Tires Flat Tire...

[paccorti]

Well, had my first flat tire this week. What a pain... I'm storing my tractor in my neighbor's barn (no electric in there). The front left tire was flat with no obvious damage. The biggest problem was getting the bead seated sufficiently to hold air as the tire was pumped up. Believe it or not I tried to pump the tire up with a bicycle pump! What the heck, I don't care if it's slow. Well that didn't work.

On the plus side I got a new torque wrench (a Husky that goes to 250 ft lbs). It amazes me how torqued bolts are on tractors. Lug nuts are 125 ft lbs! The dish to rim torque is 180 ft lbs. I don't even want to think about the loader frame.

In any event a customer at the service station watched my antics as I tried to fill the tire with the service station air hose. As I said the bead would not seat enough to hold air. He had a great suggestion; take a strap and tighten it around the circumference of the tire. Tighten it enough and the bead will be pushed against the rim. Worked great! So that's my tip of the day. Oh and check your tire pressure more than once every 4 months.

Peter

 

[Thomas]

Peter,
Yep been there. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
Spring of 98 the Farmall H had a flat little over mile from the barn while sugaring.
Tooks about 5 hours from start to finish before repairs were made,and I had more mud on me than the tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Thank goodness for the 4 wheeler and a old car hood.

Gosh darn stone. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[JATO_RaT]

Peter, I replaced my two front tires on my tractor. Believe it or not, the biggest hassle can be breaking that bead when your ready to remove the tire altogether. Sledge hammers and pry bars are about the only tire changing tools I have. I use a ratcheting tie down strap to help inflate and seat the tire. If you are having difficulty seating the tire, it will help to remove the valve from the stem when starting your seal, once seated its a simple matter to insert the valve, Rat...

"INTERNATIONAL BABY"

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Last time I had to break the bead on a 6.00-16 front tire I dropped the brush hog tail wheel on the sidewall, rotated the tire a few degrees, and did it again until the bead was loose. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have a heavy implement on the tractor at the time.

 

[Bird]

Aah, flat repair can be lots of fun, can't it, Peter?/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Took me forever day before yesterday to find the 18 gauge brad that was causing a slow leak in one of my wife's car tires. Most, if not all, tire repair facilities have straps made specifically for putting around a tire to help seat the bead; the best I've seen is a hollow tube type strap that you inflate to tighten it and seat the bead and can then bleed air off to loosen it as the tire inflates. And as already mentioned, removing the valve core can help in getting started. As for breaking the bead loose on one, naturally it's best to have the tools made for that purpose, but in an emergency without such tools, I have even laid a tire and wheel on the ground and driven another vehicle over it very carefully and slowly to break it loose. Wait until you try to seat the bead on a really big R1 tubeless tractor tire. A neighbor has a way of doing that; just shoots a little propane into the tire, stands back a ways and throws a match at it. The resulting explosion seats the bead. Not a method I care to try, or even watch except from a long distance./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[RobS]

I've not yet had the pleasure of a flat on my tractor (knock on high pressure laminate), but I do recall using a soap/water solution on rims to help with the bead seating.

To the original post about no electicity in the barn, it might be worthwhile investing in one of those portable air tanks. Anyone know if they hold enough air for a big rear tire (not to seat, just to air up occasionally)?

Rob

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The cutting edge of the loader bucket works real well for breaking down a tire bead, even one off the tractor if you have the axle well and truly blocked up.

 

[john4nh]

One way I just learned from an old but smart dump truck driver. He carries around a bucket of what he calls soap, its a gooey type substance iam sure some one knows the name of. anyway you take your gloved hand and put it all the way around the rim and tire on both sides. then start putting in the air. if it does not take you simple work the goop a little better. anyway he saved me lots of down time on a job on a rented bobcat.. oh and when you get done you simply take the goop of the tire and put it back in your bucket for next time.. Also for breaking a bead if you have a backhoe the bucket works well to break the seal, you do not have to move the tire around by hand since the bucket will swing to both sides of the tire..

 

[Bird]

RobS, there are a variety of sizes of portable air tanks. I have a 7 gallon, but I know you can get them up to 12 gallon, and possibly even bigger. They are very handy at times, but don't hold enough volume to fill a very big tire if it's actually flat. If it's just a little low, you can air it back up, but that's about all. The 7 gallon tank did hold enough to air up my 7-12 front tire when I tore a valve stem out and rolled it off the rim in the field./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Soapy water is quite commonly used to make a tire bead slick to seat more easily and to seal better; I use it any time I have to break a tire down. And I've seen a number of people simply use hands full of grease for the same purpose. I guess that, too, is all right for emergencies, but I don't want to have to use it if I can help it; awfully messy./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[john4nh]

Hey Bird not sure if you were referring to me, but the stuff iam talking about is for getting the tire to seat. when you have a hard tire such as a bob cat tire and dont have a strap this goop (is not soapy water) called soap in the south is used. What this stuff does is fills in the space between the tire and the rim so you can get air in the tire and then of course inflate. But anyway you look at it. it is a bit messy. Thats why I called for the glove..