Straight water is 8.3 lbs. per gallon. My research says that a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is in the neighborhood of 9.5 to 10 lbs per gallon. The CaCl2 is more like 11 to 11.2 lbs per gallon, and even if you fix leaks, the wheel will rust from the inside out.

Chains on the lawn??? Ok you really should try a set of atv tires... Im pretty sure you will be quite impressed.

A few years ago now I found a guy selling a set of 12" front tires from a new quad he had just bought, he had put new tires on it before leaving the shop so he advertised these brand new tires on kijiji for $40, I picked them up and put them on my Columbia garden tractor which is about 1035 lbs without the wheel weights, add another 100lbs for some winches and mounts that I built, plus me at about 160lbs.

I live on an old farmstead with a paved secondary road at the front of the yard, the ditch along the road is very steep, if I tried to go sideways along the road with the tractor Im sure I would roll it, or at least fall off the thing, and the ditch is close to 6 feet deep, so its a short hill but a steep hill, the Columbia is a 4 speed 2315a peerless transaxle with a cast B+S 16hp, it will climb up and out of the ditch onto the road without breaking traction even if the grass is wet, the yard is 110 yards wide and the mower is 42 inches wide, I go up and down.... how ever many times that would add up to, only time it might spin is if I have to stop and wait for traffic to pass.

For comparison...awhile back I had '92 Cub 1862 with turfs and a 46" deck, weighs 960lb I think according to tractordata.com, even if I took a full power, full speed run at the hill, the Cub could not get up the slope onto the road.

The Cub also had a 46" snowblower and came with a set of chains, so I tried it, and compared my snow removal times against the Columbia with a 54" front blade... 4 hrs on the Cub = 2 hr on the Columbia, mostly because it will push snow up to about 8-10 inches deep at full throttle, in 4th gear, with a blower I have to creep along... so I sold the Cub, now I do most snow removal with the Columbia, and then finish it off with a cute little Bolens Ride a Matic that has a small 36" blower on the front and ags on the back because it just looks cute that way.

"Occasionally", in the spring when the snow melts during the day and freezes over night I might spin the atv lugs on the ice, but it happens so little it is not worth it to me to put chains on it and risk damaging a fender or anything else on the tractor, three winters with the atv tires and I have never had it stuck, pushing snow or pulling a 10" plough in the garden.

Dont want to be posting alot of non cub pics on here but I'll add a couple dropbox links so you can see what the tires look like, there arent super aggressive so they dont hurt the lawn, I run 10lbs pressure and never take the weights off it.

Columbia folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v2o25vqpa...HMefzjlYfZL_fa

Bolens RaM w/blower: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ydgti3akg...ajEXciEUyZl_ba

Last winter I used a 54" blade on my 1050 (basically an 82 series Cub) with filled 10.50 turfs, chain, and towards the end, wheel weights. That thing could just about move a mountain. I only got stopped twice during the whole winter. Once when I was clearing a path with deep drifts and high piles on both sides from previous plow jobs. The snow piled up so high in front of the tractor that it was coming over the blade and starting to push on the grill. I had to get a shovel and move the pile for that one. :angry: The other time was after a big snow then a deeeeeep freeze overnight. One drift had gotten frozen solid and despite the weight I had, I'd hit the drift and I would dead stop every time. I ended up waiting (secondary sidewalk anyway) until it warmed up the next day and plowed through it then.

This winter I'll have a different lineup. Last winter: 1050 with 54" blade, loaded tires, and chains plus a 149 with a 42" blower on turfs (worked decent unless I hit a slick spot :-/).

THIS winter, I've upgraded a bit. My plan thus far (yes, I've already started to think about winter! :biggrin2:) is one 1811 with loaded turfs and chains with the 54" blade and the other 1811 with ag's, weights, and the blower. Hopefully between the two, I can tackle whatever mother nature throws at us this time.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand (don't know why I felt like sharing all that other than to give you a reference point for what I've tried/what I believe will work). You can't go wrong with either (liquid filled or weights) but ideally, go with both. Chains are good if you're working on ice a lot and need that additional tractor but if you're running on gravel or well maintained pavement, you can get by without the chains. Weight really is the key factor. :beerchug:

Yes, water is 8.3. But straight ethylene glycol is about 9.3 lbs. SO, no way a 50/50 mix would be over 9.3lbs/gal. CaCL2 is listed at 11.86lbs/gal.

We ran loaded tires on our farm tractor their whole life. Put several sets of tires on, never had a rusted rim as long as the tubes didn't leak. It only rusts from the inside out if it leaks. Most of the new farm tractors don't even use tubes. As long as the CaCl2 is over the rim, it won't rust. BTDT.

Why not dry sand?
Break the bead and shovel it in.

13.35lbs/gallon

?

Would you get an undesirable flywheel effect?

Come to think of it my Dad's 125 was loaded with powdered lead with no flywheel effect worth noting.

Put these on and climb trees.

That thing looks wicked!
Wouldn't want to get ran over with that!:biggrin2:

And I thought my 2 link v bars were nasty..

That's right!! Mow AND aerate!! :biggrin2::biggrin2:

Here's my 2 cents on the issue.

Weights. No fluid filled tires.

WHY?


I use my CC for mowing and snow removal. My yard is prone to standing water (lovely drain system I have in my back yard) so for most of the spring it's soft and soupy. I need my 147 to be as light as she can be. Even when the water is gone the ground is soft. I can unbolt the weights and can make it lighter.

Now another option is to run another set of wheels. In a perfect world, I'd love to have another set of rear wheels to swap out for half of the year that I am not moving snow. Right now that is not economically feasible.

About chains- I slip enough in the winter with weight and chains, I couldn't even think about not using them. I run 2 link chains and they don't bother me. If/usually the snow gets piled enough that when I'm moving I don't even feel the bumping. I've heard that the 4 link ones are not as smooth as the 2. I also deflate the tires, get the chains tight, and then re inflate the tires. No slippage.


Dad lives on a hill and used to have chained turfs on his 125 until he got AGS and that solved the problem of slipping while mowing. 20 some odd years later they are still going strong.