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Tiny flat tires

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2010-04-23          170224

Every spring without fail some of those little pneumatic tires on our adult lawn toys,(seeders, spreaders, lawn sweepers etc., even my power washer has them and both have been flat for years), are flat and pulled loose from the rim and are all but impossible to reinflate.
Yes, I know the logical solution is an inner tube or check the tires a week ahead, but usually the Mrs. wants to use it now, not after I get back from TSC with a tube.
OK, do you guys have a simple safe way of doing this??


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2010-04-23          170225

My two-wheel handtruck -- one tire's always down. Each repair cost as much as the truck. Put a bunch of tire guck in the bad wheel (forgot the name but it's supposed to seal leaks). Worked fine. For one year.

Local shops are offering wheelbarrow wheels that are solid but not overly heavy, and guaranteed flatproof. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2010-04-23          170227

In the tire store we had the "lowrider" problem of trying to fit a narrow tire on a wide wheel, the beads just would not seat. The solution was to wrap a pneumatic band around the center of the tread and inflate it. That squeezed the tread in, which separated the beads enough to seat.

I haven't tried that on a small tire but a similar solution might work. If you have a ratcheting nylon cinch strap you could try wrapping it around the center of the small tire and tighten it up to see if the beads will spread enough to seat. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2010-04-23          170229

Ken..... I have done exactly what you described with the ratchet strap and it sorta works if you jiggle it just right.

Hmmmmm..... might be one of those safety bead problems I just learned about. ....

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2010-04-23          170230

I know there are going to be naysayers... but if done as precribed is a good way to seat a stubborn tire.

Starting fluid. And a flame and compressed air.

Note that the fluid alone will not seat the tire. And it just flame up and burn the tire.

Do this outside away from combustibles, do not use a match or have an open flame anywhere near it. Don't get any starting fluid on you--it burns like alcohol--quick, hot and invisible.

What I do is get the tire off the ground, spray two healthy squirts of fluid inside the top of the tire so that it runs down inside. Immediately apply compressed air immediately (use a type of air chiuck that holds itself onto the schrader valve) followed by a self-igniting torch placed near the tire---if you can smell the starting fluid you will go up with it! What follows will be a small... well, explosion, a whoooosh and a pop of the tire seating. The "fire" inside will be extinguished as there will be no more oxygen. Usually this creates about 7-15 psi in the tire depending on how much fluid was used, how much compressed air and how long before it was combusted.

Again, if done like suggested this is safe and easy. I have done this many a time on tractor tire, car, trailer and skid steer tires. ....

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2010-04-23          170231

Assuming you have good air capacity normally I find if you can get load off of them and turn the flatten place up, you can normally pull the tire in place enough for it to pop back. You need to pull it over where the valve is on the rim. If you have a chuck that will lock in place that would be a plus.

I have used the Slime material with ok results. ....

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2010-04-23          170235

Ok, I've tried the strap arouind the outside with limited success,
I saw an inflateable wrap around strap used in a tire shop once. The guy put it oround the circumference of the tread then inflated it till it got about the size of a bicycle tube. I never had one of those.
Now the starting fluid method. First time I saw that done was in my unheated shed about twenty years ago in the winter time. I bought a new set of drive tires for my 7720 Deere combine 30.5x 32. Big, stiff, heavy, and after the service guy got them on the rims they were probably eight to ten inches away from both inside and outside beads. He went to his servce truck for a can of starting fluid, sprayed it in the tires one at a time for what seemwed like a whole can. My first thought was he's not really going to do what I think he is going to do, "KABOOM", big heavy stiff tire was seated on the rim. he did the same on the other side. Wow learn something every day, I never had the courage to do it myself.
I'll probably just go out count the flats and make a trip to TSC for more tubes. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2010-04-23          170240

Frank, just as with Mark's experience, I've used the ratchet strap, sometimes it even worked.

I did however luck into a system that seems to work better on those small tires.

I couldn't find any of those little ratchet straps so I just made a loop of rope about double the size of the tire diameter, laid it around the center of the tread, and then slipped a big screw driver through and started twisting like a big tourniquet. As it got tight, just like the ratchet strap, it started to pull the tire onto the bead. Unlike the ratchet though, just letting go released it without knocking the tire back off the bead.

The one tip somebody gave me years ago though was to apply a little motor oil on the tire bead before seating it. It is just enough petroleum to slightly melt the rubber and make it seal better, but mostly lubricates the tire while trying to seat it.

Best of luck. ....

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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2010-04-23          170256

Same inconvenient flat tire problem on a hand truck and wheelbarrow. Tires on the hand truck were dry-rotted, and the air was leaking right through cracks between the tread. Poured that green slime into all 3 tires at least 3 years ago, haven't had a flat since.

Another inexpensive solution is Harbor Freight. See small tire selection below. I have a pair of the $5 ten inchers on the shelf (that price is for tire AND tube AND rim), just in case I see green slime coming through the dry rot some day.

//greg// ....


Link:   cheap tires

 
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