bead popped and Rim Guard lost while parked during cold spell

[k0ua]

LOL We can hope so when looking at potentially ingenious ideas i like to have choices. The problem with Ingenious ideas when trying to solve problems on the fly is that they typically walk a fine line of being "insanely amazing" or " insanely stupid" depending on the outcome. I liked your idea on using the loader to move the tire while its blocked.

I actually did that with a lot bigger heavier still loaded tire with a puncture thru the tire and the tube inside.. It worked, but it was not easy, but of course I would have never been able to load the tire in the truck. I estimated it's weight at about 800 lbs. Getting the wheel lined back up was the biggest hassle.

James K0UA

 

[scobrado]

I took the tire to a shop. No sign of a hole. The tire guy said the cheap 4-ply tires can give up a bead in the cold if pressure is low. I had 15.5 psi or so in the tire the last time I checked in a warmer temp. The manual says fill to 12 to 20. I'm going to run 18 psi from now on. I had a tube put in and filled with calcium chloride. It was cheaper and I'm more comfortable having a tube having lost a load of expensive liquid.

The forum advice has been great. Thanks.

Wow, was that tire heavy moving with a pickup -- bummer that I couldn't use the tractor bucket or forks. The tractor wasn't parked where I could back up to it. Getting onto the pickup was not bad because the liquid leaked. To get it off, I slid it down my ATV ramps and tipped it up using a long bar. I have two teen boys and my wife grew up on the farm, so we all pitched in and no one got hurt.

 

[crazyal]

Moral of the story is that it doesn't have to be a leak. Tractor tires don't have a lip on the steel wheel to hold the bead in place so once the pressure drops in the wheel there's not much holding the bead in place. Plus with the liquid ballast if any gets between the rubber bead and the steel wheel it can act like a lubricant and make it that much easier for it to come off. I think you were wise to switch over to a tube but make sure to check your tire pressures.

 

[mvwicker]

Sure. But the OP tractor was parked. The anecdote has little relation to the actual incident. A leak makes sense.
larry

I agree that a leak makes sense, but a tiny leak, say from a poorly sealed bead, can be aggravated by cold. One of the tires on my car went flat overnight once in northern Minnesota when the temperatures dropped to -25 F. The other 3 were very low. They had been filled to the proper 29psi before the trip in Missouri when it was about 50 F. I took the flat to a shop and the could not find any holes in the tread or sidewalls.

When I got back south I had to let some of the Minnesota replacement air out before summer or else the tires would have exploded