RimGuard ballast worth every penny!

Just had Pete's Tire Barn here in CT come and install rim guard on my B9200. They did their calculations and said 25-30 gallons of fluid should go in each of my 13.6-16 rear turf tires. I don't know how many other places do RimGuard here in CT but they were less than professional. They took several attempts to even show up (even though I scheduled a week in advance), bent my rim to hell trying to remove the old tire (I had a turf tire replaced while they were there), then couldn't fill the tire correctly (blamed it on the pump) and had to come back and try again (with the same pump they claimed that they swapped the parts from another pump, rather than admit they didn't know how to operate the filling valve). I can't wait to see the bill.

The filling method was quite simple and archaic. I had hoped they would have had a meter for the fill pump but alas, it was just one of those 330gal square crates filled with rimguard, and marks on the side of the tank at 25 gallon increments. The guy eyeballed and seemed to fill close to the right amount but he definitely err'd on the side of too little.

He removed the valve stem, attached the fill adapter and started an air powered pump that pumped the rim guard into the tire. Took about 15 minutes per side, it pumped at least 50% of the fluid in the first 5 minutes but got slower as the tire got filled.

I gotta admit, the cleanup is easy and the results are awesome.

I have a steep hill that I have to mow and normally use 4wd to make it up since the rear will spin. With the loaded tires, no need for 4wd. I could even drive on the side hill.

Now for the real reason I loaded them....I have "adjusted" my BF350 loader relief pressure up to close to the system max (1930psi per kubota) rather than where it was set from the factory. I can lift the rear of the tractor off the ground with no issues if I dive into too big of a load. I have a home-made set of forks that I use weekly and its pretty easy to grab too much at once. I have a concrete counterweight that's approx 500-800lbs but never was enough to make the machine safe with heavy loads. With 550lbs of rim-guard I was able to grab onto a bulk container full of oak firewood (44"x44"x44" of wood, almost 1/2 cord) and the rear did not come up. This is without my counterweight! Once I add the counter weight I'm sure the machine will be able to lift more than it ever has and be much more stable in the meantime.

Yes, I know we have to remember safety, heavy loads on side hills, lifting heavy loads too high, bending buckets or frames, etc etc etc.....however if you're looking for extra lifting capacity...rim guard is about $.28/lb compared to over $2/lb for steel weights. All without any corrosive or environmental issues of calcium chloride...

I'm sold on Beet juice!

My guy definitely didn't do my tires that way. They were filled on the machine and I insisted to put the valves at 12 o clock (he wanted to fill at 3 o clock position). He never stopped to release pressure (I asked that a few times but he didn't want to accept any suggestions). My rear tires were over 20 psi when he was done...I waited till he left and then let the pressure out so I wasn't rolling on two rocks. He didn't even have a pressure gauge that would accurately read below 20psi.

Good stuff Missou....

One thing most people complain about Kubota's is that they're too light. Compared to a similar hp Mahindra or JD, they are almost always lighter by at least 1000lbs or more.

The upside is that people can tow an XX hp kubota with that much smaller of a truck, trailer, etc. It will make that much smaller impact on your lawn, ground, etc.

If you have the need, you load the tires and you get the best of both worlds. A machine you can lighten or make heavier as needed.

I have used many loaded and unloaded tractors and for almost all use, I would opt for the loaded tires.