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 | KlayW in MI
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2000-06-22 17419
Right in my Kubota B2710 owners manual under the tire ballast section it says that calcium cloride (sp) used properly will not damage tires, rims, tubes. I thought that stuff was corrosive to rims and should only be used inside tubed tires. Anyone have any problems with it directly in the tire without a tube?
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962 
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2000-06-23 17424
Yeah Klay, that simple comment in the manual is a bit puzzling. I can only conclude that whoever wrote "used properly" meant not ever letting it touch metal. And while I don't know for sure, I'm assuming that's the reason my B2710 came with Goodyear tubeless tires on the front and Firestone tube type on the rear. I wouldn't use calcium chloride myself under any circumstances. A neighbor recently had to buy new wheels because of the corrosion. He had tubes in the tires, but if or when you have a puncture, it gets between the tire and tube, i.e., on the wheel, and you need to clean it thoroughly. And what leaks out will definitely kill any vegetation it leaks on. ....
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| JimBinMI
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2000-06-23 17425
Bird,
Do you know how long your neighbor had the calcium in his tires?
I don't have any kind of weight in my tires, but my salesman said that new wheels were close to the same price of the cost of labor and cost of tubes combined. He recommends putting the calcium right into a tubeless tire because of this. I didn't look into it further, but if I ever need more rear weight I might have to since the TC18 turf wheel doesn't accept wheel weights.
My neighbor had a Ford 8N with calcium in the rear wheels for a LONG time and it was just showing that he might need to think about rear wheels when he sold it.
Just being curious, as always!
JimBinMI ....
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| MJB
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2000-06-23 17430
Jim... I would not advise putting calcium chloride in a tubeless rim and tire for any length of time. The calcium will eat through the metal rim at a rate that is not to be believed. Since all the corrosion is happening from the inside out you might not be able to tell if the rim is getting to thin until the tire blows right off. I would not want to be anywhere around the tractor when that happened. If you need liquid weight in the wheels you might take a look at using one of the non-toxic antifreezes on the market. That stuff will not hurt the rims or the grass if it leaks out. MJB ....
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| Randy Eckard
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2000-06-23 17431
Here is what I understand. The calcium solution should not corrode the rims as long as the rims are completely covered by the solution. Oxidation cannot occur without air. The reason tubes are more of a detriment than a help is that if a small leak occurs in the tube or valve, then it gets between the rim and tube and rots the rim.
I dont profess to be a chemist, but I would not be afraid to try it.
Randy ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2000-06-23 17432
JimBinMI, no I don't know how long the calcium was in the neighbor's tractor. It's admittedly an old tractor that he bought about 4 years ago and knew at the time he bought it that it came from somewhere up north. He didn't know it had calcium in the tires until the first puncture. And I don't even know of any place you could get the stuff down here in Texas. It just isn't used in this part of the country. I learned that it'll kill grass better than Round-Up (took 2 years for it to grow back). At any rate, I suppose it's still used up north, and that's fine with me; I just don't want any of it on my property. I put water and anti-freeze in my rear tires, but of course, I'm not likely to use my tractor in sub-freezing weather either. ....
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| KlayW in MI
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2000-06-23 17436
Randy, your comment might explain why with the valve stem at the top I still get liquid when trying to check tire pressure. Then again they just might be overfilled, just my luck. Just thinking out loud, if it's in the owners manual and installed by the dealer then rusted wheels would be a warranty item ,ay? ....
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| Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0
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2000-06-24 17448
Randy, there are several chemical reactions when calcium chloride touches metal. Oxidation of the metal is only one type. Others do not need oxygen. You are correct about there not being much oxidation (although water always contains dissolved oxygen, and oxygen itself slowly penetrates most membranes). I just ran into a corrosion problem at work with calcium chloride and would not recommend it at all.
It beats me why anyone ever used the stuff in the first place. There are certainly better alternatives available today. Near as I can tell, it was originally because CaCl is the cheapest stuff you can mix up so that water does not freeze. It does make a solution that is somewhat heavier than pure water - but not by enough to offset the drawbacks, IMHO. Does anyone have any history on how we got started using CaCl? ....
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| CaseyR
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 53 Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
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2000-06-26 17475
Is there any easy way to tell whether the liquid in tractor tires is calcium chloride or some other fluid. How does a calcium chloride solution appear? I recently bought a Ford 1900 that the owner had acquired when he bought his farm. He had used it only briefly and did not know what was in the tires. The liquid does not feel slippery as I would expect anti-freeze to feel and does not seem to have any odor. Since we really don't get heavy freezes in the Oregon Willamette Valley, I suppose it is possible it is just plain water. Anyway, how would I check for calcium chloride content? ....
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| KlayW in MI
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-06-26 17485
I got a little on me as I checked tire pressure and mine was not slick like eth. glycol (sp). Clear to light cloudy that got sticky as it dried. Need to hear from the experts on this one though. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2000-06-27 17489
I've heard that CaCl is sticky, not slick. If you tasted a little, anti-freeze should taste sweet while CaCl would taste bitter or salty. Haven't tried it myself--both are poisonous after all. ....
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| Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0
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2000-06-27 17502
Tom, I've tasted both and am still here to tell about it. It only takes a touch of the tongue to the slightest bit of moisture. Then wash vigorously. Both have extremely powerful tastes. As you say, antifreeze is oddly sweet - like artificial sweetener - and Cacl is salty. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2000-06-28 17507
I've heard that anti-freeze is a common cause of death for dogs. They like it because it's sweet. Guess anybody who has the misfortune of a tire leak should take additional care if pets are around. ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2000-06-28 17511
Calcium has been being used as an economical source of ballast in excess of 40 years now and yes it will rot out rims but not faster than tractors change owners.The rims we are replacing do to the rust are normally in excess of 20 years old often exceeding 30 years of use before needing work. The comment about the tube vs no tube I believe is right as far as the corrosion goes. If the tractor can be ballasted by useing cast iron that is by far better than anything in the tires. There has been some indepth work done that shows termendous loss of traction in radial tires by using fluid for ballast although there has been no testing with the bias ply tires at this point I can only assume that there would be differences there to. ....
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| MD
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-06-30 17581
I was told by my dealer, it would damage the wheels. I just purchased a Kubota B-2710 with the tires loaded. My tires are loaded with Beet Juice. Has anyone else used this? My dealer claims it is becoming more and more common. ....
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| KlayW in MI
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2000-06-30 17593
Beet juice? Never heard of that one. What's the chemical analysis of that stuff? Must be from mid-Michigan ay? ....
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