Seating Small Tire On Rim

[MossRoad]

My new PT425 arrived and one of the tires on the snow plow attachment was flat. I could not inflate it, because it was not seated on the rim. PTRich suggested that I use a ratcheting tie down strap to squeeze the tire against the rim and then inflate it. It worked great. See pics.

This first one shows the tire not seated on the rim

 

[MossRoad]

This one shows the ratcheting tie down strap around the tire and tightened.

 

[MossRoad]

This last one shows the tire inflated and holding air. Thanks PTRich for the help!

 

[AndyR]

My experience has been that the least little grain of sand results in slow leaks on small tubeless tires. I have a JD 325 that is basically "inflate before use" until I get tubes placed in all the tires. Like the rachet strap idea though.

 

[s1120]

I'm with Andy. Put a tube in it.

 

[RMulkey]

MossRoad,

Great idea. I have also used a rope with a long boad as a tourniquet to do the same thing. I have found that the rims do need to be pretty clean or nothing will work or they will leak. You can also buy a "bead expander" form the autoparts store witch is just a adjustable innertube in a nylon cover.

 

[bky]

well i have been told that if you take either and pour a little into the tire and then toss a match from a safe distance that it too will set the bead. but i never have tryed i use the rope trick.

 

[MossRoad]

Ether + fire = no eybrows!

 

[beenthere]

That trick can cause the wheel (tire) to ricochet wildly off the walls and the ceiling of the shop too. Not a good practice. You may be mistaken for a wall, as this is an unguided system.

 

[Mike_Dumond]

Picked up 3 persons who tried that trick in the last 5 or 6 years. None of them ever want to try it again, all will walk with a limp for the rest of their lives, and one almost had to have an artificial leg. Not worth it.

 

[caddison]

Andy,

I too had problems holding air in the tires on my finish mower. Piucked up some sealant at the local parts store and just a little bit has solved the problem!

 

[Carl_NH]

David,

Done the same thing my Cub Cadet seems one front tire is going down after sitting for a month or so. I have used my belt and portable air comp. to do the same thing when far away from the shop, as well bungee cords work, all is needed is to expand the bead with equal pressure around the rim.

 

[MossRoad]

If it becomes a major problem, I'll tube it.

The belt sounds like a good idea, when you can't find anything and need to get going. Thanks.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

That ratcheting tiedown is the only way to go. I used the extra large tiedown for setting the tire beads on the rims for a skid steer. They like to be on the high side with the psi. Once the Bead pops on the rim, though, it's a good idea to let the air pressure off. Releasing the strap when under that load can be lethal.

 

[Kelvin]

Tube it?
I bought a used finish mower a while back that had problems with tires going flat all the time. I kept hearing "tube it" as the solution, so I went to my local tire dealer (a friend of mine) who suggested NOT tubing it. For each of the 4 wheels he took the tire off the rim, cleaned the rim really good around the bead area, then used a sealant around the bead when the tire was re-installed. I had to replace one of the tires because it was run flat and damaged beyond repair before I bought it. It's been over a year and all of the tires are holding well with no tubes.

Kelvin

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The biggest problem with seating any tubeless tire onto the rim is restricted air flo thru the valve.
If you remove the valve stem first, then seat the tire, and reinstall the stem, the whole process goes a lot easier.

 

[MossRoad]

So you use that little tool to remove the valve from the stem, then apply air pressure until the tire seats on the rim. Then remove the air hose and reinstall the stem and pump it up to the proper pressure? Sounds like that would work great. Thanks for the info.

Hate to say this, but the only reason that I have a valve removal tool is because before I was married some friends of mine kept having fun with me by letting the air out of my tires every time I went out on a date. I tried getting them back, but they had on board compressors in their trucks. So I bought the little tool and not only let the air out of their tires, but took their valves too /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif.

 

[Soundguy]

Back in high school, our power mechanics teacher showed us this with gasolene on two tires. Worked fine on the first one.. the second one shot the rim straight into the air 30- 40 feet... was fairly impressive...

Soundguy

 

[Anonymous Poster]

the most effective way to get even using tire valves requires cold wether, below 20 degrees. just unscrew the stem till you hear air coming out, and walk away. if really pissed, do all 4 tires.
the escaping air will form an ice cap at around 5 psi, and when the tire hits a pothole or railroad, the ice cap blows off, leaving the victim with a flat.

 

[MossRoad]

A blowout on the highway could cause a serious injury or death, so I wouldn't do that.

I'll try the sealant if it becomes a problem.
Thanks for the suggestions.