Water ballasting vs wheel weights

[James]

Currently on hedge cutting tractor have a tyre filled with water but have a chance of wheel weights weighing 450kg. Which is more effective? Tyre is 580 70 38
Tia.

 

[Lincs Lass]

You can take the weights of when you don't need them ,pita filling with water everytime.

 

[KB6930]

Water is better for grip for ploughing etc as it's not lost in tyre flex but for hedge cutting weights will be just as effective

 

[snipe]

Water is better for grip for ploughing etc as it's not lost in tyre flex but for hedge cutting weights will be just as effective

Can you explain “Water is better for grip for ploughing etc as it's not lost in tyre flex”. I’m not following.

 

[shumungus]

@James
580 70 R38 Holds 132 gallon at 75% capacity which is 600kg of water, thats 150 kg heavier than your wheel weights.

 

[KB6930]

Can you explain “Water is better for grip for ploughing etc as it's not lost in tyre flex”. I’m not following.

It was our local tyre company told me that it's a more direct way of putting weight to the ground as it's not got the bounce of the tyre possibly taking some of it away at times but I dunno if that's right

 

[Flatlander]

If corrosion of rims is a concern the move here is away from traditional calcium with is horrific on rims to an envoimentally friendly beet juice. I’d still favour steel weights as they are easier fix a flat or take on or off

 

[Nearly]

@James
580 70 R38 Holds 132 gallon at 75% capacity which is 600kg of water, thats 150 kg heavier than your wheel weights.

Not disagreeing but if weights are on the outside of the wheel rim the overall effect will be very similar?

 

[shumungus]

Not disagreeing but if weights are on the outside of the wheel rim the overall effect will be very similar?

True, but most weights are inside the edge of the rim on modern tractors with deep dish rims so I can't see there being a big difference. If it was up to me I would choose the wheel weights even though they are usually expensive.

 

[Nearly]

I keep forgetting to put wheel weights on until hedge trimmer head is at full stretch.

 

[Wisconsonian]

If corrosion of rims is a concern the move here is away from traditional calcium with is horrific on rims to an envoimentally friendly beet juice. I’d still favour steel weights as they are easier fix a flat or take on or off

Not sure they put calcium chloride in their tyres? it would be solid and rather rough ride here without some antifreeze.

 

[Netherfield]

C C can get expensive if you keep getting punctures.

In the days of tubed tyres you got corrosion and rust which then punctured the tubes even more.

 

[jackp]

Some people suggest water can make the tractor more sluggish than the equivalent wheel weights as it take more energy to get the wheel turning ,

 

[Flatlander]

Not sure they put calcium chloride in their tyres? it would be solid and rather rough ride here without some antifreeze.

I had a 400hp versatile with 800/32 duals. Inside were 2/3 filled with calcium. Good grip up to 10 mph but once you got past that the sloshing around between 10 and 15 was terrible above that it calmed down. id say some anti freeze would be needed or even a -5 night would be leaving chunks of ice beating around inside. Far simple to hang some cast weights in the proper place.

 

[john432]

Some people suggest water can make the tractor more sluggish than the equivalent wheel weights as it take more energy to get the wheel turning ,

Deffinatly, filled the back tyres of my mf6475, 580/70r38. It was seriously sluggish on the road at speed. Far more than if there was say 2tonnes loaden in a trailer. Plus a hard rough ride,

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

It was our local tyre company told me that it's a more direct way of putting weight to the ground as it's not got the bounce of the tyre possibly taking some of it away at times but I dunno if that's right

I am really not sure that is the case, as water filled tyresrun at a higher air pressure due to the volume lacking of air space, this leads to more compaction of soil.
Good radial tyre run at a lower pressure on less weight will out perform all this extra weight to gain traction, you need to spread the load, not ballast the wheel

 

[Wisconsonian]

It will take more energy to get the wheel turning with fluid than the same weight of cast iron. Imagine you had an extremely lightweight wheel, but a super heavy axle that weighed the same as a different axle and wheel that was lightweight, but had an extremely heavy tire on it. The weight in the center would take far less energy to get rotating as it would have less inertia than the weight further from the center. Cast iron weights are nearer the axle than fluid.

Couldn't say how much friction the moving water makes inside the tire, couldn't even say if the water stays level or evens out with centrifugal force. The air pressure should be the same as it would be without the fluid, and should be plenty of space for air, 75% fluid or so.

 

[Courier]

For hedge cutting on one side only I would say weights every time …. And the further out the better.
Water ballast has its place (within a tube if possible) but really needed to be identical on both sides.

 

[Lakesdigger]

If you are just wanting to add weight to stop the tractor trying to lift a wheel than it won't make much difference whether it's water or wheel weights. But if it extra weight for traction wheel weights will be far better as they will allow the tyre to flex and deform to correctly spread the load on the ground for both grip and ground pressure. Far easier to remove weights than water too.

 

[rob h]

we bought a 6499 second hand.first day was trailer work the ride was awfull and it felt sluggish. when i parked up at night the tyres were very hot. i unscrewed the valve and it was full of boiling water. drained both tyres and next day it felt like a differt tractor