Front tires not holding air

   / Front tires not holding air #41  
The extra weight they think can damage the axle? Never heard of this. I M trying to come up with what is harmful. I believe my loaded tires may stress out the axle less when doing loader work. They squat a lot less from the weight which makes steering effort less.

I guess that is what they mean.
 
   / Front tires not holding air #42  
don't have to be old rubber to be porous. i just got new lawnmower tires.. right outta the smelly chinese packing box, and on the shiney painted rim.. the sidewalls will 'foam' soapy water :(

in any event. what i'd do?

lay a boot down in the tire casing.. boot can be a real boot or one you make from some stall matting.. etc.. then put in a tube and go. boot will absorb most tread punctures unless you run over something amazing...

no help on sidewall.. but then.. same with or without a boot. ANY time i have a constant leaker tire on a non auto vehicle.. it gets a tube... sure.. you got to break down a tire to tube it.. but saves the hassle of the constantly flat tire.

harbor freight sells a manual bead breaker tire changer deal fro about 50 bucks.

bolt it down to the concrete and go... handles up to 16" rims I think?? though I have made it handle 19's with some adapter plates I made.. worked fine...

Hmmm... but if I put tubes in, then I won't be able to use convenient plugs to patch them, right? Then again, since they're not holding air particularly well in the first place, possibly no great loss. Still, I don't relish the thought of having to re-seat the tires every time I need to patch the tube. As for foam, I vaguely recall reading that my warranty is void if I put foam in my tires, so that's out.

It's not old rubber, as the tractor itself is pretty new, even if you count sitting-on-the-lot-time. My current best guess is a slow leak that didn't show up on the under-water bubble test.
 
   / Front tires not holding air #43  
Soundguy...seems you recommend using a boot or tube rather than putting sealant (Slime) into a leaker or using instant flat fix from a can. I have only used something like Slime once in my life, I needed to seal a pair of tubeless 13X5 bar tread tires on a snowblower...worked pretty well. Bead breaking and installing tubes is a huge PIB unless one has experience, really easy to pinch the tube with a tire iron and you automatically have a flat already. Last tube I installed was a wheelbarrow tube, not too hard but anything bigger would be a headache as the only tire irons I have are about 8 inches long.
 
   / Front tires not holding air #44  
imho.. larger tires are easier to break down than smaller.. and tube management is easier than with smaller.

ie.. mounting a 28" tire gives you more room than a 13" or 15"

i use a 50$ manual tire machine from harbor freight to help with small tires. large tires you just lay on the ground.


inflate the tube a bit to keep it out of the way.

a coule good tire irons are a good investment.. make good pry bars.

you get experience by doing something.. about the only way to gain it.. :) is to do it.

once you start doing them, AND have a sledge and some tire tools.. it's really not too bad..

I have used a sealer product before.. with mixed results. have had it work great.. have had it not work at all.

soundguy
 
 
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