Its always something......

[N80]

This is a tubeless tire. I went to TSC last night and bought the smaller (air filler) part of the two piece stem. If it is the right size, I'll try to remove the damaged one and replace it with one of these new ones. But that will be a little tricky.

I'll have to rotate the stem to 12 o'clock. I'll jack the tractor up as mentioned. I'll try to let the air out by pressing on the damaged stem's air release. If it is too damaged to release the air normally, I'll just have to unscrew the top piece of the stem. Hopefully I can do this slowly enough to release the air without shooting a bunch of the ballast out. Then I'll just put the new stem piece on and refill air to the normal pressure. This would be the best possible scenario. Even then I would not be able to refill or top off any fluid because the threads on the bottom piece of the stem (which you use to put fluid in) are mangled.

If I loose a bunch of fluid, or if the new stem peice doesn't fit, I'll have to get a pro to do this. Getting a tire service out there would be tough because I don't live there. So I'll have to take it somewhere or me and my B-I-L will do it in his shop....by hand.

If I do have to carry it somewhere, I'll just get them to fill it with air and I'll put it back on the tractor and add fluid myself.

What a huge PITA!

 

[N80]

Here are a couple of picks of the problem:

Looking at the picture I realised that the valve inserts I got at TSC are not what I needed. As you can see the top part of the valve stem screws down over the base part. The one's I bought screw into the base piece.

So, I'm back to square one. If I could find the top part to this valve I think I could fix it but I don't even know where to look. Does anyone know if the valve stem in the picture has a specific name or type? I'll call the dealer on Monday and see what they can tell me.

Edit: From the pics the valve stem doesn't look terribly damaged but the end of the stem is squashed into an oval and won't accept a chuck or tire gauge.

 

[BTDT]

Take a pair of channel lock pliers and see if you can squeeze it back into shape enough that it will take air. Then you might be able to chase the threads with a die and clean them up enough to get a metal cap on there. Good luck.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm with BTDT. It's holding air, so it's working. I'd try to see if I could mess with it first so that it will take air and leav it alone. Maybe take the tire off so you can have lots of space to get to it, but before doing anything else, try and fix what you got first.

Eddie

 

[JerryG]

George,
The top part screws off from the base. Any shop that fixes tractor flats should have a new base ring as well as the top part of the valve. You may be able to chase the threads on the base. See if they have a brass nut instead of that plastic thing. The top screws apart here.

 

[N80]

You guys are right. I was down at my place yesterday, mowing...yes on a Sunday (I did go to church by the way)...and I was able to loosen the top part a turn or two before any air started coming out. So the male threads on the base that mate with the female threads on the top piece are fine. So I should be able to go by a tire place and buy a new top part as suggested. I'll probably just buy the whole assembly (which is probably the only way they come) so I can replace the outer nut too.

My B-I-L suggested jacking it up, rotating the stem to 12 o'clock and removing the top vlave piece so I could take it with me to the tire store. I did not have time so if there are lots of different sizes I may have to buy a few of them to get the right one. But, even if there are different sizes, I'd think the top piece would be fairly uniform.

My B-I-L also suggested that I rotate my rear tires. Currently they are on the next to the widest configuration. Switching them would give me the widest, which would be nice on my hills and it would also put the valve stems on the outside rather than the inside. I think I'll do it.

 

[N80]

I'm an idiot. You can always spot an idiot. They're the ones who make a hard problem out of an easy problem.

The TSC valve stems were the right kind. When I partially unscrewed the damaged one it looked like it had a female end. Well, of course it didn't. I even went to a tire place and they handed me ones just like the TSC ones. I told them mine were different. They looked at me like I was crazy.....which I'm not, just stupid. There's a difference...its better to be crazy.

In any case, I went down to my placed, jacked the tractor up planning to remove the stem end and take it somewhere to see if they had something like it. Of course, as soon as I got it off I realized it was just like the TSC ones I'd purchased. Screwed the new one in and pumped it back up. Good as new.

While I had it up on jackstands I thought about switching the wheels around to widen the stance. It would add nearly 8 inches which would be nice. But it also occured to me that it would be harder to get around in tight places and that when mowing roads I wouldn't be able to cut the edges because then my tire width would be wider than my mower. So I left them as they were, which is right at 6' total.

 

[Kevin Beitz]

I dont see why you need to replace it if it still takes air...

 

[RoyJackson]

Didn't lose any fluid, did you?