And if I go with foam will I still need to put tubes in the tires, or can not using them help offset the cost of the foam? Is there any reason to not have the front tires filled with foam too other than cost? I have a slow leak in my left front right now, but it isn't bad enough to pull it apart and repair. My Dad replaced the front tires about 25 years ago, and while the tread is still good the sidewalls are showing weather checking from age. Will having them foam filled increase their lifespan, or should I have new tires put on and then fill them?

  Why do you even need extra weight in the rears? Do you have a loader on the D17? Do you do heavy tillage? If not, there's really no need for having extra weight. Filling the tires with salt water will only lead to the rims rusting again. It is never IF, but WHEN ! Also if there is a "NEED" for extra weight, cast iron won't run down the ditch when you get a flat. 

Properly filled tires are only filled to about three quarters full. There is enough air left in the tire to still give a reasonably "smooth" ride and sustain conformance with the ground surface.

I think they make several grades of foam(hardness), but the problem is finding someone local who has a softer grade of foam may be difficult.  I know around here, there was only 1 shop, and they only had 1 grade of foam...

Also, the foam guys want new tires to fill, they won't touch old tires.(may be a liability issue...)

Removed the original 14.9X28 Goodyear tires and replaced with Titan 16.9X28.

Removed all the fluid in the rear tires and did not replace.

Installed one set of Allis-Chalmers rear wheel weights.  

Very happy with the results after all these years.

Hope this helps.  Good Luck!

As for 14.9x28, I just changed out a set on my Ford 3600. The originals were on 13" rims and the tires said 14.9x28 "on 13" rim" and they always looked big, which I liked. The tire shop could only get 12" rims at the time and I got 14.9x28 BKT TR-135 tires and there were noticeably narrower and shorter than the previous set. A little bummed out by that, but it will still pull a hay rake and tedder just fine. So I recommend looking at the dimensions online of the tires you plan to go with to make sure they are what you want. 

You never said what you use that tractor for? You may be ok with no fluid, but if you do much work, you will need some kind fluid. Juice or calcium is up to you. Properly maintained, calcium is ok. Most rot comes from leaking valve stems on old tractors that sit in the barn and never get looked at.

I realize you have a deeply passionate affinity for chloride, and that's fine.  But your sentence can be worded, "won't rust if the rim guard leaks out."

Yeah yeah, hear that all the time.  And yeah, I can't say I'm always on schedule replacing valve stems just for the fun of it.  

Except, that ISN'T the only problem.  We had a tractor years ago, too uninvolved at the time to remember all the details, but the CC rusted the rim out from the inside out, and did not leak down in pressure.  How the heck were we supposed to know there was that issue going on before it was too late?  

People can do what they want, I don't care.  Use chloride, use sulfuric acid if you want, I really don't care.  But for me, it's cheap insurance to put something in there that won't eat out your rim if something happens, then you're dealing with not only the flat but the downtime of getting a rim etc.  So, that's what I do, I use a noncorrosive in them.  

If you are asking me.....yes, it was only one tire.  Your scenario sounds very plausible.  Was only a few years after we bought the tractor used, so we don't know, but sounds plausible.  My opinion and practice, is why mess with it when there's something noncorrosive.   Just a decision we made a long time ago.  They say the beet juice is hard on valve stems.  We haven't had much trouble, so, whatever.  

   I personally do all my own tire work and only put air in them. I have weights stacked in a pile for the very few times that it is needed, which is very seldom.

The beauty of iron weights is the ease of removal.

The good Dr. makes some compelling arguments for liquid ballast. Personally, I'll stick with iron, though I do have one tractor that gets to bouncing going down the highway. Fluid might fix that but it's already heavy enough, I just back off the throttle a little.

   I have an I-40 that I've taken a HD snap-coupler semi plow hitch apart and have 1500 pounds of cast iron on the big round bar that would have connected to the plow. Then in each rim I have 2 weights inside of the dish and 3 outside of the dish. Without the 1500 pounds on the hitch it will handle most things I move around, with only air in the tires. When I hook to the bar with all the weight it will safely handle anything that the loader will lift.

   A barrel full of concrete makes a great counterweight for a loader and they are available nearly anywhere. 

 

   For those complaining about bouncing at road speeds Check the tires for being out of round or wheels not being tightened equally.  I once brought a tractor that had 38" PAW wheels and when I first drove it home it was nearly dangerous at full speed on the road.  After loosening all the adjusters and getting everything concentric it was smooth as a truck. Sometime a simple solution gets overlooked in favor of a highly involved ban-aid to fix a problem that isn't really there. 

Its usually easier on the back, to mount the rear tires vertically, than horizontally.  Leave the rim bolted to the tractor, break the bead, pull the tube (after draining the fluid out), then swap out the tire...

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I would say a lot more than 1,500 lbs.  The axle is a fulcrum point and although I never claimed to know much about physics, I think a significant amount of the weight ahead of the axle will be exerted on to the axle bearings as well.

This is why when adding weight to a 2WD pickup, locating it close to the tailgate is much more effective than placing it directly over the axle.

That is also why when using my WD (which currently has no Calcium in the tires) for heavy loader use, I keep my factory back blade on and sometimes add as many as 4 suitcase weights to it.

Ed (Ont) wrote: Wow is right. I was $1500 for new tires, rims and tubes. But that was 10 years ago up here in Canada. Firestone 14.9 by 28 for WD45. I mounted them myself. Real easy job. 1 beer per tire. Lol. For your D17 get the 16.9 as others have said. Hard to believe that they have almost doubled in price.

One beer per tire?! Man, I don't work that hard! Or maybe I drink faster?

I don't mind mounting/dismounting tractor tires. never done any bigger than 18.4X38's. Have a pair of 30.5X32's, think they would be pretty heavy.

  Flats are inevitable, why complicate things with a corrosive liquid in side of tire that just runs down the ditch when you have one, then the after affects needs to be thoroughly cleaned up, or more trouble later. Flats always happen when there isn't time to have the rim thoroughly cleaned and repainted. Tire work is easy with just air to deal with.