Tires Tubes in front tires

[MossRoad]

What prompted me to tube my left front tire was that I kept spinning it off the rim while abusing the tractor. After about the third or fourth time I actually destroyed the bead and sidewall of the tire. Plus I was forever getting thorn punctures and the slime worked most times, but not every time. Since I had to take the tire off the rim and buy a new tire and lost all my slime, I just went ahead and tubed it. I also put in one bottle of slime for tubed tires. That was several years ago and I have had no problem with that tire since.

 

[cqaigy2]

The only flats i've had on my 422 was on the front tires and was from tearing the valve stems off the inside of the rim. I took them to Shucks, a tire store, and they replaced them with metal ones and mounted them backwards. They did it for nothing. Also i put in about a quart of slime in each tire.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I think if anyone in the group has had a heck of a time with tires it is me. I just looked at my tractor budget and I have spent nearly $600 fixing flats.

My flats are not from punctures, and I would say getting a puncture is really hard to get with the tires that I have on my PT. My flats come from torn valve stems and / or debris in the rims. I do some serious brush work with this tractor.

What I am currently doing right now is using tubes in my tires. I have welded on valve stem protectors. This is my third incarnation of tires. I think that ultimately the only way to do a tractor the way I treat mine is to foam fill the tires, but at $300 a pop (x8) plus new tires, it ain't gonna happen any time soon.

Without the tubes I was changing a tire out every 6 hours. With tubes I have now destroyed 2 in 30 hours of work. The first tire was appeared to be pinched in installation and the tire place replaced it free. The second just happened and I do not know what the cause was as I am heading back to LA.

My tubes are filled with Gemplers Ultra-Seal which has not stopped me from this problem.

It maybe that I am are running at such a low pressure the tires spin and mess the tubes, but who knows....

Anyway. I vote for tubes, but it is not flawless and is more expensive. For me the Gemplers appears to be $250 down the drain, but the sharp stuff I hit is way, way more nasty that sharp thorns and generally wrecks the tire itself.

I have done the metal valve stems and have ripped those off, and on the 1850 the rims are hard to put stems in in the first place. Second, I was told by the tire shop when I was welding on my stem protectors to make sure I welded up the second hole. It can rub, tear the tubes...

Carl

 

[ultrarunner]

I've got my rear tires out being foamed now... at least I dropped them off at the Goodyear Truck Center...

I was at the point where it was getting very inconvenient to have to stop in the middle of a job due to another flat.

Price quoted on the phone for 2ea 26 x 12 x 12 is $120 ea... now I'm being told it should have been quoted at $220 ea????

I guess I'll find out Friday... manager apologized and said he will work out something with me.

 

[MossRoad]

What ply tires are you guys running? My turfs are only 2 ply and I expect punctures. I have one tire that is a heavier ply (which also happens to be the one that I tubed). If I was losing tires that much, I'd get heavier ply tires.

As for the valve stems, see if you can have a hole drilled inboard more and move the valve stem farther away from the outside edge. But what I cannot understand is if you are brush hogging, how is anything surviving in enough big pieces to get under the tires in the first place? When I brush hog everything is destroyed before I drive over it. That's why I love the out front design. Are your brush hog's wide enough to cover your tire tracks? Are you keeping it raised off the ground which allows stuff to go under it and get to the valve stems? Or are you just beating the bajeebers out of it in order to make timely progress on a large job?

There's got to be some solutions to it. Perhaps some steel wheels like the old tractors had. Seriously.

 

[woodlandfarms]

With the cost of steel it may cheaper to foam fill ;-) I also would want to do the Ksimolo seat upgrade which would be another 300 or so...

For my 1850 I think one of the big problems is that sticks (3" wide sticks) get caught in between the wheels.

The deadly stuff is the alder patches I am working... I go in, chainsaw down a few hundred trees, then get in with the grapple.

I need a new method...

Oh I have the stock 2 ply that I run on the outside at low pressure (8lbs), and have 8ply on the inside running at around 12PSI...

 

[ponytug]

Carl,

Knowing what your blackberry and alder groves look like, I'm not surprised that they are tough on tires. I remember a friend who was hunting in Africa, and getting lots of flats, getting a self sealing tube set from a military supplier that completely solved his off road tire issues. They weren't cheap and had to be shipped inflated for some reason.

If you upgrade your link arms, you could go with a forestry cutter;

Forestry Cutter Attachment - Bobcat Company
http://www.fecon.com/images/bullhog_overview.jpg
Fecon Incorporated - Bullhog Brush Cutters - Overview
Carbide Cutter, forestry products by Loftness, tree brush cutter

I haven't seen one at less than 2000lbs though, though Loftness is promising a new lighter model. I bet you could start at the power rake or rototiller and get welding to make one yourself.

Loftness also makes an interesting auxiliary oil cooler, with an automatic reverse to blow out leaves and dust.


All the best,

Peter

 

[jfh28]

I probably need to be careful about driving so fast over rough fields. I think that was the initial cause.

You crack me up Bob! I have never thought of my PT as particuarly fast!!

After going through a couple of tires when I first got mine, I filled them up with gemplers bulletproof slime. Haven't had a leak since in 2 years. Haven't even had to add any air to them. I do tend to be hard on tires in the woods and they are pretty beat up......but still inflated.

I will say if you do slime them get a separate tire gauge for them....the slime gums up the guage. I keep mine at the 20psi.

Jack

 

[J_J]

To those that are interested in foaming their tires, you must accept the fact that is what you want all the time. There is no letting air out for a better ride, and when you wear the tire tread out, what then. Sure it provides a no flat situation, but it does give a hard ride. Now , is this setup that you want on hills, or do you want more tire on the ground? You just might consider one set foamed and a regular set for other things. I don't think you see a lot of tractors with foamed tires, but you do see road graders and skid-steers because they run over nails and spikes and such all the time.

I would suggest a 6 ply tire with the right amount of slime, and I don't mean a sissy little bit, trying to spread one bottle on 4 tires, I mean a whole lot. They call for about 32 oz in a 22X11X8, but I think I would go with about 45 oz. Yes it does coat the complete inside of the tire and rim. Definitely keep the pressure up in a slimed tire, if you should roll the tire off the rim, and get trash in there, just clean off the bead and rim. I don't think the trash inside the tire will hurt anything. Usually you can just get the tire off the ground and the tire will try to set, and then you just add air and off you go. You all know you can use the front implement to raise the front tires off the ground.

For those that run different tire pressure, are you aware that you are changing the diameter of the tire. You are also changing the load factor. All tires of the same size should be equal in tire pressure, and don't assume that all tires that have the same numerical number will have the same rolling radius. Otherwise, try not to mix brands of tires. If you do, then I would suggest that you measure around the center of the tire, and inflate them so that the diameter is equal. Tires 101, but do what you want to since they are your tires. Just use common sense

 

[KentT]

You all know you can use the front implement to raise the front tires off the ground.

I've also used the lift arms to essentially "jack up" the back of the PT. I lifted the front as far off the ground as I could, put timbers underneath the belly-pan as far back as I could, wedging them in, and then let the front end down. The PT tilted forward, and I was able to get the rear tires a couple inches off the ground...