Tires Flat Tire and Repair

Anonymous Poster · Mar 6, 2002

I have a JD4500 with R4/Ind tires. My back left tire has what appears to be a sliver of wood about as big around as a pencil stuck in it. It is leaking air slowly. First, I'm kind of suprised that a piece of wood could puncture a tractor tire like that (or that easily). Am I wrong about that? Wondering if I should have put different type of tire on it ?
Second, are there any special considerations for repairing the tire? I was thinking of using a plug type kit to repair it. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bird · Mar 6, 2002

Jim, the R4 tires are usually tougher than the other types, but any of them can be punctured. I'm assuming it's a tubeless tire, and if so, I'd use the plug kit. Of course, if it's a tube type, you're gonna have to break it down, get the tube out and patch it.

bigpete · Mar 6, 2002

I would plug it first. Most dealers and tire centers would put a tube in it. That way, when you puncture it again, all you will need to pay for is a patch for the tube or a tube replacement.

You don't hear of R4s being punctured by pencil-sized sticks very often. The angle of attack and ground conditions would have to be perfect, I would think.

DDT · Mar 6, 2002

I use plugs in front and back (R-4's) they seem to hold very well, but once I needed a larger plug to stop the leak.

Golfgar4 · Mar 7, 2002

Plugs work well as long as the hole is reasonably round and smooth. If the puncture is a bit more jagged or elongated, standard plugs don't work as well. You can get plugs that have a wide base on them. These are installed from the inside, and generally there is a mastic that is spread on the inside of the tire around the puncture to help seal the plug. Of course, to use this type of plug, the tire has to be removed from the rim/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif.

duanet · Mar 8, 2002

Jim, if you are doing the kind of work where something like this might happen again, and you were thinking about a different set of tires, you might want to consider SuperFlex. Check it out on <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arnconet.com/Superflex.htm>http://www.arnconet.com/Superflex.htm</A>. I had it pumped into all four R-4s on my JD 4100 a couple of months ago. It gave me added weight and I don't have to worry about flats while clearing my 4 acres heavily wooded with thorn trees. Only problem - $$, but to me it was worth it.

Duane

snowman · Mar 8, 2002

Duane,

Do you mind telling roughly what the cost of using the Superflex was? I have a B7500 with R4's that are probably pretty close to your size tires and was thinking of doing the same, but wasn't sure what would be a reasonable price.

Thanks.

duanet · Mar 8, 2002

I filled all four tires with SuperFlex and it was almost $800 including our NY taxes. Since you are in Central NY, give the folks at Specialty Tire in Syracuse a call and they can give you a price based on your tire sizes. They also have some samples you can look at so you'll see what it looks and feels like.

Duane

snowman · Mar 8, 2002

Thanks for the info; that is expensive, but it may be worth it to never have to worry about a flat and to have the additional weight. My front tire was flat last weekend; no idea why other than I haven't used it for about three weeks (no snow). I filled it back up with air and it hasn't lost any pressure since then.

I'll give Specialty Tire a call; I was originally going to check with Tracey Equipment, as they are a large equipment dealer here in Syracuse, but I tried to buy something once before and there were kind of on the high side. Your figure will give me something to compare that against.

How long did you have to wait until you could use them? I recall someone on another message thread indicating that you couldn't use them for about a week.

Thanks again.

duanet · Mar 8, 2002

Snowman,

I'm of the opinion that Specialty Tire is the only one that does that process, but it won't hurt to check around. I went from the dealer location Arnco gave me, which was Specialty Tire.

I took the tires up on a Monday morning, they let them equalize thermally (mid-winter, you know), loaded them that afternoon, let them cure for 36 hours and I picked them up on Wednesday morning ready to go. So it's not a week, but about 48 hours, and you live in Syracuse?

I think I picked up around 200 lbs. on each rear - they'll tell you how much it will add when you tell them the tire size. I told you it was expensive, but so are flats and it's nice not to have to worry. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

Duane