Boy did it finally get cold. Did your tire pressure warning light come on when the temps dropped below 0? To prepare for this article I did some research and found out that a simple rule of thumb is that you lose 1 PSI of air pressure for every 10-degree temperature drop. Does that explain that recent warning light now?
About 2 years ago I bought my farm’s 11th tractor, a Kubota MX 6000 with a cab and loader. It had 100 hours of use and cost a little over $40,000. It became my daily driver, so to speak; it now has over 800 hours. It is shocking how much lighter the small tractors have become in my lifetime. The Kubota only weighed a tad over 4,000 pounds with a cab. In comparison, my 65-year-old IH 560 with a little less horsepower and no cab weighs over 6,000 pounds. This is when many would say, “They don’t make them like they used to.”
This meant I had to load the rear of the Kubota with over 1,000 pounds of weight to keep it from tipping it over with even a modest load in the bucket or on the forks. For decades farmers have used a solution of calcium chloride in their rear tires to provide weight for traction doing fieldwork. 40 years ago, chloride would have been the best choice to help keep the tires on the ground.
It wasn’t long until I got a flat tire. Not long after that, I got another one. You do not need a low-pressure sensor to know when the front tire is losing air when lifting a pallet of seed or using the bucket. Flats are a major drawback when using liquid chloride; you lose all the solution that you paid for.
Many avoid flats on their skid steer loaders by installing tracks. Tracks are very expensive on farm tractors and rarely used. In recent years many industrial machines have started using foam filled tires; I have not known anyone to yet try this on a farm tractor. I knew this was the answer; I also knew it was expensive. It would solve both of my problems, eliminate flats and provide weight to my tractor.
My Kubota now has another screw in a front tire. I do not care. After spending $1870 to fill them with foam, it cannot go flat. The front and rear tires weighed 85 and 210 pounds each respectively before the foam injection. They now weigh 250 and 870 pounds. This added almost a ton of weight to the tractor, and it is much more stable doing loader work.
I questioned the tire shop about the common knowledge that foam filled tires are a firmer ride than pneumatic tires. They claimed the foam is a lot softer than it used to be. The final verdict found the ride very stiff. Even at speeds under 5 MPH the ride is bouncy. It makes me wonder how rough it was years ago if the foam is softer now.
Now I must make fun of myself. Writing this made me realize that I only farm 400 acres and have 11 tractors. Am I a collector or hoarder? I could joke that I need help with an addiction because I recently considered buying another tractor. In contrast, in 1998 I farmed 1000 acres and only had 5 tractors.
They all are useful; all but one saw many hours of work last year. I also did some math and found out that my 8 oldest tractors add up to a total of 383 years old and probably could not be sold for the same value as what I paid for the Kubota.
Next spring I plan to take a batwing mower and trim up two fence lines that I cleaned up with chainsaws to remove a slew of Mulberry, and thorny Osage Orange trees and brush and briars. Guess which tractor I will use to make sure I am not outstanding in the field next to a flat tire.
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