are you running 23x10.50's or 8.50s? Turf or ag? Chains will help traction a good bit with plowing but having weight(s) is almost a must. Id certainly repair or replace the rims. I have a fair amount laying around in good shape if needed

Calcium chloride really takes its toll on rims when not in tubes. Beet juice or windshield washing fluid would be better. There are a lot of other options out there for weights. I'm not so sure I would be tasting anything that I did not know what was in it, just not a safe thing to do. For the Red Green fans, I cannot help but thing of Rothschild Sewage and Septic Sucking Service who would be warning you against it.....and chuckle. I have a set of bars on my 129 that bolt to the lugs of the rears. I stack 10 lbs weights on them and add an extra 160 lbs. to the rear for traction, there are weight boxes, etc.....Several other alternatives to explore.

Choose whichever weight option works best for you and your application!

Cub Cadet 123

I hear Mr. Clean is good for loading tires but I would not taste it as he comes in a bottle.:biggrin2:

Thanks for additional replies. I could kick myself in the butt for trying to add some air to the tires. The right one is fine and still has liquid in it - I was able to add a new valve stem to that one. I didn't realize the tires are supposed to be kept at that low an inflation level and so I would not have needed to do anything. One problem quickly led to another. The remounted tire that my garage mechanic put on for me is not holding air so I'm really wondering if I should just go with putting a tube back in it and done. And then I'm thinking that probably weights would be the best - I really don't care to add liquid back in. Buying new tires to put on the old rims doesn't seem like the best solution since if there are issues with the rim causing the leak, I'll have the same problem only with a new tire.

not sure where your at in Pa but if your near Pittsburgh these look like a great deal.
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/grd/5920952578.html

You miss spelled one of your words :biggrin2:

To OP, I know a guy that taste tested a "fluid" by the floor drain in the fire station. He soon learned that the chief pissed on the floor 2 minutes before. Iirc, he commented about saltiness too :ROTF1: Welcome to OCC!

I don't understand why you seem to be so much against loaded tires.

I think the only tires I have that don't get loaded are the ones on tiller tractors and the ones on my Originals (I do have one tractor on grass duty that I haven't got loaded yet, can't keep it from spinning in certain areas of the yard). Nearly all the turf tires have chains as well and anything on snow duty also gets weights added.

To each their own.

I also put tubes in any tire that I load.

You can add air to tires that have liquid in them. Just stop the wheel with the valve stem at the top. Personally I would never put fluid of any kind in a tire that does not have a tube in it. The tube keeps the rim from swimming in the fluid.

Just FYI:
You guys who talk about loaded tires not in tubes and how bad it is..... apparently haven't been around farm equipment for over 20 years, or are only familiar with older tires. They have been using CaCl2 in tubeless tires for years. Only time it rots the rim is where it's exposed to outside air, as in a leak at the valve stem. Which is also the place that a tubed tire always rots the rim, because the stem or tube leaks. It's very, very common for tractors to have tubeless tires with fluid, and I've seen no worse effects to the rim than with a tubed tire. I've said this a million times on this topic and I'll say it again: They only rot if there's a leak.

My opinion:
Like YosemiteSam, I like loaded tires and have a whole drum of CaCL2 for loading them. I prefer to use tubes. Why? Personally I'm afraid the rim will leak at the bead. I'm confident that it would be fine, but for $13 for a tube with a metal bolt in stem, it makes me feel better. Besides... if I ever want to replace the tire with a new or different one, it's a lot cleaner when there is a tube. You pump the fluid out, and dismount the tire, pulling the remaining fluid out in the tube. If not tubed, you can't get all the fluid out, and have to deal with the mess when you break it down.

To answer your question, Calcium Chloride comes in a bag, it is flakes.
It is usually mixed 11-12 pounds per gallon of water, it dissolves in it just like salt would.
so a 8.3 pound gallon of water, becomes 12 pounds.

Chloride is also used on roads in summer time to control dust in rural areas.

As John said, it can be used in untubed rims and often is, I personally, tube them.

I purchased two 1200x16 loaded rib tires on rims from a scrap yard for $10 as they didn't want to deal with them, containing chloride.
They were not new, but not worn much by any means.
After maybe 5-7 years of usage one valve stem began leaking, and the other tire had a minor seepage in the sidewall of chloride solution
I Decided to correct the situation by pumping the chloride out and found that neither rim was damaged inside other than very minor surface rust in a few places but mostly the paint was intact or just missing but not corroded, and minor rust where the bolt-in core was located on the outside.
I cleaned them up with a needle scaler and rotary wire brush.
Also washing the rims with baking soda and dish soap.
After drying in the hot sun for a day, I painted them.
a few weeks later I remounted the tires ( they were cleaned inside also)
installing tubes, and pumped the chloride back in adding additional to fill to the core @ the 12 o'clock position.
I have had "0" problems with them and don't expect any as is my other "tiring" repairs:beerchug: