Winshield Wiper Fluid

Instead of sodium chloride or beet juice, I heard windshield wiper fluid is an option now for adding weight or ballast to tractor tires since it don't freeze. Your thoughts?

Lot of guys use it. If you look on fire stones website they do not recommend it because it has alcohol in it. I run 5 lb/gallon calcium chloride for ballast. Beet juice is on the speedy side, and I am cheap!!!

I put three gallons of green antifreeze then fill with water on my 560 everything smaller I use two gallons but then again Im in middle TN too

it works but is not as heavy ---i used old antifreeze i got for free from my gas station

Sounds like a good idea! What size are your wheels & tires?

I use a gallon of regular antifreeze or methanol to six gallons of water here in central VA.

Not all windshield wiper fluid has anti-freeze in it.
I purchased some from Runnings Fleet and Farm. I didn't realized anyone made washer fluid
that would freeze so didn't even look at it. I don't think they did either.
No biggie if you live in Texas, but why on earth would a store in the
Dakota's buy pallets of it when it gets down to 30 below here.

MOST if not all new tractor dealers in this part of the country use mix 1/3 methanol and 2/3 water for ballast. Likes a little weighing what cc does but easier on the rims.

Straw Boss you are right about the WW fluid freezing, got caught myself one year. Also that newer purple fluid has to much alcohol and it evaporates leaving you with frozen fluid.

So if I specify to any dealership that I want this, they should be able to do it?

They sell that stuff in Wisconsin in the summer too. Gotta watch what I buy.

Might try some blinker fluid, too.....

My tires are on a "Salt Free" diet, how about Sodium Bicarb. ?

LOL

I've been running it for 7 years with no problems, dealer here keeps it on hand

I have no idea where you are located but around these parts that is what is used.

(quoted from post at 19:18:54 02/02/17) So if I specify to any dealership that I want this, they should be able to do it?

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I doubt it.

Dealerships don't do tires, at least none that I'm aware of around here. They hire them out to tire guys, and charge you extra for the privilege.

The tire guy is not going to want to mess around with dozens of gallon bottles of windshield washer fluid. He is going to want to fill it out of the tank on the truck, which has calcium chloride.

MAYBE you can find a tire guy to do it, if you buy and handle all the gallon bottles of windshield washer fluid yourself. Have it all dumped into barrels so that he can just pull up, suck it out of the barrel and pump it into your tires.

You can do it yourself with some pretty simple and inexpensive equipment.

I bought a 55 gallon drum of washer fluid for this tractor. I put it in with a siphon hose with the barrel still in the trailer. I split the drum between the 2 tires then used plain water (about 5 gallons each to top off). Did this 2 years ago and don't have a freezing problem in SE MI.

How cold does it get in your area? Regular windshield washer fluid will most definitely freeze if it gets cold enough. They do market windshield washer fluid good to -25.

Replacing some old 16.9x34's w/CaCl 2 this spring and will probably use it. Like winshield washer fluid, a water-based fluid w/ alcohol is also what they put in underground geothermal loops (plastic pipe) to keep them from freezing.

Check the prices in your area. I'm not sure what a drum of WW fluid costs- the quick lube next door to my old job bought concentrate in drums and mixed as they filled the cars. I posted this last time we talked about liquid ballast:

February of 2015 I had 140 gallons of Rim Guard, Michigan made beet juice, added to the rear tires of my JD 5400 loader tractor. Rim Guard weighs eleven (11) pounds per gallon, so the added ballast weighs approximately 1500 pounds. I paid $280.00 dollars total for this product, installed.

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As expected, I had to have one of these rears repaired last summer- took the tractor back to the CO-OP, they pumped it out and removed the tire and sent it off to be vulcanized, re-intalled it and re-filled the tire, all for under $300.

Everything has a cost, and not all costs are upfront, nor measured in dollars alone.

A tractor I use had new 12.4x28's put on new rims about 4 years ago, loaded with calcium. Last summer, I replaced one of those rims because the valve stem had been leaking right at the rim hole. When the softball size rust blister popped loose I broke down the tire and found deep rust pits a foot either side of the hole. I've replaced 4 other tractor rims (so far) because of calcium, so why is is used? Because it's cheap and dense weight. If folks could find an easy way to put lead shot into tires, they would because it weighs more.

Water weighs 8.36 pounds per gallon. Calcium chloride added makes water in the neighborhood of 11.5#/gal, but is corrosive and toxic to vegetation. [b:44111921dc]Ethylene[/b:44111921dc] glycol (standard car antifreeze) mixtures come in at about the same weight as water, but are environmentally toxic to critters and fish. [b:44111921dc]Propylene[/b:44111921dc] glycol has a similar weight, but is NON toxic. Methanol makes water lighter than glycol but still 8#/gal. It is also highly toxic to critters and is flammable. Washer fluid weighs like water, but contains either ethylene glycol, methanol, or both, freezes at about -20, and is environmentally toxic. Beet juice weighs in at ~10.8#/gal, is NON toxic, not corrosive, and freeze protects to -35. The difference between beet juice and calcium in a 40 gallon tire is 2.8#. The difference between beet juice and washer fluid is not just the environmental costs of manufacture and leakage, but 97.6# less weight.

The environmental costs between beet juice (or the even more expensive and lighter propylene glycol) and washer fluid, methanol, or ethylene glycol, is far more than I would want to pay for. As a farmer, I see a good part of my job as leaving the plot I tend in better shape than when I got it, not more polluted.

Then there is steel: bolt on weights make it a whole lot easier to service a tire, and can be removed or added to as needed.

Best weight for the buck today and tomorrow is probably steel. Right behind that is beet juice. Everything else has hidden or deferred costs.

check the facts: http://www.orangetractortalks.com/2009/01/comparing-types-of-liquid-tire-ballast/

Antifreeze is toxic and considered hazardous.Some tire shops won't touch it, it is hard to get rid of. What would you do id a tire shop refused to work on your flat tire. Check with your local tire shop.

That's what I bought for mine this last time. $1.57 at WW. Prior to that I used RV potable water (pink) AF. When I bought a set of tires 18.4x38s for one of my tractors I had the field service guy bring them out. He had 2 55 gallon barrels in the back of his service truck and cases of green EGlycol AF. He put 6 gallons in a 55 gallon drum and filled with water. That went into each tire. As was mentioned, depends on your dealer/servicing agent.

However, having seen the long term results of CaCl none going in my tractors.