Oh no!!! Flat tire already!!!

[Glowplug]

I just went out to the barn to check on my baby. Something looked funny. The loader appeared to be unlevel. What the heck?!? I got up on the tractor and started it up, hoping that maybe one cylinder had just leaked down and starting it and raising the loader would help. But that didn't correct the problem. Then I thought, maybe I have a flat tire. I looked at the left front. Nope, looked fine. Then I looked at the left rear. Flatter than a pancake. All the fluid had leaked out and evaporated. Well, at least I didn't do anything like bend the loader arms. I got the compressor out to try to temporarily fix the problem. But no air would stay in. It leaked out quicker than it went in. It looks like once it leaked out that it's no longer seated on the rim correctly and is probably leaking out there.

So, here I am at 6pm on Saturday calling my dealer at his home. I was so upset I just had to. Plus I wanted to make sure it'd be okay to just leave it like that for now. He is probably going to come out tomorrow and pick it up. He said he would just take it to the shop and take care of the problem and then go ahead and install the extra hydraulic accessories that I had previously ordered that have now arrived.

At first I thought maybe the fluid had frozen in there. But he uses windshield washer fluid that stays liquid down to -20F. Probably even lower under pressure. Then I tried to think of what I had been doing. I was doing some moving of a big dirt pile two days ago from near the house to near the garden as well as some levelling and excavating. Was there some big piece of metal in there that I ran over? Then I thought, oh crap. When I was taking one of the loads over to the garden area I drove over a fence post laying on the ground. I had just pulled that post out of the ground a couple of days before. Was there a nail sticking out of that? I went over and looked at that post. Yup, there were two nails, very sharp pointed tips sticking straight up, on that fence post!! What a stupid mistake. That didn't have to happen. I don't know what I'm going to do now. Do I need to get a new tire or should that one just be plugged? Or should I just buy a new tire to be on the safe side? I'll bet those rears cost a pretty penny!! They're 16.9-30. Well, that won't happen again. Word of advice: don't drive over anything dangerous that you don't have to so as to just look cool. That's what I was doing. I knew that my father-in-law was probably watching. So I drove over that big post just to look cool, hoping to crush it under the weight of my beast. I only did that once but I guess that's all it took. Oh well, live and learn.

So my questions are as follows:

1. Do I have to get a new tire or is it okay to plug that one?
2. Is it okay to leave it like that for now?
3. Will it be okay to drive it a short distance to load it onto a truck?
4. Or should I just not move it and check to see if I can find a tire service to come out and fix it on-site?

Excuse me. I must go mourn over my injured baby. Looks pretty pitiful and sad with that broken foot. Do they make crutches big enough for an M7040?

 

[frank_f15]

Why don't you just wait and see what your dealer says? i know i would have the same concerns as you do, but have found best not to over think it , till you KNOW all the facts!

 

[m7040]

This happens all the time when you drive over posts with nails etc. A tire service truck will come out and repair the tire and refill. The tire is fine and can be repaired. Happened to me a few times already over the years. No big deal except the biggest expence is the refill of fluid

 

[Blksim]

They'll have to jack it up to get the tire off & back on. It takes a heavy jack to pick that baby up. I think the old bottle jack I use is 10 ton. The tire can be patched from the inside. Sorry about your mishap. If you use 'em it'll happen. I parked one after unloading a trailer of hay into a shed only to see a hay hook sticking in a rear tire. that's a bad feeling for sure. Good Luck.

 

[CharlieKtractor]

fill 'em with foam and you'll have zero problems. a little pricey on that big of a tire though. 6 or 7 yrs. down the road you will have run over many posts w/nails. ya might even go lookin fer the thorns and nails just to tramp on 'em.

 

[Thomas]

The bright side,the flat didn't happen in deep mud or back in the pucker brush...you may want to get the weight off the tire until repairs start.

 

[Glowplug]

Well, my dealer came and picked her up today. He did get the tire inflated long enough to get the tractor onto the flatbed, drive it 20 miles to a tire dealer near his tractor dealership, and unload it. He said there were at least two nails stuck in the tire. That was a stupid mistake. As I said before, live and learn.

They will get the tire fixed tomorrow. Then my dealer will start work on the loader hydraulics and 3rd rear remote I ordered. I think I will go ahead and order my grapple rake and toothbar tomorrow to have them delivered to the dealer while the tractor is there.

Filling the tires with foam does sound appealing. The foam-filled old airplane tires on my mower are pretty nice. I couldn't flatten those if I tried. The only concern I would have though would be the lack of ballast. It would probably cost a lot and give almost no ballast weight.

 

[Sully2]

So my questions are as follows:

1. Do I have to get a new tire or is it okay to plug that one?
2. Is it okay to leave it like that for now?
3. Will it be okay to drive it a short distance to load it onto a truck?
4. Or should I just not move it and check to see if I can find a tire service to come out and fix it on-site?

If a proper size patch is vulcanized to the inside of the tire...it will do fine. Plugs "suck"!

