Liquid Ballast in Rear Tires
Rear tire ballast, or liquid ballast, is used to improve tractor stability and traction.
Monarch Tractor recommends the use of beet juice or a 31% mixture of calcium chloride solution and water to provide safe, economical ballast in rear tires. Beet juice weighs 11 pounds per gallon; calcium chloride weighs 11.3 pounds per gallon. Used properly, liquid ballast doesn’t damage tires, tubes, or rims. Soil compaction is a risk of adding liquid ballast.
With tires being the lowest point on the tractor, filling them with heavy ballast liquid instead of air lowers the vehicle’s center of gravity. Also, with extra ballast weight pressing the tires into the soil, more horsepower is available for towing/pulling power (or cattle feed pushing power) without the tires losing traction and spinning.
IMPORTANT: Never fill tires with plain water; the addition of calcium chloride is required to prevent the water from freezing. Fill with ballast only to 75% of max capacity.