Tire Filling Questions

[Aaron Ford]

I found this in the archives and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

"Let me tell you how I did it on a MF 35 this spring. First you go to www.Gemplers.com and order Item no. AQF1 Quick fill tractor tire Attachment.$13.95. Next you get two plastic 55 gallon Barrels with the caps you can screw a pipe fitting in. In one cap you put a fitting with a valve in it that you can screw a garden hose to. In the other,you put a valve stem like the type found in water tanks for pressureizing the tank. Then you take your barrels and go to the local car dealer and ask if he has any used antifreeze you can haul away for him. He has to pay to have it hauled away if you don't take it Usually they wind up with oil floating on top of the antifreeze. so if he has a pump to pump it into your barrels, you can stop before you get any oil. It takes about two barrels for 12.4x28 tires Then you take it home, and leave it right on the truck. Jack up one wheel of the tractor let the air out and remove the tractor tire core housing. with the valve stem at the top, attach the adapter you got from Gemplers, and hook a hose to it. I use a washing machine hose. Install the barrel plugs in the barrel with the fittings on them. Then lay the barrel down on its side with the plug with the valve on the bottom. Barrel still on the truck.hook the hose to the barrel, and open the valve. If you put pressure to the barrel,no more than MAXIMUM OF 10 POUNDS did I say MAX 10 pounds. It took about 20 minutes to transfer the anti- freeze into the tire. When it starts to squirt out the adapter, its full, shut off the valve, remove the hose and adapter and reinstall the tractor tire core housing still leaking isn't it you should have put the valve core back in the housing while you were waiting for the tire to fill. Don't ask how I know.Next step is to inflate the tire to 12 lbs. Then do the other one. http://www.tractorsmart.com/Farm_Tractor_Liquid_Tire_Ballast.htm will tell you how much your tire holds. Good Luck Oh, Don't get that $8.25 Adapter from Napa. Its to slow."

I likely could come up with a steel drum, not a plastic one. I am also looking for a supplier for bulk windshield washer fluid. The folks at Walmart are gonna look at me kinda funny when I walk out with 110 1 gallon jugs.

Anyone know how much pressure a 55 gallon drum will take before it explodes?

TIA

Aaron

 

[glennster]

i use calcium chloride for ballast. you need the fill adapter. for a pump, you can go to any big box store and get a drill monunted water pump, 10-20 dollars, or an electric de-wateriing pump, looks like a sump pump with garden hose fittings, or you can use a sprayer pump 12v. i dont care for pressurizing a 55 gallon drum. washer fluid is good too, i wouldnt use antifreeze, too toxic if you get a leak, will kill any critter that drinks it.. i am gonna load a couple tires for my 240 international, maybe i'll post some photos for ya in the next day or so.

 

[old]

Drop me an e-mail and I'll send you a page from a 1935 JD-B owners manual that shows you 3 or 4 ways to do what you want. One of the ways you can set up and go to bed and it will fill them for you. I also use WWF in my tires instead of the CACL. Costs a little bit more but is rim friendly and animal friendly
Hobby farm

 

[saskpat]

I recently did the tires on my MF65 with windshield washer fluid. I fed the fluid into my tires from a plastic barrel using an old effluent pump (these are low pressure pumps), and it took about 20 minutes or so to fill a 14.9-26 tire. I found the fluid was cheapest purchased from a local store by the gallon. I bought all 96 gallons they had in stock (some strange looks), and then just dumped it into the plastic barrel hooked up to the pump. Strangely, it was almost 50% higher in price if purchased in bulk by the barrel.

 

[Anonymous-0]

NAPA stores and now Tractor Supply carries the air bleed valve that attaches to the valve stem. Less than $15. TSC also has the same electric pump that I bought through WW Grainger. it's a 110v stainless steel bodied impellor pump. Get 2 lengths of garden hose and a barrel or 2 and you're good to go. Total investment for me was about $75. I've filled 13.6X28's in about 20 minutes and 16.9X30's in less than a 1/2 hour.

An advantage with having the pump is you can get most of the fluid back OUT of the tire in short order if you get a puncture.

I use CA CL. I just put new rubber on one tractor that I've owned for 36 years. Calcl used the entire time. No rust. I've used windshield washer fluid on occasion. No problems with it. Not a fan of the idea of using antifreeze unless it's the environmentally safe stuff.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Castiron is a lott cleaner
and will last a lifetime>..

