Repairing sidewall rips?

rScotty · Apr 28, 2015

On a 15hp tractor I'm restoring there's a rip in the turf tire sidewall about a couple of inches long. The rip was put there by a backhoe when the tractor was plucked out of a flood. The tire is a Goodyear Terra Tire 29x12.00 - 15. Just a little thing, but wide. It's a tubeless and I don't know if there's a tube that would work. Or maybe I could boot it somehow to get it to hold air...but how? I'd like to fix it enough to be able to roll the tractor around and see if the machine is worth restoring. If so, it will eventually get new tires.....and maybe rims as well.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get it to hold 5 to 8 psi? That's all it ever held in the past. Some sort of internal boot? What would I ask for? The tire itself is surprisingly thin and flexible in spite being old.
thanks
rScotty

gears351 · Apr 28, 2015

I'm in the same boat right now. I'm going to cut an old tire up and bolt a patch to the inside of the torn one with 1/4" carriage bolts (4) and then glue an old tube over that as a patch and put the new tube in there.

HCJtractor · Apr 28, 2015

Check out Gemplers. I think they sell some boots and tire repair adhesives

buickanddeere · Apr 28, 2015

Ssssssssss..........boom

davesl708 · Apr 28, 2015

I am not aware of any sidewall tears that have been successfully repaired. Back when I worked for Goodyear Tire many attempts were made to repair sidewall punctures but due to the continuous flexing of the sidewall the repairs always failed.

Please let us all know if you are successful.

Egon · Apr 28, 2015

Temporary fix; lace it up with a leather shoelace and then glue in a boot. Boots should be available through auto parts store's.

Might be able to find a tube patch that's large enough.

PILOON · Apr 28, 2015

What I know will work is polyurathane caulking as I have done it !
A brand that I know is FLEXTRA which is close to the caulk they glue windshields on cars.
Clean the inner with a non greasy solvent glob the caulk and press a generous patch to cover the hole. Let dry/cure and you'll be surprised.

Windshield caulk in a tube is in the $10.00 range.

rScotty · Apr 29, 2015

PILOON said:
What I know will work is polyurathane caulking as I have done it !
A brand that I know is FLEXTRA which is close to the caulk they glue windshields on cars.
Clean the inner with a non greasy solvent glob the caulk and press a generous patch to cover the hole. Let dry/cure and you'll be surprised.

Windshield caulk in a tube is in the $10.00 range.

I think that must have been what the tire shop did. They dismounted the tire, cleaned out the rocks, beat the rim back straight, and did some kind of glue/boot job inside so that the rip is hardly noticible. They figure if it holds air for a day it'll stand up to light weight turf-type tractor work indefinitely. Better than I could have hoped for. All at an old time independent tire store still run by the owner. Cost: $10.00.
rScotty

texasjohn · Apr 29, 2015

That's a good deal, rScotty, take all your tire work to that fellow. My local, home town tire man charges $15 to repair a car tire and I think that's a great deal.

rScotty · Apr 30, 2015

texasjohn said:
That's a good deal, rScotty, take all your tire work to that fellow. My local, home town tire man charges $15 to repair a car tire and I think that's a great deal.

Yes, he does all our cars and trucks and has for years. Nice guy. Frankly I wouldn't mind if he raised his prices. I like his business that much. He pays his employees well; they all work hard, and they seem to enjoy the job. They must, because it's the same group of people there year after year. Their turnover is about zero.
rScotty