What do you use for a portable tire air compressor?

[aczlan]

Harbor Freight sells an 11 gallon air tank that you can fill with your garage air compressor up to 125 PSI. I use it for blowing off my Kubota B3300SU when I am finished cutting a field. It provides plenty of pressure and last a good while. I carry the same 12v unit you have from HF in case I need to refill the tank in the field. It takes about 20 minutes with the small compressor and about 5 with the garage compressor to air the 11 gallon tank. Nice thing about the tank is it is very light weight and very portable. I replaced the factory 2' hose on the tank with a 25' hose so I can change the hose ends if needed.

We have 2 tanks like that. Quick connect on the ends of both and they fill pretty quick from shop air. They have enough air to fill ~2 wagon tires and work well.
Thinking of seeing if I can mount a pair of semi truck type "hotdog" tanks somewhere on the RTV and plumb them in (possibly with an onboard compressor).

Aaron Z

 

[newbury]

Newbury, I have a similar HF 12V and it has a fuse. It is something you might check if applicable.

Yup checked.

ultrarunner - the only portable Thomas I could find was about $700

After further research I'm thinking of going with a Slime dual compressor from WalMart for about $70. WalMart gives me the "returnability" if I get a dud.

Reading on several sites it seems there are some DOA's

 

[Turbys_1700]

I took a week or so last year and repaired several portable air tanks...
I fill them up as I need them to air up the tractor or trailer tires and then fill them up the rest of the way with my shop compressor...
Works good for me...

 

[cockeyedMFer]

We have 2 tanks like that. Quick connect on the ends of both and they fill pretty quick from shop air. They have enough air to fill ~2 wagon tires and work well.
Thinking of seeing if I can mount a pair of semi truck type "hotdog" tanks somewhere on the RTV and plumb them in (possibly with an onboard compressor).

Aaron Z

I thought I came up with those ideas first

Frankly I've never had a tire issue on the road that a 12v compressor would fix. But I am always buying or moving old cars and found that 2 air tanks (the larger size) will do 4 flat tires with some in reserve. I also carry the electric pump from an old coleman compressor that suffered a rusty tank, and an extension cord. The coleman has a short hose with a quick disconnect and a male-male adapter to charge tanks quickly.

One of these days I'd like to outfit an onboard air system for the truck or trailer that would accomplish the same thing with less to drag around. Maybe hidden under the trailer or flatbed deck. Also an inverter that can run power tools would be handy.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Just remember: The Harbor Freight unit sells for less than $10. 20 hours for $10. Not that bad a deal.

 

[newbury]

Just remember: The Harbor Freight unit sells for less than $10. 20 hours for $10. Not that bad a deal.

You must have missed my first post. I paid $30 for it w/ sale price, today it's $25, list $45 (but who pays HF list )

If your writing about the $8 HF units I've burned them out like cigarettes when just adding 10lbs of air to a car tire.

Just burned out my $30 HF unit on it's 4th trailer tire.

<snip>

Yup checked.

ultrarunner - the only portable Thomas I could find was about $700

After further research I'm thinking of going with a Slime dual compressor from WalMart for about $70. WalMart gives me the "returnability" if I get a dud.

Reading on several sites it seems there are some DOA's

My dual Slime is awaiting me at WalMart.

The REAL bad thing about a $25 air compressor burning out is it'll happen to me on a rainy night where I don't get cell reception. Portable auto air compressors should be built to WORK or be labeled "for laughs and recreational use only".

How would you like it if your tire jack gave out during use?

 

[two_bit_score]

Maybe " For entertainment purposes only"? :cool2:

 

[newbury]

Well I got my "dual Slime". Problem is that it has a female screw on Schrader fitting at the end of the air hose. It's a pain to get it on the exterior rear wheel of my dually and I didn't even attempt the inner wheel. So now I'm looking for a male Schrader to a 1/4 NPT so I can use a regular air chuck.

The "dual Slime is nice with a decent plastic case and took my 50lb tire to 60lb in about a minute. It DOES have in the instructions - "Don't run for more than 10 minutes continuously" or expect thermal overload.

 

[cockeyedMFer]

Gempler's sells a push-on inflator that can be mated to a 1/4 npt connector. I have a couple and they're really handy.


Clip-on Air Chuck - GEMPLER'S

 

[Midniteoyl]

While all of these say you can air up flat tires, most of them are not actually made to do that. 'Top off', maybe, but most are actually for blowing up inflatable at the beach and thats about it.