Help · Calculator

Tractor Tire Ballast Calculator

Work out the liquid ballast for your tractor tires: gallons at a 75% fill, pounds of calcium chloride, water to mix and the weight you add.

Ballast Calculator

Fills are figured at 75%, the valve level fill tire makers recommend: the valve at 12 o'clock and liquid up to it.

Rear, front and compact tractor sizes.

The standard rim for the size fills in. Change it if yours differs.

Tires to fill

Fluid

30% is OxyChem's recommended tire ballast strength. Stronger is not better: a 32% mix freezes at -17°F.

Why 75%?

A tractor tire with the valve at 12 o'clock and ballast filled up to the valve, about three quarters full, with an air cushion above Valve at 12 o'clock Air cushion About 75% full liquid up to the valve

Filling to the valve with the valve straight up leaves an air cushion above the liquid, so the tire still flexes on air. It is also the level the tire makers' ballast tables are built on.

  • Rim width matters. Firestone's tables assume the standard rim for each size. Take off about 4% for each inch narrower, and add about 4% for each inch wider. The calculator does this when you change the rim width.
  • Calcium chloride adds weight. A 30% solution weighs about 10.8 lb a gallon, roughly 30% more than water at 8.3 lb, and won't freeze down to -52°F.
  • Stay inside the limits. Liquid counts toward the tractor maker's ballast limit and the tire's load rating. Check both before you fill.

Mixing and Filling

Add the flake to the water, never water onto the flake. Calcium chloride gives off heat as it dissolves. A 30% mix can warm the water by about 72°F, so mix in a container rated for hot liquid and wear eye protection and gloves.

  1. Seat the beads first. Mount the tire and seat the beads at no more than 35 psi.
  2. Put the valve on top. Jack up the wheel, turn it so the valve is at 12 o'clock, then lower it until the tire is slightly flattened.
  3. Hook up the fill adapter. Remove the valve core, connect the fill adapter and hose, and let the pressure down to about 5 psi so the beads stay seated.
  4. Pump in the solution. Check the pressure every few minutes. If it climbs past 20 psi, bleed it back to about 5 psi. Stop when liquid reaches the valve.
  5. Close it up. Replace the core, disconnect, and re-inflate to seat the beads, again no more than 35 psi.
  6. Set the pressure. Set the operating pressure from the tire maker's inflation table, checked with an air/water gauge.

Tube or tubeless? A tubeless tire that will hold liquid needs an air/liquid valve like the TR618A. A tube type tire needs a tube with an air/water valve, such as the TR218A tubes in our Inner Tube Finder.

Dowflake Xtra Calcium Chloride Flakes - 50Lb Bag$101.74 1" Yamada Wonder Pump double diaphragm pump complete pkg$1,512.01 Haltec 310 Valve Adapter Calcium Chloride Liquid Fill Gun$95.60 Dill 3107 Tire Valve Liquid Fill Gun Adapter Service Tool$69.86 Haltec N-1091 Air and Water Tire Valve Inflation Fluid Adapter Farm Tractor OTR$16.81 Ascot 464-92837 Air and Water Tire Fill Adapter, 3/4 in Garden Hose$17.88 Ascot TR618A 1-7/8" Air-Liquid Tractor Valve Stem for .625 Hole Pack of 2$9.73

Filling a lot of tires?

Ask about bulk calcium chloride and fill pumps. Call 800-328-7400.

Shop calcium chlorideFarm tubes
  • Sources: Firestone Ag, Tire Info: Hydroinflation (3/4 fill tables, rim width adjustment, fill procedure); OxyChem, DOWFLAKE Xtra 83-87% Calcium Chloride product sheet, Table 1 (mixes and freeze points) and Tire Ballast (30% recommendation, weight vs. water); OxyChem LIQUIDOW product sheet (32% freeze point).