Tires I need info on foam filled tires

[DmansPadge]

Yesterday I was cleaning up some burn piles that consisted of a little bit of everything. This morning I had a front tire flat. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif My neighbor recommended filling the fronts with foam. I've heard people talking about it before, but, I have no experience with doing so. Any info/advice would be appreciated!

 

[Henro]

You can't foam fill tires yourself, at least not normally. It is common to take your tires some place and have them do it.

The place I used required that the tires be left overnight to be sure they were cured properly before used.

My tractor dealer said that different places can make the foam filled tires harder or softer. Some softness is desirable. One person here has reported he broke front axle spindles with foam filled tires on the front of his tractor. I forget what tractor it was and whether it was 2 or 4 wheel drive. It is reasonable that some flex would be more desirable than concrete in the tires...less shock load on the front end components.

The place I used was recommended by my dealer as doing a good job and not making the tires too hard. They are still relatively hard though. I have over 500 hours on the front tires on my B2910 Kubota without problem. I had those tires foam filled after getting my first flat at about hour two of tractor ownership. I am glad I did. It cost me about $70 per tire two years and 8 months ago.

I had the front tires of my BX2200 foam filled last summer at a cost of $38 per tire.

The foam add a lot of weight. You will be surprised at the before and after weight. They charge by the pound for the foam fill around here I think.

I have no regrets and if I bought a third tractor, I would foam fill the front tires on it too. I am that happy with it.

When they foam fill the tire, they take out the valve core and drill a hole in the other side of the tire. When you get the tire back there is a sheet metal screw in that hole. The hole lets air out as the foam goes in...

Hope this helps.

 

[PineRidge]

If you are just trying to eliminate flat tires you should consider one of the liquid tire sealants on the market.

I run Multi-Seal and haven't had a flat since I put it in the tires and we have lots of nails and thorn trees around here.

I have heard Slime is also a good alternative.

It's probably a lot cheaper than foam and when the time comes to change a tire it will make the job easier I would think.

 

[DmansPadge]

Thanks for the info Henro and PineRidge. The foam is more $ than I thought it would be. The tires are about 40% tread so I don't think it would be worth it on those tires but might be a good idea on new tires.

I guess I'll take it off and find the leak and if I can fix it I'll do that. Maybe a patch or a tube will hold me off.

PineRidge... I'll do some checking on the slime! I've heard of people using it but I've never even seen it. Is it something you put in through the valve stem?

Henro.. how much weight are we talking about?

Thanks guys.

 

[PineRidge]

I have seen it in gallons at TSC quite reasonably priced.

It comes with a pump in the gallon size to inject it through the valve stem once the core has been removed.

You then re-insert the valve core, air the tire up and immediately drive on it to circulate the Slime within the tire or tube itself.

I had the tires on the air compressor, gas welding cart, two wheeled lawn cart, and power washer all go flat at one time or another from either a slow leak or a lack of use.

I put Slime in all of them and haven't had to mess with them since.

They make the sealant for tube or tubeless tires so if you are going to try it be sure that you get the right mixture.

You can't miss the stuff on the shelves as it's bright fluorescent green, even wilder that John Deere Green. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Glenn9643]

I've not used the foam, but am familiar with slime. We use a JD455 to cut the grass around the place and every time we started we had to air up the tires to the correct PSI. I added slime to the tires and it's been right ever since. There are several similar products available but I found mine at Wallmart in a size that worked on the 455. For your tractor you probably should check tire size and the product website to determine how much to add. I considered putting the mulltiseal? in my tractor tires but couldn't find a local source; it hasn't been a problem as I haven't had any flats. The R4 rears are pretty tough apparently!

 

[stevenf]

Dmanspadge, I foam filled all four on my M9000 and as Henro said there are lots of different hardnesses of foam I'd recommend a medium one as to soft and they'll be squishy with a heavy FEL load and to hard and you'll have to wear a mouth piece and sit on a gel seat. I filled mine because I'm out in the sticks on 347 acres cleaning up brush piles, planting food plots and unlimited other tractor fun and the charge for a tire company to come rescue me is over $200 so from the start brand new R-1 tires foam filled and I've not gone out one time and had a flat or worried about tearing a valve stem off and having my WWfluid run out on the ground, no worries. It cost over $2800 and added around 3000lbs to the weight of the tractor.
Steve

 

[Henro]

I have some experience with Slime so I thought I would mention this, as it MIGHT relate to tractor tires...

My experience relates to...don't laugh too hard now...bicycle tires. I commuted by bicycle year round to work for about five years until the plant closed and I retired. Since it was 16 miles each way I preferred not to have to stop and fix punctures, expecially in the dark/cold/wet times...

Bicycle tires use tubes, and perhaps it had something to do with the tube moving within the tire, but I would eventually end up with a flat, because the slime only worked so long. I think it may have had something to do with the tube moving inside of the tire, and whatever it was that caused the puncture to begin with, being still in the tire, continued to reopen the hole in the tube.

I finally gave up on slime, since I learned I would eventually be getting a flat anyway, usually while on the road, and it was just as easy to change/fix the tube one time as the other.

What I am leading to is that if it were me, I would not put a tube into a tire I was planning on using slime in. I think what you might end up with is a situation similar to what I experienced with my bicycle tires. Better just to put slime in the tubless tire, and let it seal around whaterve punctures the tire, if that thing stays in the tire, or to just fill the puncture hole if only the hole remains after the puncture occurs.

Just a bit of unrelated experience that may relate, for whatever it is worth... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DmansPadge]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It cost over $2800 and added around 3000lbs to the weight of the tractor. )</font>

Am I reading that right? Wow... I would swear you added an extra zero to those figures. I know that you have a big tractor and I have a little B7300. My fronts are 8-12 if I remember correctly. How much weight would you figure it would add to my tires?

 

[jim_wilson]

Has anybody here ever tried to change out a tractor tire by themselves? Back when I used to ride dirt bikes my father had a set of tire irons and we could change out tires at home. I got a nice 1/2" diameter puncture on one of the front (bar)tires on my BX last summer and bought a new set of front bar tires so I could get back up and running again quickly. Since I now have set of redundant front rims I was thinking of maybe finding some turf tires and swapping them on and then finding some turfs in the correct size for the rear. The tires themselves are nowhere near as stiff as car tires so I was thinking manually changing them might not be that hard.