Hmmm, i don't think i'll be swapping ballast in and out- what the heck was Kubota thinking when they wrote that!?
Rear tire fill - your thoughts appreciated
- Thread starter Nicksacco
- Start date
Hopefully it doesn't rain where you are!
If the inside of the rims are painted, I see no problem with water inside, that's why I put it in my Z-turn because it stays inside my garage, my tractor has WWF in it good to about 5°F as it stays in the barn ...
it makes sense to me and since our thoughts are being asked for here is mine.
that tractor does not have unlimited capacity to bear weight.
So if owner chooses to use a BH then using ballast is to much weight.
If owner wants wheel ballast then BH is too much combined weight.
If owners does not want BH but wants added wheel weight then ballast is OK.
But both is too much. One or the other not both is the warning.
So a warning for guys who want to use this tractor as a Swiss army knife the warning is clear. One or the other but not both.
Alternately they could say ballast not allowed or BH not allowed but doing this would bring up a whole bunch of consternation of guys doing both and then complaining the tractor somehow mysteriously got broken. They wrote the warning and laid out the options. Don't follow would be at owners own risk I suppose.
cheers.
Well, I went back and read that again. They definitely say the ballast should be liquid.
I desperately looked for an "out" but nope!
I was hoping to use a ballast box in lieu of swapping liquid.
Your point is a good one; " Don't follow would be at owners own risk I suppose. "
I desperately looked for an "out" but nope!
I was hoping to use a ballast box in lieu of swapping liquid.
Your point is a good one; " Don't follow would be at owners own risk I suppose. "
BAP
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
2012 Kubota 2920, 60MMM, FEL, BH65 48" Bush Hog, 60"Backblade, B2782B Snowblower
You are not the only product out there that is a tire ballast. Water was used long before anything else was, and at 8.34 lbs per gallon it adds up to quite a bit of added weight, the same as washer fluid and RV antifreeze. Your write up is purely advertising.
You're right, we are definitely not the only product out there, and water has been used as a ballast for as long as tractors have had tires. No argument there.
I can see how my write-up comes across as 'purely advertising.' My intention isn't to sell, but to highlight the significant technical and safety differences between using "repurposed" fluids, because they genuinely impact your equipment. Rim Guard's specific intended use is for tire ballast, and we are quite unique in that.
When I make these comparisons, it's not just a sales pitch. It's to point out that these common repurposed fluids have very different properties. The goal of tire ballast is to add the most weight in a stable, non-corrosive form. Using a fluid that's lighter than water or one that turns to slush doesn't accomplish that goal.
While I agree that it's a sales pitch and why I mentioned being a vendor member, it's not "purely advertising" since there are actual provable facts presented such as comparative weight, freezing point and corrosion mitigation properties. I wouldn't run water in the rears if I lived in Florida, let alone Montana. Corrosion is an issue inside the wheel running windshield washer fluid let alone water. It's a lot less of an issue compared to calcium chloride or other salt based products, but it's still an issue.
Rim Guard works for me but I never chose it. The local Kubota dealer installs Rim Guard in all rear tires unless the owners specifically requests not to have it. Based on 10 years of owning four Kubota tractors running Rim Guard, I see no reason to change what has clearly worked for me.
Elliott in GA
Well-known member
Equipment
LX 2610SU w/535,LP RCR1860,FDR1660,SGC0554,FSP500, DD BBX60005
Well riddle me this: what is Rim Guard?
It is the refuse/by-product of sugar beet processing - OK. This by-product is a relatively low viscosity liquid to freely move within the tractor tire at tractor speeds, or is something added to the by-product to make it a low viscosity liquid?
Rim Guard is denoted as water soluble; therefore, the by-product cannot be an oil based (like a seed/grain oil) solution.
So, is Rim Guard a water based (either directly from the beet processing or added later) solution?
Inquiring Minds Want To Know.
It is the refuse/by-product of sugar beet processing - OK. This by-product is a relatively low viscosity liquid to freely move within the tractor tire at tractor speeds, or is something added to the by-product to make it a low viscosity liquid?
Rim Guard is denoted as water soluble; therefore, the by-product cannot be an oil based (like a seed/grain oil) solution.
So, is Rim Guard a water based (either directly from the beet processing or added later) solution?
Inquiring Minds Want To Know.
