1980 Roper 16T

RV antifreeze and beet juice are both non corrosive. I believe rim-gard, the name brand of beet juice ballast has a no rust guarantee or something. Calcium chloride is the corrosive one.

I'm still not keen on loading my tires, it would be a last resort for me.

No yeah I get it. Different strokes for different folks, and I can tell you for a fact that ballasted tires are a pain to dismount/patch/plug.

I think loaded fronts are a good idea on tractors with a heavy rear weight bias, like wheel horses and Sears. Mutt doesn’t have loaded fronts but has more weight on the front wheels than the rears. Most tractors tend to be way heavier in the rear, makes for scarier hill climbs lol. The extra weight makes for better turning with a locked diff too.

Okay guys you've made your point... please take it to Off Topic if you want to continue the conversation.

Another upgrade that I started last night and finished up this morning.

Anyone who owns (or owned) a Suburban knows how awkward it can be to shift it, this isn't a mod I would recommend for an offroader but for a utility tractor and a aging back this is the bees knees... a shifter extension!

I didn't want it to be bulky and stand out but it has to have strength so I used a piece of 1/2" rod, bored it out to 7/16" to slip over the shifter rod snugly and threaded it down in the bore so it's a true bolt on! I used my spare 633a to get that part done.

This morning I figured out the length I want (about 3"), cut it to length and threaded the end to match the shifter ball leaving a small ledge to go up inside the shifter ball...

...hit it with a shot of semi-gloss black...

...gave the shifter rod a good dousing of antiseize...

...and installed it! As you can see it's pretty sleek, the only thing that makes it stand out is the fresh paint which I'll take care of with a dirty glove so it blends in better! Lol

There's still just enough room for a gloved hand while using 2nd and 3rd gear but most importantly 1st and reverse gears (where I spend alot of time) are so much easier to use and it feels really solid! Once it's threaded on about 11/16" of the sleeved portion is engaged with the shifter rod for support.

I doubt that anyone aside from @MightyRaze would have use for one but if anyone is interested in a shifter riser I could whip one up pretty cheap for ya, just send me a PM and we'll talk about it!