How much liquid ballast for Ford 8N tires?

[EmmettDave]

I've got an 8n with a front end loader. It has huge iron wheel weights on inner face of rear wheels, and also liquid in the tires. I'm switching a rear tire onto a new rim and tube, and wondering how much liquid ballast I need to put in it. There is some in the other tire, I don't know how much. Any suggestions on how much liquid to put in this new tube?

 

[DeltaRed]

IIRC,it's about 35 gallons.Best/easiest to take to a place that does farm tires and have them 'load' em.

 

[old]

A lot depends on tire size. An 11.2X28 will hold less fluid then a 13.6X28 but both will be in the 30-35gal range

 

[DeltaRed]

My 8N has 11.2x28. IIRC,I think I paid for 70 gallons of calcium when the new tires were put on 3 years ago.

 

[showcrop]

No one can tell you accurately since you don't give the size, but it is often recommended to not fill over 2/3 of the potential maximum for better ride.

 

[ss55]

The maximum recommended fill is to place the valve stem to the top position and fill to the valve stem, about 75 % fill. 12 Pounds of calcium chloride ( CaCl2 ) per gallon of water is about the maximum weight per gallon. Tire manufacturer's websites and tire retailers will have charts for the ballast weight of each size of tire and CaCl2 mix as well as other liquid ballsats.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

There are liquid ballast charts all over Google. Lists the tire by sizes and the gallons each size can hold.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Back when I just used dow flake chloride and mixed with water. IT got hot from the chemical reaction so let it cool down then with a tire fill deal just put it in. I use a half barrel set on the fender or a barrel in the loader bucket held above the tire then with an old washing machine hose and a niple in the barrel and one in the fill tool. It flows in till it runs out of material or gets full. We fill to the top of the rim. If you are going to mix your own don't skimp on the chloride if you are in freezing temperature location. You don't want it to freeze in the tire.

 

[Tim PloughNman Daley RIP]

The best solution to use for tire ballast is BEET JUICE; trade name and company, RIM GUARD -see LINK. I've been using it since it was first introduced in the mid-
1990's. It is made from sugar beets, hence the moniker BEET JUICE. It WILL NOT CORRODE ferrous material, weighs 10.7 lbs per gallon, and sustains freezing temps down
to -35 deg F. Calcium Chloride was spec'd to use in the original FORD TRACTOR tires for added ballast but Ca Chlo will cause oxidation (rust) on iron. Some opt for
used anti-freeze or windshield wiper fluid but those products likely are contaminated with water. Shops sometimes store old anti-freeze for this reason but being it
all gets mixed into one barrel, no doubt there will be water in it too. Wiper fluid made today is almost always diluted with water too. When the FORD Hundred Series
Models were introduced in 1954, with them came the Pie Weight sets for rear wheels, and the two-piece segemst set for 16 front wheels. To me, those are a royal PITA
to install and remove. Fronts have to be mounted with the wheels fastened onto the spindles. Rears will need each segment and disc to be removed if you have a flat
and/or need to remove the entire wheel. They are just a time consuming headache in my opinion. In my 8N, I had, I think maybe 22 gallons of Rim Guard in each of my
working 11.2 x 28 rear tires. I could remove them via the tractor jack and maneuver them around whenever I wanted to switch to my show clothes. It can be done by
yourself but use caution when doing the job as you don't want to let them get away and drop - you'll need help lifting them back up in that case; and never let them
get under your feet so you get trapped. Never fill with Beet Juice until you wash out steel rims first and install NEW tubes. Mixing old fluid with the juice will
contaminate the stuff and void any warranty. I am a very satisfied customer. I've read of nay-sayers who say the stuff leaks (never had any leaking with mine) and
rotting (never had any rotting with mine) and the same stuff I had back in the 90's is still in my rears. I use my local Firestone AG & Tractor Dealer so all the
grunt work. Well worth the investment.

ADDED TIRE BALLAST OPTIONS:
#1 RECOMMENDED -

PIE WEIGHTS:

FORD 16 INCH FRONT WHEELS w/TWO-PIECE WEIGHTS INSTALLED - TOTAL IS 100 LBS EACH SIDE:

INSTALLING WHEELS USING THE K-P TRACTOR JACK:

MY 1948 FORD 8N & WORKING WHEELS/TIRES. RIM GUARD IN REARS, 2-PC SEGMENTS ON 16 FRONTS:

Tim Daley (MI)
RIM GUARD