8070 ballast

hey guys I was wondering what everybody is runnin for weight in your big row crops. I've got an '84 8070 MFWD. It's got fluid in the main drive tires in the rear, a full set of iron hanging on the front, and fluid in the front tires as well. The ol' girl is getting 4 new shoes in the back next week and I was considering having the tire shop pull the fluid out of the fronts. This fall I ran the chisel without duals and really didn't notice any difference in slip, actually I've never noticed any slip, even with bald rear tires. My thinking is that a little slip on a 32 year old front diff. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. This is just my 4th season farming, so I'm hoping somebody with a few years under they're belt could tell me if I'm thinking correctly, or if I'm about to make a mistake.

Also, about how much does the cast hub for the spin out rear add for weight, and do you guys figure that into the equation as well.

Thanks

 I think slippage is something that is real hard to perceive.When you have a radar gun and a new digital dash, you can really tell what is going on.
 If you are tilling that flat black Illinois dirt and can do it without duals, more power to ya  It will always be easier to add fluid later than take it out  in my opinion.
 (My wife went to Canton schools.)

Small world. Yeah I gotcha with the ground speed. I use a hand held GPS to see what's really going on, and there was no difference in speed from the previous season when I was chiseling with duals. I'm the second owner of that orange beauty, and the previous owner dealt with a lot more hills than I'm currently dealing with. He also used it to pull wagons to town. I currently use the tractor to pull a 25' cultivator, a 9 shank 1500 chisel plow and a 21' disk

with what you are pulling, I'd leave out the fluid. There is nothing harder on a drivetrain than locking it down to the ground. Running these older tractors works great, and keeps costs down, but I'd rather let it spin some than tear up the drivetrain. Tires are much cheaper than tractor parts, some which are no longer available, so they have to be cared for, and pampered lol!

We stopped using fluid when we went to radials on the 7060s. I had three 7060s, the first one we put radials on my tire guy convinced me not to put fluid back in. It surprised the heck out of us when it would walk away from the other two with the same load.

The 8050 and the 8070 have full front weights, no rear weights and no fluid in the tires. I have 18.4 R38s on the 8050 and 20.8 R38s on the 8070 can't remember what is on the fronts.

Radials all around including the duals, they pull a 27' field cultivator and a 5 shank ripper with no trouble.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm going to go with my gut and drain the front tires. I really want to keep that front diff. Happy. The tractor goes in tomorrow, I'm excited to see it. Nothing better than a tractor, or truck with new shiny beefed up rubber under it.