Tires Foam filled tires

Oldpath05 · Oct 17, 2020

Well two weeks ago after noticing my front AG 7-16 tire going slack again I decided to once and for all get a price on this great and wonderful no hassle foam filled tires procedure, in 5 minutes I was ready to throw the phone across the room but i just went back out the garage to look at my tire again, sputtering all the way.

Come to find out to get my tires filled with foam I have to take them down to the Friendly Folks where I bought my tractor, drop them off, $160/tire plus tax, they ship them out to MA and I get them back in 2-3 weeks, what the crap is up with that, why cant I just take them to a tractor place in ME within 40 miles or any large tire place and have them filled then bring back and put back on my tractor, 2 weeks are you nuts............. My sputtering went away after I noticed my 2-peice valve stem was just loose.

Henro · Oct 18, 2020

You need to call around and find a place that foam fills tires.

It still may take a couple days though, as they may only do it one day per week like a place nearby here does.

I dropped tires off the day before and picked up the day after filling. Would think you should be able to do something similar.

Oldpath05 · Oct 18, 2020

I ask the the tractor place but they said no one in ME fills tires that they know of, I mean,,,,, really!!!!! What the heck is up with that and way over $300.00 for 2 small tires, why so much................

stuckmotor · Oct 18, 2020

I bought my MF used. The front tires were foam filled. Actually, the fill looked more like thick brown rubber cement. Differential lock stuck ON when I got the tractor home and this must have been a problem for the previous owner because the side pressure on attempted turns caused the tread on those tires to begin to come off in turns. A little grease and working the diff loc mechanism in and out fixed the locking problem but the tires looked like they'd be running without treads pretty soon so I replaced them with tubeless tires. I usually keep a tire plug kit handy.

Smokeydog · Oct 19, 2020

Foam filling front ag tires is expensive given the short life. Never had long life with ag fronts with loaders compared to R4 tires. Flat free performance and less down time helps offset that expense.
Cost estimate to foam tires slightly higher than what I had paid but for a different size. Considerable cost to start and clean foam machine so they want to do as many tires in batches. Any time you can loose the middle man benefits you. Dropped off on Wednesday and picked up on Friday. It fixed a weak point on the B20 TLB that last for 20 years and 3000 hours.

Oldpath05 · Oct 19, 2020

I'm also wondering if foam filled front AG tires harder on front end components, the tractor place said they would be like a hard rubber tire without any give to a shock load. Then whats the cost on tire replacement....... But until I can take my own tires to a local tire place and have them filled I'll be reluctant to have it done.

ultrarunner · Oct 19, 2020

Foam is sold by the pound and generally overnight because the idea is to let the foam cool and set undisturbed to avoid flat spots or bulges...

I got the run around too but found the motherlode doing a little detective work which meant I could deal direct...

Also learned they typically offer 3 levels of density... high density works well on smooth concrete warehouse floors.... also learned foam is not recommended for SCUT fronts due shock impact damage to front axle components...

Oldpath05 · Oct 19, 2020

ultrarunner said:
Foam is sold by the pound and generally overnight because the idea is to let the foam cool and set undisturbed to avoid flat spots or bulges...

I got the run around too but found the motherlode doing a little detective work which meant I could deal direct...

Also learned they typically offer 3 levels of density... high density works well on smooth concrete warehouse floors.... also learned foam is not recommended for SCUT fronts due shock impact damage to front axle components...

Thats what I'm leery of by changing to solid rubber tires then going over rough ground and with all that pounding on my small front end, dont think my outer axles could take it.

But worst part would be when I'm hooked on a log that weighs lot more then I thought or catches on something that I didn't see, my front end comes up then if I back off to quick the front comes down quicker and BANG, my front end is on the ground in 5 pieces because solid rubber tires is almost like steel wheels, no give.......

Henro · Oct 21, 2020

You have to get the tires filled by a place that offers options on how stiff the foam will be. I was told it can be cured at different pressures to mimic air to some degree.

The place I used had samples showing different densities. There was a definite difference in hardness. 18 years on the fron tires on my B2910 and 16 years on all four tires on my BX2200. No complaints or issues here. No flats either...:thumbsup: