Cheap way to ballast tractor?

Gerald J

Your reply proves you don't know how to handle CaCl2 on metal. If you let it sit their and draw moisture yes it will rust. I have had multiple leaks with zero damage because it was managed properly. Guess what a liquid CaCl2 plant is built from? Steel.   The rail cars that travel all around the country?   Steel. The 55 gallon drums of briquettes that gets shipped overseas. Plain steel.   7th grade Chemistry goes along way in cleaning up CaCl2.

I think I gotta agree with Allis dave though my tire guy doesn't carry the non corrosive ballast.... yet. When he does I'll probable switch. It just makes sense and is just one thing less to worry about between oil changes.

I use my d15 alot for farming use it almost daily. So when I had to get the tires loaded again after getting a flat last summer I decided it was time to just suck it up and pay for the rim guard. Part of it is the debate about the rims rusting. But for me the bigger issue was the salt I just watched pour out on my hay field when I got a flat. If you noticed road salt doesn't help your lawn grow. I decided I didn't want to drive around the field knowing a flat would damage my field. There are times I drive that tractor across my garden and the last thing I want is to do something that will harm my garden. So to each their own. If you take care of the valve stems and clean the rims when you change the tires maybe everything will be ok. But if you put something in the tire it will end up leaking out on your land at some point. Rim guard seems to be the least bad in that respect. Weights are the best bit my d15 needs both the d17 only has wheel weights.

Victoryallis , why do you have to attack someone for reporting their experiences?  I like reading Gerald J posts and others that offer a lifetime of knowledge and experiences. Degrading someone else doesn't make you look smarter, it just makes you look bad.  Pete

Back to the question. I'd go with hanging a massey on for cheap weight.

I still say it's cheaper to hang something underneath.... 8N ford comes to mind 

I did see the near instant rusting that day the tire pinched the tube and no amount of cleaning was available where I was. And who knows if the CaCl was pure or what other things it had in it to add to the corrosion and the concentration in the tire is very high, not like the brine applied to roads these days or in the pickle jar. The paint on the MF-135 housing was probably more than 25 years old and maybe easily flaked off exposing existing rust. The same paint and rust is still there.

I'm not illiterate, I had a year of HS chemistry and a year of college chemistry and another year of metallurgy along with years of shop courses and I'm still learning though I have three degrees in electrical engineering and hung out my shingle as as registered professional engineer for about 40 years where a lot of my work depended on the chemistry of combustion.

Gerald J.

Dan73 wrote: Gerald J the good people here value your experience and knowledge.   Thank you for sharing it. As to the bitter response I hope the moderator will remind people that this isn't the political section on this part of the board we treat people with respect and value their different options.    One bit of experience I will share about the Internet in general is when it comes to dealing with these things the best advice I have ever received is don't feed the trolls. Not to call anyone in particular a troll just to say there are trolls our there on the Web who get a thrill out of the attention.    So Gerald I just want to say there are alot of us here who value your sharing your experience and advise with us.

well said

CaCl on a road in Winter in the snow doesn't have anywhere near the concentration
that it does as fluid in a tractor tire that is why cars don't rust as fast coming in contact with road salt.

Gotta love internet forums we have a group people with very limited experience who are all now experts in their own mind.   Perhaps before you get in a pissing match on the web you should know who you are up against. How many of you realize I have over 20 years experience and countless millions of gallons of CaCl2 behind me. I have worked with every stage of the manufacturing process at one point or another. I deal with more CaCl2 in less than one minute at work than 99% of the forum members will ever see in their life. Gerald talks about the CaCl2 making his clothes stand up on their own in order to stay in solution long term at air temp it had has to be at roughly 38% or lower over the years I have worn plenty of 42% and it has yet to make my clothes stand up. 68% would make his clothes stand up but would need to be constantly heated to stay liquid.   We do line flushes with 24% because it is nearly impossible to freeze it up.   Two of our heat exchangers are circa 1942 and in 2015 we set a all time production record with them.   If CaCl2 is a fraction as nasty as folks on here claim how has the process held up this long?   Our tanks are made of mild steel if CaCl2 rusted everything on instantly on contact how do they last decades for us? Now do folks realize why I'm perfectly comfortable with it? HOT HOT water and a bit of patience and it will clean up like it never happened. So why would I ever pay a premium for another ballast that is more expensive, is less available, and my tire guy hates.

   Victory, It is the amount of disrespect and smart aleck attitude that you are showing to a well respected forum member that is what is being called into question.  Duane A Renko

the tire man ' got that beet' juice they put in tires now' had some put in two years ago' works fine. talk to your tire shop'

The only reason I didn't use antifreeze is because it's so toxic and if my dog licks a leaking tire it could be very bad. Myself I'd rather just pay for the beet juice or RV antifreeze.

A few years ago I did go so far as to get my hands on four 55 gallon drums of used antifreeze but after thinking about it over the summer I went with CaCl2 and brought the antifreeze back to the dealership which what gave the stuff to me in the first place.


Edited by Lonn - 07 Apr 2017 at 7:35am

victoryallis, what you do at work has NO bearing on a farmer in a field or on the road.
Yes, we all hear about how we should changed the valve stem every 2 years.  When you have a slow leak, you usually don't even know about it until it has done it's damage.
You're talking about work in a plant where everything is handy.  We're talking about real life experience.  A BIG difference.  I for one don't need a chemistry lesson, I gave that up 50 years ago.

We're NOT into the business of making people feel bad on here or building egos.  This forum is for HELPING everyone.  THAT is what FARMERS and FARMING are ALL ABOUT.