Methonol and water vs rim guard

[carheir]

When I purchased my Kubota lx 2610 Su, I asked about rim guard and was told they don't use rim guard, and as a mater of fact didn't know what rim guard was. My question is should I be satisfied that I at least have something in the tires that will prevent freezing or should I poke the bear and try and get what I wanted which is rim guard. I have had the tractor about a year and a half, have about 100 hrs on it. Rear end seems light as it lifts easily when I'm operating the loader.

 

[Elliott in GA]

I have windshield washer fluid in my tires on my LX2610 SU; dealership included it as standard preparation.

I have no regrets. I have not had any lifting issues with my rear wheels while doing loader work, but I always keep my box blade attached during loader work (usually the box blade will be used during the loader work).

 

[Daferris]

You can use this tool to locate a dealer near you. On my LX with 15-19.5 R4's it cost $205.00 to get them loaded with Rim Guard. It added 600 pounds to the rear tires. I seldom even need to engage 4wd to plow snow with a back blade up here in Mid-Michigan. It is unreal how much it helped the traction of the tractor.

Find a Dealer - Rim Guard

Find a Dealer The Original Beet Juice Tire Ballast is available through more than 1,200 authorized Rim Guard dealers in 48 states and 7 Canadian provinces. Find your nearest Rim Guard dealer by completing the form below.

www.rimguardsolutions.com

 

[i7win7]

I have rim guard. Outdoors with the morgans (PA) using bio ballast. RV antifreeze is -50 to -100 depending on where you live.

You may need to visit farm/commercial tire shop for the good stuff.

 

[mcfarmall]

You only live once. Get the Rim Guard product.

 

[fried1765]

You only live once. Get the Rim Guard product.

I am sure RimGuard works well, but windshield washer fluid is inexpensive, and you can do it yourself.
Nitrogen works well in car tires too, but also at what price?

 

[Mark_BX25D]

I've never used it, but I was curious so I checked their website. Since the major constituent of all of these formulations is water, I was interested to see the weight differences between them.

On the RimGuard website, they don't provide the specific gravity so that a direct comparison can be made. I find that a bit suspicious. They do provide some comparisons, but they don't give any data to back their claims.

In their comparison to methanol, they say this:

Toxic, corrosive and highly flammable. Can degrade tires. Weighs 35-40% less than Beet Juice Tire Ballast. Should be mixed with water.

35-40% seems significant. BUT!

Notice the wording. "Weighs 35-40% less than Beet Juice Tire Ballast." But THEN they say, " "Should be mixed with water."

Yeah. That 35-40% is a comparison to methanol, NOT to a methanol/water mix. Does anyone run pure methanol? I don' theeen so, Lucy! And, while I can't be sure (because they don't provide the actual data, just their comparisons), I suspect that the weight difference between RimGuard and a typical methanol/water mix isn't enough to be worth the trouble of switching, even if the product were free.


Now, is there a big difference in corrosion resistance? I have no idea. I see their claims, but given the very deceptive way they talk about the weight, I have no reason to believe their claims. If you check their comparisons to other products, and do so with a grain of salt, you'll see that they have been.... maybe a bit less than completely honest there, too. For example, they say that calcium chloride is pretty bad stuff. It's, "Highly corrosive." and it's, "Not safe for the environment or livestock. "

Hogwash. Those are exaggerations to the point of being untruthful. They even complain about plain water having "Inconsistent quality". Give me a break!

RimGuard might be the best thing for tractor tires since sliced white bread, but absent any actual data, I"m pretty confident that the weight difference is going to be very small, not worth messing with.

And for me, when a company engages in that kind of dishonest marketing, I don't care how good their product is, they aren't getting my money.

YMMV.

 

[NCL4701]

One of the things I’d suggest before going to the trouble and expense of replacing your methanol/water mix.

If you have some idea what the ratio of methanol to water is, look in the Owner Manual to see how many gallons of liquid the rears hold. If it just lists the weight assuming calcium chloride or water or whatever you can divide that weight by lb/gallon of whatever to get the gallons. Using the ratio you can figure from that how much of the mixture (in gallons) is methanol and how much is water. Lb/gallon of methanol is easily looked up; same with water. Calculate how much weight that methanol/water mixture is adding to the rear of your tractor. Then take the weight of rimguard per gallon times the capacity of the rear tires and compare to the weight of the methanol/water mix to see how much you’d really be gaining by switching to rim guard.

Is it enough to justify the cost? Is it enough to make a real difference in performance?

If the answer is yes, find a rim guard dealer and make the swap. If it’s going to add 75lb or some similar rather nominal weight, what you really need spend your rim guard money on is to add some sort of ballast on the 3 point, whether that’s a heavy box blade, weight box, 55 gallon drum full of concrete, etc.

 

[jyoutz]

There is another option that the dealer installed in my tractor tires. It’s a non toxic product called bio ballast. Look it up.

 

[fried1765]

I've never used it, but I was curious so I checked their website. Since the major constituent of all of these formulations is water, I was interested to see the weight differences between them.

On the RimGuard website, they don't provide the specific gravity so that a direct comparison can be made. I find that a bit suspicious. They do provide some comparisons, but they don't give any data to back their claims.

In their comparison to methanol, they say this:



35-40% seems significant. BUT!

Notice the wording. "Weighs 35-40% less than Beet Juice Tire Ballast." But THEN they say, " "Should be mixed with water."

Yeah. That 35-40% is a comparison to methanol, NOT to a methanol/water mix. Does anyone run pure methanol? I don' theeen so, Lucy! And, while I can't be sure (because they don't provide the actual data, just their comparisons), I suspect that the weight difference between RimGuard and a typical methanol/water mix isn't enough to be worth the trouble of switching, even if the product were free.


