[AT] Tire ballast - antifreeze wins

[carl gogol]

Last winter I solicited opinions from the list concerning tire ballast.  I
finally took the plunge yesterday and decided that I had enough time to do
the job.  I called up a local junkyard, er recycler, and asked him how much
for 90 gallons of old antifreeze solution.  He asked me what it was for and
when I told him he commented that, "you don't need good stuff - come and get
it - for free"!   I noticed quite a bit of oil on the surface of the mix, so
I made up a simple extraction / separation tool with a 3/4" pipe tee, using
both a Schrader valve for pressurizing the barrel and a tube from 1/2" CPVC,
boring the normal male pipe adapter so the tube could pass through the TEE
to within about 4" of the bottom of the drum.  This way I could pump the AF
from under the oil by slightly pressuring the 55 gallon drum.  I found the
drums could take at least 5 PSI and then pushed the AF into the tubes.  I
had to disconnect and let the air out of the tractor's tube 4-5 times to get
the level to 80% full.  A bit time consuming, but got them both full in
about 3 hours.  Got a system down and the second one took half as long as
the first.

Tried the tractor using the loader and it easily pushed the 6' blade into a
pile of rocks and sod, digging a good bucket load that it just wouldn't have
been able to do before.  I'm sure Calcium would have done a little more, but
this is a huge improvement.  I may go get another 2 drums and fill the other
D-14 and then take the steel wheel weights and put them on the loader
tractor too.  I think that will result in a very satisfactory loader
tractor.

Only one bit of excitement, when I repressurized the first tire, I was sure
the valve stem was leaking.  After  putting some air in, there was a hissing
sound.  At first it was very depressing as I thought I would have to take it
all out and get a new tube.  I put some more air in and again it all leaked
out.  I put some more in and it too hissed out!  I put 11 PSI in and it
stopped leaking --- It was just air trapped between the tube and the rim
pushing out through the valve stem hole in the rim!  The second tire did
exactly the same thing - it didn't panic me this time.
Carl Gogol
Manlius, NY
(2) AC D-14, AC 914H
Simplicity 3112 & 7116
Kubota F-2400
Carl Gogol
Manlius, NY
(2) AC D-14, AC 914H
Simplicity 3112 & 7116
Kubota F-2400