TUBES IN TIRES?

[Mowman]

Any of you guys/gals running tubes in your tires. On my Walker I have a slow leak and am wondering if a tube would be the answer or should I replace the tire itself? What would you all do? I believe the tires are orginal, 1993. They have good tread but are weather checked.
Thanks for your advice.
Mowman

[Eric ELM]

I feel you are better off with tubeless. Find the source of the leak, if it's a small hole in the tread area, just fix it. If it's a rim leak, break the bead on the side it's leaking and I use the paste never seze grease (brush included) and brush it on the rim where the tire meets the rim. This works good.

[jdseven]

I have a giant vac 36 and had the same problem I replaced the tube and that cured it. My mower is a 1996

[Eric ELM]

jdseven:
You said you replaced a tube, I can see this helping if the tube in it was leaking. Mowman is thinking of installing a tube in a tubeless tire, from what I read here. Doing this will stop the leak until you get a pin hole in the tube.

[Fantasy Lawns]

8 year old tires?? check it first to see the leak (dunk it in a tank of water) maybe the valve stem it bad ....but in any condition we have Slime (tire sealant) in ALL the tires ...I have a tube on one of my walker tires, but only because the rim has a little ding that won't let the bead seal .... on the front I replaced with solids http://www.slimesealant.com/

[jdseven]

Eric I should have said I put tubes in tubeless tires sorry.The trouble I had was when the tire pressure was low in one tire my mower would track to that side.

[awm]

I also use the pink stuff in my tires.
Cost 4 dollars per and eliminates most leak problems .

[cantoo]

I'm thinking of getting the foam put in the rear swival tires on my Walker. I keep getting thorns in them and it's causing the rear tires to leave crooked lines in my lawns. Has anyone tried the foam in rear tires?

[Eric ELM]

I bought a set of tires and rims for the back of my old Chopper 3 years ago. From at least 3 years ago on, DC has put sealant in the tires and they have never gone flat. My new one has it in all 4 tires, so I went all last season without a flat. I'm a believer in tire sealant.

Anyone that gets 8 years out of tires is doing well. Either it doesn't get used much or you are easy on tires. I guess the back tires on my JD are almost 11 years old now. Come to think of it, I don't think they have sealer in them and they have never been flat. I can see a bunch of flat tires coming soon. :mad:

[bob]

Check the valve stem. I had to replace 2 of them this year. You'll need a special tool ($2) to remove the valve. Then squirt some sealer in there.

[summitgroundskeeping]

After we mowed a lawn after some horrible roofing contractors put on a new roof, and didn't pick up their mess. Lets just say after I put holes in all of my mowers' tires, I started to use the slime. SLIME, it's a great investment at $10.

[Skookum]

SLIME

I second that! I had tubless tires that kept going slowly flat on my Toro WB, my Toro ZTR, and my Troybilt sickle bar mower. No more low tires since used Slime! Stuff works great on bead leaks, this was problem on the ZTR!

[MOW ED]

Get some new ones Steve. They are a little pricey but worth it in the long run. Having to wait for a service station to fix a flat sux. It also p's me off when I'm on a property and the slow leak isnt noticed until I'm done mowing and the lawn is cut on an angle. I just bought the solid deck tires for my Walker because of the problem with flats. I carry a plug kit on the trailer but I haven't had to use it yet.
Foam filling is great but I wouldn't waste the money foam filling old tires. I'm also thinking of filling my rear tires .

[Richard Martin]

I never go <i>anywhere</i> without a can of fix-a-flat.

[GrassMaster]

Hello Everybody:

Flats at the right time cost a lot of Downtime & Money!

When is the last time anybody has had a flat & it was at a convienant time? Not I, I am going to save everybody a bunch of reading. So I'm not going into detail to Much! LOL :-)

I had a awful flat one time, we were in a very wet lawn, in the front & my very heavy rider went flat. 4 men down 3 plus hours, 1 sheet of plywood, 1 floor jack, new rim and tire assembly, a great deal of mental suffering & a case of liquid tire sealant later, $10 a bottle later. I never had a flat again.

My wheel barrow is all I have left from the sale of my business 1990, I put the sealant in there around 1986. No BS, I bought the Wheebarrow in probably early 80s before I ever thought of the Lawn Service Business. That tire is weathered to hades & back. Every 1/8 to 1/4 inch is weathered cracks all over & still holds air!

Tire sealant in all tires is a very good investment!