Rear Wheel mess
 

I needed to air up my rear wheels and proceeded to get a bath when I put the air chuck on the valve stem. I do believe the OP may have filled them with calcium or some such liquid. My question is how much of a mess am I going to have when I replace the tires? I have heard horror stories about what calcium does to the rims. It will be upsetting to find out that the inside part of the rim is all hogged up from this, because the exterior is in good shape sans some surface rust.

Pull the valve stem and lay them down so it drains out, calcium does some nasty stuff to steel but they should be tubed so unless theres a leak you should be ok. When you get the tires off the wheels make sure you wash them good to remove an trace of the calcium.

I'd try to capture the fluid and put it back in (depending on what the fluid is) after the tire change. I always use tubes with fluid.

Im not 100% sure there is a tube in them, the tire says tubeless and the valve stem is that of a tubeless tire ie. the bulge at the bottom where is seals against the rim. I don't know how long this crap has been in there, so god knows what I am going to see.

You can use windshield washer fluid, antifreeze and rim guard tubeless. If there isnt a tube i doubt its calcium because you wouldn't have a wheel left, what color is it and what does it smell like?

it was clear and there wasn't much of a smell to it. If I had to say it smelled like stagnant water.

It may be water.......

That sounds like calcium, its whiteish/clear and really doesnt have much smell. Id get your tires apart asap just to be on the safe side.

Id hope not, they would be solid blocks of ice in the winter.

Wouldn't be the first time I've seen it. :bigeyes:

Ive been looking into having my rears foam filled like a skid steer tire, no more flats or checking the air pressure and it add's some pretty good weight, from what i read a 23x8.50 will be about 70lbs when filled.

I don't think the ride would be any good. I've looked at that, but they are harder when foam filled. Besides, with CaCL2 my wheels weigh in at 100LBS.

Yea i was concerned about the ride to but i was gonna do it to my winter plowing wheels first to see how it is. Judging by the last picture you put up i probably weigh 60 pounds more than you so my tire can weigh a little less.:biggrin2:

I hope not too that would be upsetting to say the least...I will keep you posted.

off topic but what do you recommend for antisieze on the wheel bolts? in the past I always used copper kote

I use the regular silver anti seize on everything but just about anything will work, if i dont have anti seize i just use a little red grease.

I'm pretty sure that foam filled tires on a Cub would beat the operator to death.

I used to occasionally run a rubber tire Hi-lift, that had foam filled tires, it was the same way.

Not sure if it's the geometry, the weight distribution or just the nature of the beast of a skid loader but you don't notice as great a difference in foam filled vs air filled tires as you do with other equipment. There is a difference, and you can tell it right away, it just doesn't seem as bad. (this is based only on my own experience... your mileage may vary)

Thats why i want to try it on my winter wheels first, once i put the chains on it rides like crap anyway.

I will use a little grease on them for now as I will be tearing the tractor down for a full restore here soon. Just want to get all this goofy stuff out of the way while it is nice out and the beer is cold!

My tractor sits in my unheated garage all winter with the snowthrower on it. Even this past winter it stayed above freezing in there, the po could have had a similar situation. Personally I still wouldn't use plain water, but just a thought.

Bill

The reason you don't notice it on a skid steer as much is because the tires are 14 ply, and don't have any give to begin with. That and, no suspension, no flex. They are basically a dozer on wheels as far as undercarraige is concerned.

I would go to the nearest cliff and roll them off if they had calcium in them,hrhehra
Not saying you should....

If a calcium filled tire falls off a cliff and no one is around, does it make a sound?

I've had very good results with washer fluid in the rears. Make a Big difference on hills, no corrosion or freezing. I took tire off, layed down with stem up. Cut an old grease bottle in half for funnel and trimmed pointed tip to fit inside valve. Poured it in while pumping tire with my foot and filled it pretty fast. Used about five gallons I think in each tire or as much as you can get in and very little air.