The primary component of Rim Guard is the brownish liquid left after the sugar and molasass is removed from shredded sugar beets by soaking in hot water (osmosis). Its non- corrosive and bio-degradeable with a specific gravity of 1.28 and contains roughly 60% solids. It is soluble in water.
Beyond that who cares?
Dan
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You haven't told us what you intend to do with the backhoe off. Plow, remove the loader, use the loader with bucket, grapple? If you're just going to use the loader, I don't see the difference with replacing the hoe's weight with a weight box. But in that case, why remove the hoe? I don't think those R4's are going to plow very well, even with loaded tires.
Ah!
Well my intent isn't to leave the BH off all the time.
Mainly it aggravated me that the release levers were rust frozen and thus a function didn't work.
Also i couldn't get in between the BH and Tractor to complete the restoration.
I also have an outdoor patio i'm building. Where i'm leveling and the length of the tractor with BH is too long.
Today i mounted the new rear wheels and tires and turned the tractor around in the barn so i can replace the front tires.
Wow! The rear end is really light. I had to engage the 4WD to back up a slight incline on my gravel.
If i were going to use the machine w/o the BH often, i'd consider some kind of additional weight in the back.
Well my intent isn't to leave the BH off all the time.
Mainly it aggravated me that the release levers were rust frozen and thus a function didn't work.
Also i couldn't get in between the BH and Tractor to complete the restoration.
I also have an outdoor patio i'm building. Where i'm leveling and the length of the tractor with BH is too long.
Today i mounted the new rear wheels and tires and turned the tractor around in the barn so i can replace the front tires.
Wow! The rear end is really light. I had to engage the 4WD to back up a slight incline on my gravel.
If i were going to use the machine w/o the BH often, i'd consider some kind of additional weight in the back.
torch
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100HSD, B2789, B2550, B4672, 48" cultivator, homemade FEL and Cab
Of the 3, only the Mongolian still reflects conditions (temps of -5° to -10°C) that would reasonably be found in a tractor tire. And that doesn't vapourize the alcohol, it solidifies some of the water leaving the alcohol as a liquid. However it is highly inefficient and slow and at most will concentrate the alcohol to about 40% -- which is pretty much where the concentration of alcohol in WW fluid is right out of the bottle. So that ain't gonna happen in a tractor tire either.
As for evaporating through the rubber, even assuming you managed to heat your tractor tires up enough to break those pesky hydrogen bonds, the alcohol molecule's kinetic diameter is about 10% larger than nitrogen. The tires would have to stay that hot for years to have a measurable effect on the concentration.
Your product is denser, offering more ballast for the volume. That's it's advantage. Leave it at that and quit making up unbelievable stories based on junk science.
torch
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100HSD, B2789, B2550, B4672, 48" cultivator, homemade FEL and Cab
Elliott in GA
Well-known member
Equipment
LX 2610SU w/535,LP RCR1860,FDR1660,SGC0554,FSP500, DD BBX60005
You care because claiming water and water based ballast is bad for wheels/tires rings hollow, if your product is also water based.
Rim Guard offers higher weight for a higher price - good, a worthwhile choice for some.
As others have noted above (and I noted in my original post), water based ballast (not including Calcium Chloride - which is a problem that takes many years (15-20?) to cause substantial damage) have been used for many decades without any issues.
Same marketing
employed by lots of reputable OEMS with reputable and even superior products. SUDT2 comes to mind.....Dan
You need ions in water to allow current to flow which is required for corrosion. Saying that product A and product B are the same since they're both water based is like saying there's no difference between sea water and lake water since they both have the word "water" in the description.
Engine coolant is water based, so is it the same as latex paint which is also water based? One is designed to reduce corrosion, the other isn't.
Elliott in GA
Well-known member
Equipment
LX 2610SU w/535,LP RCR1860,FDR1660,SGC0554,FSP500, DD BBX60005
Well if it is different, Rim Guard can reply and explain.
Your listing different things with water in it to show wild differences is meaningless. We know Windshield wiper fluid has alcohol, water and some very small amounts of additives. We know that Rim Guard has processed organic material (by-product of sugar beets) and ...... (probably the inherent water from the sugar beets and most likely added water). The water from the two is an apples to apples match.
Yanmar (no skin in the ballast choice) has a page about the different ballasts. They list Rim Guard and Windshield wiper fluid as non-corrosive (versus Rim Guard's post).
Liquid Ballast - YANMAR America Corporation
www.yanmartractor.com