My second machine (the ’78) was first used by me in the winter of 2018-2019. Although it had wheel weights, it also had the original 1978 tires with chains. One of the driveways that I clear is a bit steep. The ’78 just would not get enough traction to get up the steep driveway. As a result, I started to research ways to get better traction. I decided to get better tires and have those tires filled with liquid for additional weight.
The tires that I chose to make this upgrade were “Carlisle All Trail ATV Tire – 23X10.50-12”.
I took the tires to my local tire center and they mounted them for me. In addition, I asked to have liquid ballast added to the tires. They only charged me $20. When I asked what liquid they put in the tires, I was just told “liquid”. I am going to assume that they used the same fluid as they fill a farm tractor.
So the first winter that I used this setup (2018-2019), I did not bother to put the chains on. I did OK for the remainder of the winter. However, the following winter (2019-2020) I didn’t fair as well. For some reason, I did more slipping and sliding. It may have been more ice or the fact that I was using a different snowblower attachment.
I did eventually put the tire chains on but still struggled with that previously mentioned steep driveway. I am currently thinking that the second snowblower attachment was causing the trouble. I will dig deeper this coming winter (2020-2021) if we survive the killer hornets!
In conclusion, I put each tire on a scale and they EACH weigh in at 100lbs. In addition, each wheel weight is 70lbs. So even without my backside on the seat, there is at least 340lbs of ballast on the back of this machine.