Personally..Id jack it up so it wasnt resting ...bearing down on the flat tire. LARGE bottle jacks and jackstands from places like HF are waaaayyy too cheap not to have around

Inflate it first so it isnt running on the flat tire..and only drive for a SHORT distance

 

[Glowplug]

I do wish I would've jacked it up and put a jack stand under that axle now just to keep the pressure off the squished tire and rim. But it's gone to the hospital to be fixed. These tires have tubes, so my dealer said they would probably patch it at the tire shop. I may have to go to the tire shop to visit tomorrow.

 

[Glowplug]

I just got back from my dealer. He got my tractor from the tire shop on Monday night and has been installing my hydraulic goodies. It is all completed now. They're just making sure everything works and going to clean it up. They also are going to check all the fluids/lubricants and grease all the fittings. The tire shop did have to replace the tube. They have installed the 3rd function remote, 3rd rear remote, and hydraulic quick coupler. Hopefully it'll be delivered this afternoon!! My dealer said he is not going to charge for pickup and delivery. And, of course, the price of the extra haudraulic options was included in the purchase price. There was no extra labor charge for the installation of the options.

Total extra cost to me: $73.

 

[Thomas]

[QUOTE=Glowplug

Total extra cost to me: $73.
...................................................................
Like they say..."you can't beat that w/a stick"...by the sounds you got a good dealership.

 

[andover farmer]

WHO IS YOUR DEALER? SOUNDS LIKE HE'S FIRST CLASS AND KNOWS WHAT THE TRUE MEANING OF GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!

 

[Z-Michigan]

fill 'em with foam and you'll have zero problems. a little pricey on that big of a tire though. 6 or 7 yrs. down the road you will have run over many posts w/nails. ya might even go lookin fer the thorns and nails just to tramp on 'em.

Is this a common thing for tractor tires now? Where would I get tires filled with foam? And does it add any weight or not?

 

[Glowplug]

My dealer is really awesome, for lack of a better word. How many dealers can you call on a Saturday evening and then have them volunteer to come out to your home on a Sunday to pick up your tractor, transport it to the tire shop, transport it from the tire shop to his dealership, then transport it back to my home without any charge?!! He has always been very good to me, available, helpful, and courteous. He is Joe Haydon at Haydon Equipment, Inc. in Cynthiana, Kentucky which is about 25 miles north of Lexington.

I was wondering about the foam-filled tires myself. Like I said, the tires on my brush mower are foam-filled airplane tires. It seems to make them virtually indestructible. But I don't know how it would affect the ride and I doubt it adds any ballast weight whatsoever.

 

[chrisjbell]

Is this a common thing for tractor tires now? Where would I get tires filled with foam? And does it add any weight or not?

Filling tires with foam is common, especially for machines that are used in construction (where nails and such are common on worksites). You can usually find a place to fill them through your dealer (although most dealers don't do it themselves). I used a tire place in town that handles a lot of tractor tires. It does add weight to the tire, which is an added bonus. The downside is that it is pretty expensive.

 

[chrisjbell]

But I don't know how it would affect the ride and I doubt it adds any ballast weight whatsoever.

It doesn't impact the ride much, if at all. Tractors don't have much by way of suspension in the first place - that's one of the reasons the seat is so important . It does add weight, and does so at the lowest possible place (yeah, I know that half the weight is above the axle, but so are the suitcases and they work great) so is quite helpful in keeping the tractor shiny side up.

 

[Glowplug]

I would love to know how much weight filling the tires with foam would add. I guess it would add some; foam is heavier than air. Filling my 16.9-30 tires 75% full with CaCl adds between 700 and 750 lbs. depending on what concentration is used. If it would come close to that I'd probably do it. In fact, I'd definately do it if I could find someone who could do it. It would at least give me peace of mind and prevent anymore "surprises" when going out to the barn.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Glowplug - why is calcium chloride in your tires? Everyone around here only uses rimguard, due to the corrosion issue. I also think they fill tires more like 80-90% here and your tires would be near 1000lbs of extra weight if filled to that level. Just my $0.015.

 

[Glowplug]

Glowplug - why is calcium chloride in your tires? Everyone around here only uses rimguard, due to the corrosion issue. I also think they fill tires more like 80-90% here and your tires would be near 1000lbs of extra weight if filled to that level. Just my $0.015.

Actually my tires aren't filled with CaCl. They're filled with Windshield washer fluid rated to -20F. That's what my dealer fills all the tires with. I guess it makes sense too; it stays liquid down to -20F and would be noncorrosive. The only reason I mentioned CaCl is because that's what's in the owner's manual with those specifications.

 

[chrisjbell]

I would love to know how much weight filling the tires with foam would add. I guess it would add some; foam is heavier than air.

The foam that is used to fill tractor tires is formulated to add weight (there are different formulas that can be used - in some cases weight isn't desirable), but it is more dense than liquids and adds even more weight. One of the tricks when foam filling a tire as large as yours is how to get it on or off the tractor - when they are that heavy it requires specialized equipment.

Windshield washer fluid works well, too. And I think I read that you have tubes in your tires so you shouldn't need to worry about the fluid rusting out your rims.