Now, is there a big difference in corrosion resistance? I have no idea. I see their claims, but given the very deceptive way they talk about the weight, I have no reason to believe their claims. If you check their comparisons to other products, and do so with a grain of salt, you'll see that they have been.... maybe a bit less than completely honest there, too. For example, they say that calcium chloride is pretty bad stuff. It's, "Highly corrosive." and it's, "Not safe for the environment or livestock. "

Hogwash. Those are exaggerations to the point of being untruthful. They even complain about plain water having "Inconsistent quality". Give me a break!

RimGuard might be the best thing for tractor tires since sliced white bread, but absent any actual data, I"m pretty confident that the weight difference is going to be very small, not worth messing with.

And for me, when a company engages in that kind of dishonest marketing, I don't care how good their product is, they aren't getting my money.

YMMV.

CaCl is bad stuff.... particularly bad (highly corrosive) for your rims!
Ask me how I know!

 

[Daferris]

In the case of 15-19.5 R4's they hold 29 gallons (75% fill) (310 pounds) per tire of beet juice (RimGuard).
12.4-16 R4's hold 24 gallons per tire
Other tires for LX tractors are probably going to be close to the same amount of "water" capacity for the 75% fill level.
methanol is 6.6 pounds per gallon (Pure)
Water is 8.33 pounds per gallon (Pure)
Beet juice is 10.85 pounds per gallon (Average Range is 10.7 - 11lbs)
Calcium Chloride is 11.25 pounds per gallon (average range is 10.5-12lbs)
Windshield washer fluid on average (depends on the mix 7.8-8.3 pounds per gallon)

I do not know anything about but what I can find online is it looks to be about 9.7 pounds a gallon
https://www.ntstiresupply.com/what-...ies/tire-ballast/bio-ballast#tire-fill-tables

 

[Mark_BX25D]

CaCl is bad stuff.... particularly bad (highly corrosive) for your rims!
Ask me how I know!

The "highly" part is highly subjective. It's used on roads all over the country. It's used because it's a lot LESS corrosive than sodium chloride (ordinary table salt), which is also commonly used.

(It's also NOT "toxic" in the normal use of that word. You can eat the stuff. Yes, eat enough and you'll have problems, just like with normal table salt.)

It's dishonest of them to use that term without any context to clarify what is meant. It's deliberately inflammatory.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

methanol is 6.6 pounds per gallon (Pure)
Water is 8.33 pounds per gallon (Pure)
Beet juice is 10.85 pounds per gallon (Average Range is 10.7 - 11lbs)
Calcium Chloride is 11.25 pounds per gallon (average range is 10.5-12lbs)
Windshield washer fluid on average (depends on the mix 7.8-8.3 pounds per gallon)

Excellent info.

So, as I suspected, not enough difference to worry about.

Corrosion factors may be significantly different, though. I have no information on that.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

There is another option that the dealer installed in my tractor tires. It’s a non toxic product called bio ballast. Look it up.

Looks interesting. They post their SDS right there so you can check it out. I like that. No clues as to the actual ingredients, though. Several mentions of slippery surfaces being a risk, but no other hazards. It would be a riot if it's nothing more than a biodegradable soap. Amway's LOC? I don't know if that even exists anymore.

Bio-Ballast® - EnviroTech Services

envirotechservices.com

 

[jimh406]

In warm climates, most probably don't use anything other than water.

I have RimGuard that was added by my dealer. It's what they recommend. We get negative temperatures here.

Good Works Tractor had a short video about different fluids this AM. He's sponsored by RimGuard.

I thought the two key points were Rim Guard has been around for 25 years, so if there are issues, they should be pretty widespread by now. Only a few choices are biodegradable, Rim Guard, Water, and Bio-ballast (I don't know anything about them).

Both RimGuard and Bio-Ballast are heavier than water or windshield washer fluid. Is it enough to matter to you, I don't know. For me, I prefer nonpoisonous and nonfreezing.

Liquid ballast of any type can cause a rubber valve stem to delaminate over time. The problem is with water and the glue for laminating not being compatible. So a valve stem designed for liquid and air is important.

In spite of the clickbait title, Mike was just repeating what his dealer told him which was made clear in the video.

 

[D2Cat]

I put winter rated (-20) windshield washer fluid in my tires. Bought it in the Spring at local Walmart stores for $1 a gallon, 82 gallons total.

 

[jimh406]

I didn't actually have a line item on my tractor purchase for RimGuard. It was "included" in the price because they load the tires with it by default.

Looking online it is about $3 a gallon or basically about the same price as Windshield Washer fluid in my area.

 

[i7win7]

Calcium Chloride is good down to -40F

 

[Pau7220]

Bought it in the Spring at local Walmart stores for $1 a gallon, 82 gallons total.

Looking online it is about $3 a gallon or basically about the same price as Windshield Washer fluid in my area.

I just bought 6 cases of -20 for the shop @ $3.00 gal. at Auto Zone on sale last week. Best price I’ve seen since ”the election”. Two years ago I was paying $1.29 gal. It makes beet juice worth it now.
Ive been looking for a LR wheel for my L3650 due to PO’s calcium use.

 

[GeoHorn]

I am sure RimGuard works well, but windshield washer fluid is inexpensive, and you can do it yourself.
Nitrogen works well in car tires too, but also at what price?

I ONLY use a mixture of 78% nitrogen in my tires. Much less expensive … gets the job done… and gets most of the benefit of the expensive variety.

(Plus, …. if the pressure drops due to any oxygen-molecule escapees…. the next time I refill the tire with the 78% nitrogen mixture….the nitrogen-level (percentage) within the tire is automatically increased…. therefore, each time I top-off the tire with that 78% mixture…the nitrogen-level within the tire approaches pure nitrogen more and more each time. Think about that)….