Metro front tire is flat

[crc]

Greetings,

I'm a homeowner with a Metro 36 purchased in 2001. This is my first and only commercial mower, so I'm still learning. Upon pulling the mower out this spring to get it ready for the season, I discovered that one of the front caster tires is flat.

There is some sort of dried gunk on the sidewalls of the tire, close to the area where the tire is supposed to seal up against the wheel. Can I assume that this is the "permanent" tire sealant that is mentioned in the manual?

When I tried reinflating the tire, it kind of worked, but then I noticed that all I had to do was squeeze the tire and air would leak out near the tire/wheel seal.

I've done some searching in this forum, and I see that one solution would be to buy the new semi-pneumatic no-flat tires at $40 a pop. And if I was running this machine 40 hours a week like the pros, that's probably what I would do. But since the mower is used only 90 minutes a week (in Massachusetts), I don't particularly like the economics of that solution.

So, what are my other options for fixing this flat?

Thanks for the help,

Chris Craig

[eXmark]

crc,

???You have a few choices. A local tire shop should be able to get the tire fixed up for you, a local dealer can fix the tire and/or you could have a tube put in the tire. All of these will be much cheaper than the new semi-pneumatic tires.

Probably why the tire went flat is getting cold over the winter. The tire and the air in it shrinks by getting cold and pops the tire off the rim. One thing to remember is those small front tires need about 23psi of air. The sealant in the tires works good for thorns but doesn't help the bead seal.

Thanks, Fred.