Flat tire prevention

[KB]

I know a person that is constantly having problems with flats on his mowers. He was told by his dealer of a sealant that can be put into his tires that will basically seal off a puncture as soon as it happens. I have also heard of "foam filling" tires. Does anyone know anything about either of these? Has anyone done anything in particular to protect against flats?

[steveair]

Hello KB,<br>Where i work we have 2 toro 325 d ground masters and calcium filled all the tires on them. It works great. We had 2 to 3 flats a year before on each machine and now have none.<p>One thing is weight though. the tires weigh a ton, and noticed the machines sink a little easier on wet terrain. Also, they ride quite a bit rougher.<p>As for tire wear, well, not bad. The tread is still good and we plan to run those tires untill we see calcium oozing out. We only do <br>fields so looks aren't importany. On a residential lawn though, you may have to change them earlier since bald tire can track up a lawn pretty bad. Also, because of the weight, your lines may not be as nice with the heavier tires leaving tracks.<p>Foam or whatever would probably be better for mowing areas where looks are essential. I don't know much about the foam or other products like &quot;slime&quot;, but imagine they might be better.

[Lazer]

We foam fill everything.<p>It does add weight and cost. The ride is comprimised slightly, but tire life doubles and no flats.

[parkwest]

We &quot;slime&quot; everything. It works great.

[bob]

I also &quot;slime&quot; everything, mowers, wheelbarrows, spreaders, trailer tires.

[mowerparts]

I have used Slime with and Stens tire sealent. The Stens worked the best. I have also used a tire sealent sold in the Lesco store that works very well also.<p>----------<br>http://mowerparts.hypermart.net<br>

[Keith]

I have used Slime and it has worked well in some apps and not so well in others. I think the main thing is to use the right amount. Mower tires take alot and sometimes people are tempted to use less than it calls for.<p>Last spring I put a new set of Carlisle chevron tires on my Grasshopper. Two days later one was completely flat and had a big slice in the sidewall. I think someone cut it with a knife. I needed the mower and had no more tires so I stuck two plugs in and Slimed it. It is still on the mower and doesn't leak air to this day.

[yardsmith]

We use stens & slime- slime is a little cheaper, but avoid the urge to be skimpy & put the right amt. in. Be sure you take the valve out of the valve stem if you use automotive fix-a-flat. It will gum up your valve & leak air out.<br>Also a 'stitch in time' is to go to walmart & buy a 2.99 kit of tire plugs. Do it yourself, & carry a portable air tank too, & you won't be wrenching the tire off & driving to the gas station-wasted time.<br>Haven't tried foam fill yet- heard the story of hitting bumps, curbs, etc. & denting the foam in & having a pocket of air left & no pressure to keep the tire round in that area. It sounds possible, but I'm not for sure.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[GrassMaster]

Hello:<p>After having a couple of expensive flats & learning the hard way, I put Slime in everything.<p>We took it a little further with the air tank. I got tired of the air tank, so we got one of those 12 volt plug in air compressors. Then later we cut the plug (cigarette lighter plug) end off then & attached 2 battery clamps.<p>This way we could take the pump to the mower & hook it up to the mower battery. Instead of taking the mower to the truck so we could plug it in.<p>Sometimes if you start loosing air fast & try to make it to truck, the bead would seperate, then it is a real pain to get the bead to seal back.<p>We kept the tank mainly for doing on the spot carb work & cleaning out air filters. We had a quick disconnect so we could put spray chuck or a tire chuck end on it.<p>It worked out very well & saved us a lot of downtime.<p><br><p>----------<br>GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com<br>My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/

[Jason]

A cheap way to have air on any site is to mount an old a/c compressor to your engine, a pressure regulator, a small air tank in the bed. And wire in a on/off switch. Beauty of this is air on demand any time. No hassles of looking for an outlet for a store bought compressor. Ability to drive air tools unlike the 12v cigarette plug in compressors.<br> Might not be ideal if you have a newer truck that has working a/c. But with an older vehicle that has no a/c or the a/c doesn't work it would be good.<br>

[SLSNursery]

We usually resort to the plug and go option for flats. I keep a few extra tires and rims around for most machines. I was told by the Goodyear dealer and others that the Calcium was for weight not flat prevention. In otherwords, on my backhoe if we were spinning rears when loading (inexperienced operators do this) the calcium would help prevent that and save the tire. <p>I haven't used the slime, but have had so-so luck with similar products. At a show last month I saw that the Bandag dealer will fill new tires with a Gel (like a superball) material, eliminating the need for air and preventing flats. Its quite expensive, but would allow retreads (on skidsteers and tractor tires), however you need to start with new tires for this to work. 4 new tires for skidsteer, with gel, etc. - $1200.00 plus. I will continue to put plug kits in all the trucks for now. I put an air line on the dump truck with air brakes so that we can fill tires or air tanks on the road. If anyone has used this new tire fill system let us know how its holding up.<p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider