because of the environmental issues. Correct?
 
PBinWA said:
So I guess the reason people don't generally admit to the "Anti-freeze" thing is because of the environmental issues. Correct?
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I suspect you are right about that . I think that is what the Kioti dealer installed in my tires but I am not 100% sure . Sure worked well loading my tires . That old DK45 rig could pull the world if I could find a strong enough chaining point !
 
I bet there are way more people with antifreeze in their tyres than admit it :D

The other idea is to fill them with diesel or (used?) hydraulic fluid, cheaper than the rimguard.
 
How much is WasherFluid in Washington? Around here it is usually less than $1.29 a gallon usually less than $1. At that you are $60 for 60 gallons. I put about 22/23 gallons in each of the rear tires of my New Holland. I bought a little garden hose adapter from TSC or NAPA don't remember which for about $8 and had a little pump that hooked to a garden hose. Jacked a side of the tractor up one at a time and about 30 minutes later I was about 330lbs heavier. Made a difference in my little New Holland.
 
jwstewar said:
How much is WasherFluid in Washington? Around here it is usually less than $1.29 a gallon usually less than $1. At that you are $60 for 60 gallons. I put about 22/23 gallons in each of the rear tires of my New Holland. I bought a little garden hose adapter from TSC or NAPA don't remember which for about $8 and had a little pump that hooked to a garden hose. Jacked a side of the tractor up one at a time and about 30 minutes later I was about 330lbs heavier. Made a difference in my little New Holland.
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I was at NAPA and they wanted around $3.50 a gallon for anti-freeze WW fluid! :pat:

I'm going to try and check around and see if I can find it cheaper. I was sure that it would be cheaper than Rimguard or Calcium.
 
I think if you go to foam filled tires in the miscelanous section you will see a formula submitted by Farm with Junk about using 25% alchohol w' water to weigh tires.

I bet used fryer grease, which is almost always free for the asking would work and not be envornmentaly hazardous or hard on the rims.


It might not weigh as much as other fluids though.
 
I bet used fryer grease, which is almost always free for the asking would work and not be envornmentaly hazardous or hard on the rims.
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Yea but what happens when the bears and such get the scent of them tires. :yum:
 
yeah, but used fry oil gels at "low" temps - like 40, and doesn't liquefy again until it's warm - like 60 or so.

wal-mart no-freeze washer fluid ougtta work good at a reasonable price.
 
Well I happen to have gallons of the stuff sitting in my barn righ now waiting to be biodieseled and I will check in the morning (supposed to get in single digits tonight) but I can say it has never been anywhere near crisco. A little molassassy maybe but not solid and I suppose a jug of antigell and maybe some kerosene could help if you were real worried, but the black tires would also help to "keep it fluid" but in my experience the gelling ,which would be murder on your fuel system, would have little effect on the inside volume of a tire.
 
Well it was 6 degrees when I went out and it was still totaly liquid in those 5 gallon totes. A litle viscous perhaps, but certainly going to slosh around in a tire.

If you think about it, even if you loaded you tire half full of crisco, I bet it would only take one or two revolutions before it gelled enough on the edges to be able to slide around in your tire as it should.

I'm not trying to push this aproach, but if you heat the stuff up and strain it through cheescloth as you fill your "injector" I bet it would work just fine. The price is right and you wont have to worry about hurting any critters if you rupture a tire in the woods.

Heck I might just have to load my front tires and see what happens.
 
shinnlinger said:
Well it was 6 degrees when I went out and it was still totaly liquid in those 5 gallon totes. A litle viscous perhaps, but certainly going to slosh around in a tire.

If you think about it, even if you loaded you tire half full of crisco, I bet it would only take one or two revolutions before it gelled enough on the edges to be able to slide around in your tire as it should.

I'm not trying to push this aproach, but if you heat the stuff up and strain it through cheescloth as you fill your "injector" I bet it would work just fine. The price is right and you wont have to worry about hurting any critters if you rupture a tire in the woods.

Heck I might just have to load my front tires and see what happens.
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shinn,
I still have to stick to my original thought. Just do us a favor and take a picture of that bear when he is gnawing on your front tires. :yum: Other than that I think it is a very environmentally friendly idea.
 
shinnlinger said:
I think if you go to foam filled tires in the miscelanous section you will see a formula submitted by Farm with Junk about using 25% alchohol w' water to weigh tires.
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Twern't I...:sorry:

I'm a cal/chlor user myself. (Old school and content to stay that way)

My 150 has had cal/chlor in the rears for 37 years. I've had the occasional punctured tire. And last fall when I put new rubber on the tractor, the rims looked almost new condition. Cal/chlor does not eat rims in a matter of minutes. I've seen 40 or 50 year old tractors with rusted out rims. They were probably ran with an on-going slow leak for months, even years.

If you need SOME weight, windshield washer fluid can do the trick (alcohol) Cal/chlor enables the same volume of fluid to provide an additional 20% of weight. It's not "EXXON VALDISE" all over again with a leak. I run a mild mixture that barely freezes to a slush @ -10. If I see a leak, the tractor heads for the driveway, road, shop, or someplace where it isn't going to spill on my lawn or hayfields. And if there's a leak, I start IMMEDIATELY pumping the fluid out of the tire and into barrels. No matter what choice of tire fill you go with, it's $$$.$$ down the drain if you loose it. So DON'T loose it. That minimizes the "environmental catastrophy" issue.

Cal/chlor is easy to store in dry form. Water is usually easy to come by. For field repairs, if I was using wwf, I'd probably have to carry a barrel or dozens of 1-gallon jugs on our service truck. With cal/chlor, there's just a couple bags of calcium chloride flakes laying under the toolbox until such a time as it's needed.

For convenience sake, I've been buying my ca/cl at a swimming pool supply store near home. $22 a 50lb bag.

My #1 choice of tire repair services will charge me $100 to $125 (depending on size) to pump a tire down and then re-install fluid once repair is made. Then there's the cost of repair, plus a "service charge" and of late, a fuel surcharge. Long ago it became prudent economics for me to purchase my own tire repair "tools".

I bought a Teel stainless steel chemical pump, 2 lengths of GOOD garden hose, that NAPA adapter, and I keep several 55 gallon plastic drums on hand. I have 1/2 dozen tire "spoons", a long and a short handled tire hammer, a pneumatic bead breaker, a mechanical bead breaker, and a tool box full of tire patching material/valve stem tools/spare stems. I use a die grinder to buff tubes before patching. The entire set-up, less the (expensive) pneumatic bead breaker represents less than $300. (Fluid transfer equipment alone, around $100) I could EASILY spend that much for one "in the field" repair. And believe me, I've had more than one tire to fix over the years.
 
Thanks FWJ! Great info. I may price out the Calcium Chloride too.

I checked Walmart and currently -20 WW Fluid is priced at $1.64 a gallon. I'm not sure my Walmart had 60 gallons but I could probably hit two of them.

Since I don't "need" to have this done until next winter (I'm looking for snow plowing traction) then I may wait until I see WW on sale. I'm guessing it goes on sale in the Fall since Walmart currently had regular WW Fluid on sale for 94 cents a gallon.
 
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