What is the salty mixture that is in my rear tires?

[three4rd]

Originally Posted by kalebevans

Wait- it's not a good idea to just drink a glass of any fluid I come across? Why on earth not?

Yet another somewhat deriding reply. How come?

[three4rd]

Originally Posted by john hall

Lot of questions for sure. Water added for weight to gain traction. It SHOULD have been put in a tube. Some lawn mower guys don't because they think it doesn't matter. I've never heard of a farmer that didn't use a tube when adding liquid ballast. Most farmers use anti-freeze now, it doesn't take a whole lot. The old calcium chloride crap was good for rusting rims. Even if you had a tube and punctured it, the moisture could cause a lot of rust. Not uncommon to see old farm tractors with rusted out rims. I just had a big one repaired because of rust. Lawn mower guys often use windshield washer fluid instead of anti-freeze. It may be because its cheap, maybe its safer in case the tire gets punctured and it leaks out in their yard/driveway/garage---I have no idea. If you aren't putting heavy strain on the tires (plowing, grading etc) then you can always just put in tubes and keep running the tires if they have a slow leak. Most of the mowers here have old and weathered tires--and they get tubes if they go flat providing they aren't coming apart. We run about 12lbs in the rears.
Dude, for heavens sake don't go around tasting unknown chemicals--that's all I am going to say about that.

Thanks so much for all that information. There is alot of rust right around the valve stem on both rims. I don't anticipate adding any additional liquid to the tire that just had the tube removed. I can't imagine that there will be that discernible a difference in traction when plowing snow without the extra liquid in the tire. And if there is I could always add tire weights.

[taylorjm]

Originally Posted by john hall

Dude, for heavens sake don't go around tasting unknown chemicals--that's all I am going to say about that.

I know some really good mechanics that tell what's leaking in a vehicle by tasting the fluid that's dripping. I worked with some when I was in high school. I had a drip in the garage recently and the first thing I did was taste it. Didn't taste like any vehicle fluid I ever came across. Not oil, not transmission fluid, not coolant, not brake fluid, not front or rear differentials or 4wd transfer case. Found out it was the power steering cooler rusted out and was leaking. First time I ever tried power steering fluid....very bitter. Don't knock it until you try it.

[yourshoesareuntied]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

Oh my God.....

well it is the internet so....

[drglinski]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

Tasting it......

And some of the questions.... Not knowing what the liquid was is understandable.

Now now Jon...be nice........

[ol'George]

You will notice the absence of weight in the empty tire, it will be spinning/slipping.
If it were me, I'd have installed a new tube and pumped the chloride back in or a antifreeze solution of your choice.
All of my farm tractors have cloride in them with tubes.
Approx 11-12 # per gallon,
and we are talking 75-100++ gallons each in the rears.
When they develop a leak, the problem is addressed and taken care of promptly.

[yourshoesareuntied]

Well today there are simple, safe ways to get an idea of whats in a solution. Considering that the old school farmers had access to some real freaky stuff I would consider other forms of research. Or just dump the stuff out and not worry what it was...
That said when physicians first started doing urinalysis they actually smelled and tasted their patients urine to determine their patients health... again we have better ways, thankfully. FYI, there many many bad chemicals that could cause great harm even without ingesting the solution, our mouths are full of blood vessels that could easily soak up whatever one put in ones mouth. Also note i just took my human physiology final exam and have yet to turn the nerd off...sorry

[john hall]

Originally Posted by three4rd

Thanks so much for all that information. There is alot of rust right around the valve stem on both rims. I don't anticipate adding any additional liquid to the tire that just had the tube removed. I can't imagine that there will be that discernible a difference in traction when plowing snow without the extra liquid in the tire. And if there is I could always add tire weights.

Well I'm way too south to know anything about plowing snow, but with a front mounted implement you are going to lose traction on the rear. Add in driving on ice and pushing and you will probably find yourself slipping a bit. Now if you are a great big guy weighing in at 300lbs, well probably won't notice it much. I had the tires off my 1811 a couple weeks ago and weighed them for the fun of it--they weigh 95lbs each with water in them. You may want to be prepared to add weight to the rear somehow.

Slight surface rust probably isn't that big of an ordeal, did the tire shop comment on what the inside of the rim looked like? If they saw considerable rust inside, then ideally you want to pull the tires, paint the rims, and remount them after you give them a few days to cure. Considering you are plowing snow, I'd wait till early spring to do it.

[john hall]

Originally Posted by ol'George

You will notice the absence of weight in the empty tire, it will be spinning/slipping.
If it were me, I'd have installed a new tube and pumped the chloride back in or a antifreeze solution of your choice.
All of my farm tractors have cloride in them with tubes.
Approx 11-12 # per gallon,
and we are talking 75-100++ gallons each in the rears.
When they develop a leak, the problem is addressed and taken care of promptly.

George, do you guys run straight Calcium chloride solution or is it a mix of some sort? As far back as I can remember we've been using antifreeze (at least the early 80's). I think everyone around here got ticked at having to replace rims. We were given a DC Case tractor once that had been sitting for a long time inside a building, 1/2 way up a steep hill. We had to drag it down the hill so it could be loaded. About time it cleared the door one of the rims literally ripped in 1/2 where the calcium chloride had eaten it away. We got it down the hill, but it was a little hair raising!

[john hall]

Originally Posted by taylorjm

I know some really good mechanics that tell what's leaking in a vehicle by tasting the fluid that's dripping. I worked with some when I was in high school. I had a drip in the garage recently and the first thing I did was taste it. Didn't taste like any vehicle fluid I ever came across. Not oil, not transmission fluid, not coolant, not brake fluid, not front or rear differentials or 4wd transfer case. Found out it was the power steering cooler rusted out and was leaking. First time I ever tried power steering fluid....very bitter. Don't knock it until you try it.

Oh I've heard of it, I just don't recommend it. Same goes for smelling unknown liquids. We were taught 30 years ago in school to waft the fumes, not to stick you nose in the jug and inhale. I was reminded of that lesson a few years back--the hard way!