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Putting a tube in a front tire that got a nail in it

7K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  pianotuner 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I've got a John Deere 2210 SCUT, and it picked up a nail in the front tire.

The tire's got plenty of tread left. I'm thinking about putting a tube in it, which would be something like one-third the cost of putting a new tire on it. Any issues with this?

I could also try to patch it but I'm not sure if that would work in this case--would the FEL use putting extra weight on those little front tires make a patch job start to leak?

-Josh
 
#3 ·
Where I work we put these in everything... 3000lb cars to 7000lb pickups

takes 3 mins

 
#4 ·
Where I work we put these in everything... 3000lb cars to 7000lb pickups

takes 3 mins
That has my vote as well. Certainly worth a try for the price and reduced labor. I have one in my front left R4 tire now that been holding for over a year now.
 
#5 ·
Let's see... Front axle max weight on your tractor is what... 1,000lbs? 1,500 lbs? 2,000 lbs?

Axles in my trailer are 5200 lbs. And I would use one of those patch kits on the trailer, providing the hole is in the face of the tread. So, in my reasoning, that patch is plenty strong enough to use on the fronts of your tractor. I might think twice for the rears if they're filled... Dunno... Still might try it there just to see.

If you have a hole poked through the sidewall, whole different story - get a new tire.
 
#11 ·
If you have a hole poked through the sidewall, whole different story - get a new tire.
On a car/truck I would agree, but I would have no issue plugging a sidewall on a tractor tire.
 
#6 ·
I also agree with the plug. Awesome invention.:fing32: Probably last the life of the tire.
It's a tubeless tire,so if you decided to tube it,the tire still has to be patched. So if a tubeless tire is patched,why bother with the tube.:)


Greg
 
#7 ·
I have numerous nails/thorns/glass/crap in my front and rear tires. I added 3 gallons of SLIME to my rear tires and a gallon each to the front tires, seals up good and dont have to worry about it :) Give that a whirl...
 
#8 ·
Hi All,

Thanks for the suggestions. I went with a Slime tire plug kit. $3 at Walmart. And it turns out I had two leaks, not just one. I managed to push one of the plugs all the way into the tire (oops), but on the second attempt I got the plug 2/3 of the way, as the instructions said to do.

I cut the excess off and took it out for a mow for about an hour. So far so good! I also used soapy water on the plugged areas to check for leaks, and I couldn't see any visible bubbling with the tire at full pressure (22psi).

-Josh
 
#10 ·
As said, those plugs will withstand pressure, most passenger car tires run about 40-45 psi (truck tires are closer to 65) and the patches are one size fits all, goes in any tire, that type of deal. As long as your tires wear evenly, the plug will simply become flush with the tread and wear with the rest of the tire. Glad to see you got it fixed.
 
#14 ·
fix a flat ruins your rim, never had any issue with slime in my tires - utility trailer, atv tires, huntin truck....
 
#16 ·
:ditto:

I agree 100%!!

Additionally, sidewalls flex a lot more than treads and don't have the ground to back up the patch when they do.
 
#18 ·
I agree it looks nasty-almost like septic tank material, but it comes off witih a water hose and and a brush.
 
#21 ·
I recently punctured the sidewall on the right front tire of my JD 445. Piece of chain link fabric from somewhere poked itself in and then back out at a different location several inches away. Took the tire to a well-respected local tire store, and the guy talked me out of trying the tube-inside-a-tubeless-tire trick. He said they have not had good experience doing it in the past, mentioning that customers and management were not happy with the results (but wouldn't go into details when I asked why).

This is the same store that has been fixing my flats and rotating tires, all for free on 2 road vehicles, for the last 5 years. I splurged and bought a new tractor tire from them.
 
#22 ·
Hi there, have a Kubota BX 24. Tried the tubes but found that the small wheels still moved slightly on the rim even with the tube thereby shredding the valve stem. We elected to fill with the emergency foam. Has worked splendidly!!! Hate to see the mess when we eventually have to take the tire off the rim! LOL Good luck
 
#26 ·
Hi there, have a Kubota BX 24. Tried the tubes but found that the small wheels still moved slightly on the rim even with the tube thereby shredding the valve stem. We elected to fill with the emergency foam. Has worked splendidly!!! :fing32: Hate to see the mess when we eventually have to take the tire off the rim! :praying: LOL Good luck
Well George, you'll still be able to run those when the cords are showing. Yeah, the mess is pretty bad and if the foam fill you did sets up solid it will take some heavy duty cutting to get the tire of the rim. At that time it might be more feasible, cost wise, to just purchase a new mounted tire/rim combo.
We a number of skip loaders with the sidewalls on the steering tires cut completely through the cord and the foam fill showed. They were still usable for a number of years.

Of course, in that instance, the entire goal was keeping the equipment working so the foam fill was an economic advantage. For a back yard machine it would probably be overkill.
 
#25 ·
Frankly tire face and sidewall holes are not the main leak problems for small front tires such as those on BX24's. The main issue is leaks between the rim and the tire! Messy as it is slime stops that problem much better than a tube (as I posted earlier the tire can slip around the rim under heavy traction. )
 
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