OT - beet juice in michigan

i'm having my tires unloaded (CaCl) this week, and i'd like to get them reloaded with beet juice. the people who will unload my tires and clean up the rims don't sell it, apparently. can anyone recommend a place near Caro, Mi. that does it?

in lieu of that, i guess i'll have to find some wheel weights. i don't need the traction - just pulling a finish mower around - but i don't look forward to how much this thing will bounce with the tires unloaded.

I pull a finish mower with my 52 8N and no weight or fluid. Our land is very hilly and rough in places.
I run in first gear wide open and don't have a problem. And I have a very bad back.
Richard in NW SC

slow down or under inflate tires a bit.

(quoted from post at 14:52:44 06/02/18) i'm having my tires unloaded (CaCl) this week, and i'd like to get them reloaded with beet juice. the people who will unload my tires and clean up the rims don't sell it, apparently. can anyone recommend a place near Caro, Mi. that does it?

in lieu of that, i guess i'll have to find some wheel weights. i don't need the traction - just pulling a finish mower around - but i don't look forward to how much this thing will bounce with the tires unloaded.

Click to expand...

I got two 8ns, one with loaded tires and the other without, can't say I notice any difference in the ride on my rough ground.

Here's a dealer finder for "Rim Guard"...
Dealer finder

Hey neighbor! I'm in Lapeer. I use Marlette Oil & Gas/Firestone AG Tire dealer right on Main St. in Marlette for al my tire needs. They have Rim Guard ? ? and will take care of you, ask for Chris. You will need to get new tubes too -do not use the old Ca Chl filled ones but then they should tell you that. Good investment. I started using the stuff back when it first came out in the 90's and never looked back.

[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td></tr></table>

1st gear is a bit slow for a finish mower -try 2nd at 3/4 throttle. 1st is fine for a brush hog or for heavy grass, but normal mowing is best in 2nd gear. Will save a lot on gas consumption too.

[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

I'll second the "replace the tubes" comment.
They've already got the tires off to clean up the rims.
Once and done.

You might try it without any fluid and see how you like it.
Shouldn't cost any extra if you take it back to have them
filled later as opposed to filling them right off the bat.
Other than your time and transportation back and forth of
course. I run mine at about 12 PSI. Where the tread prints
are flat in relatively firm soil such as a yard.

I do notice a difference in ride loaded VS unloaded.
But if you're usage is strictly, or mostly, finish mowing, it may
be easier on your lawn to have a lighter tractor. Less ruts.
Especially if you are using AG tires instead of turf tires.

i will try replying to my OP, in the hope that all will see it.

a little more detail:

last summer my right rear tire was getting noticeably soft. it had always ended up with a small amount of chloride in the bottom of the rim since i acquired it. when i asked about replacing the valve stem, i was told that there was little chance of it being a bad valve to blame, but rather a hole in the tube.

well, i replaced the valve stem, once the folk here had explained to me how it was constructed - and it hasn't puddled chloride in the rim since. i have also not had to add any air since i replaced the stem.

in any case, i decided to get new chloride-free tubes and have the wheels cleaned up, so off to the tire folks it goes.

royse, i have decided to go that route - try it and see how it goes, worry about beet juice if and when i feel like i've got to have more weight.

richard: my sympathies. i have a bad back too, but only slightly bad.

steve: slowing down pains me to even consider as far as lesser inflation goes, royse suggests 12 - sound right to u?

bob: ty for the link

tim: thanks for the heads up. as far as my mowing technique goes - 2/3rds of first lap of main lawn, 1st gear full throttle. from there on out, 2nd gear full throttle for the rest of the main lawn and the west 40 (which is actually about an acre and a half in trails and clearings) too.

i am nervous about dropping my revs. my lawn has sections that grow at very different rates. there's no good way of saying "well i'll just mow the areas that need it." as a result, by trying to find a happy medium, inevitably some of it is going to be thicker/longer than optimum. i cherish the PTO speed. how does the tradeoff between PTO speed and ground speed go?

thanks for all the replies and ideas, folks

"how does the tradeoff between PTO speed and ground speed go?"

For a mower, I've been happier using smaller tires (lower ground
speed) and higher RPM. Doesn't sound like you're changing tires
at this point though. No need too if yours are good. Have them
cleaned well though if your tubes were leaking CaCl in them.
That stuff doesn't just rinse off easily. It needs to be cleaned.

On my loader tractor, I changed my leaky tubes, cleaned the tires
and rims, repainted the rims, put new tubes in them and loaded
them right back up with CaCl. I ain't skeered.

(quoted from post at 20:54:03 06/03/18) I ain't skeered.

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No guts, no glory lol. I went with CaCl too. The price difference for beet juice was more than I bought the tires and rims for. :shock:

the rubber all the way around looks great. i thought about swapping the fronts out for something non-ag. i don't like the sound of increased steering difficulty with car or implement tires. how much harder are motorcycle tires to steer than 3 bar?

I take it you have the 4 x 19 inch tires if you're thinking of motorcycle
tires, so car tires wouldn't really fit without different rims anyways.
I've never put motorcycle tires on my N's so I can't say for sure.
From what I have used, on flat, hard surfaces the narrow 19's steer
easier than the wider tires but in soft ground, wider is the way to go.

oh, and another thing

since u mentioned it, lawson, i'll point out that the transportation issue is a bigger one for me than, i don't doubt, 99% of this board's posters.

because................

i have never learned how to back up a trailer, and accordingly, my truck has no hitch

Ford's got you covered. Pro Trailer Backup Assist

i'm afraid that's a bit out of my budget

but i sincerely thank u for not doing what i was afraid u had done - namely, posting a link to a ford ad with denis leary.

the deed is done. the N now features new chloride-free tubes.

the good news is that both wheels got a clean bill of health. this means i should never have to worry about rear tires or wheels on it again

took it for a lap around the high ground which took me across my two bumpiest sections. it was noticeably bouncier thru them, altho i don't know if not having the mower hooked up contributed to that?

to begin with, i think i'll try just throttling down some thru the rough areas, and i'll see how that tradeoff between lower PTO speed and lower ground speed manifests itself here.

thanks for all the input, folks

oh, forgot about the best part. my pole barn is full, i don't have the luxury of parking the ford wherever it needed to be to get the paint stripe on the right rear tire which marks the valve stem at 12 oclock. because of that lack of room, i did a lot of pulling in, saying oops, backing out, wiggling it around to get a new mark placement, pull back in, swear, back out again, ad nauseum.

now, as far as the importance of that stripe when parking goes, honey badger speaks for me