BB-TX, I had a rim split and blow out on me several years ago. I bought an old Ford Jubilee and the tires were filled with CaCl and the valve stem holes were rusted really badly. I didn't have a problem with the whole "mess" until I took my tractor to my father's place in Denton, TX to mow his pasture. He had several mesquite trees and I managed to get a thorn in every tire at one time or another. The CaCl leaked out inside the wheel and the rust must have accelerated the deterioration because one day as I was mowing, I suddenly became very wet and the left side of my tractor dropped a few inches. I immediately knew what had happened and stopped cutting, walked about 200 yards to the house, and took a shower to get that noxious CaCl off me. Afterwards, I checked the rim and it had a 8" split in it with the tube sticking out. I bought a new outer tire ring/rim and tube and had the tire removed and put on the new rim. The hardest part was I had to grind the heads off the old bolts that hold the center of the wheel to the outer rim. The outer rim was $98 and the tube was $25. The tire dealer charged me $10 for changing the tire, but I would have paid more. That is a tough job that they did using only hand tools. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif From your description, you don't have a bad rust problem and your wheel can probably be fixed if you don't wait too long.
BTW- My mother was born in Fannin County near Leonard, so I am pretty familiar with that area. It's a lot wetter and greener there than here in Wise, Co. where I live.