 

[Anonymous-0]

Regarding pressurizing the 55 gal drum, we did that at the shop to transfer solvent and it does not take much to bulge that drum. I would keep the pressure under 5 psi for sure since you are going into a small hose and even smaller valve stem.
For solvent transfer we were using a 1"ID hose and finally went to a manual crank-type transfer pump. From one guy to the next they couldn't regulate the air pressure and accidents did happen.
Here's to more rear-end weight on loader tractors!

Grub

 

[glennster]

here is the mixing stage and the supplies. dow calcium flakes, 77-80%. napa tire fitting, pump and hoses. put water in drum, add chloride, i mix with a lenght of 1/2 inch pvc plastic pipe, use a blow gun to blow air into the bottom of drum to bubble up and mix it good. it gives off a lot of heat, you need to wait for it to cool before you load the tire. soon as this batch cools, i"ll post some pics of the loading process.
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[Lee in Iowa]

I second the cast iron. Lee

 

[Lee in Iowa]

I second the cast iron. Lee

 

[Lee in Iowa]

I second the cast iron. Lee

 

[alg]

Don't forget ww fluid is flammable.

 

[Dave Sherburne NY]

You don't need more than 10 pounds of pressure,
maybe less, but you do need the adapter from Gemplers I've used both, and the only reason I use
the NAPA style is because the Gempler one won't
work on Garden tractor tires.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I don't want to rain on your parade.... BUT.... how do you put 110 gallons ( 2 x 55 ) into 2 tires that only hold about 32 gallons of liquid each? My 11.2x28's hold just a touch over 22 gallons each!

 

[Iowa_tire_guy]

If you really want to be cheap then don't bother with the stem adapter. A piece of 3/8 hose and a hose clamp works fine. Kind of messy when you take it off but hey, this whole thread is about saving a buck right? If you hauled your tractor into my shop I would sell you 110 gallons installed in you tires for $162.50. That would figure about 13.5 cents per pound. 110 gallon of washer fluid @ $1.25 per gallon figures out at 15.6 cent per pound and you still have to get it in. And it probably still won't stay liquid much below zero. Now explain to me again why washer fluid is a good deal?

 

[old]

Don't know what type you get but the stuff I use isn't

 

[Aaron Ford]

Got "em. Currently they are employed as ballast in the back of my truck. Gonna install em after I get them painted. They will complement the filled tires. Only have 220 lbs of the Cast Iron....
Aaron

 

[Anonymous-0]

Might wanna check on those numbers. I've got a pair of 13.6 X 28's that hold 45 gallons each @ 75% filled.

 

[Rod in Smiths Falls, ON]

The question is how much less will a tire filled with antifreeze weigh than the same tire filled with calcium mix?

My guess is that the calcium will weigh about eighty pounds more, because a full bag of salt will dissolve into the wheel's water without increasing its volume.

I could be wrong on this, though.

 

[glennster]

here is the last photo of pumping the chloride into the tire. this is a 12.4-24 tire, i am using a 5lb/gallon mix, the tire will take 25 gallons of water and 125 lbs of chloride, giving a total weight added of 333 lbs per tire. the 250 lbs of chloride ran about 13.00 for 50 pound sack. gives ya right around 10 1/4 cents a pound for weight. you can also do a 2 lb mix and a 3-1/2 pound mix, 2 lb mix will give ya 290 lbs per tire, 3-1/2 will give ya 308 lbs per tire. heres the pic
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[Iowa_tire_guy]

You are correct that the salt mixes into the water and adds weight without increasing volume. If the goal is to add weight to the tractor then you should figure cost per pound, not cost per gallon. As for damage to rims goes, I have never seen a tube rotted due to calcium damage but you do have to do some preventive maintenance to keep the fluid in the tube and off rim. Or wash the rim off if it does make contact. Seems to me the damage is controllable.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I know the 22-23 gallons in a 11.2x28 is accurate. Was told by someone else thats what they held. I counted out 23- 1 gallon jugs and started filling. Could not get all of the 23rd gallon in. All the air was "burped" out, stem straight up, and tire standing up. With the valve stem out, straight up, some w.w. fluid would dribble out. So I knew it was full.