A different way (to fix those flat mower tires

May 09, 2004 11 Replies

Well I finally got around to fixing all the leaks in my mower's tires,, it took all four of them to get leaks before I would fix them, these little battery powered air compressors are nice for blowing up lawn mower tires



I finally remembered, last time I was at the store to pick up a tire repair (plug) kit,, I took some bubble stuff the grand daughter had here, and mixed up a 50/50 with water, and aired the tires up, to check for the leaks,, none of these tires had rapid leaks, just ones that would require blowing the tires up every two weeks or so. WEll I found the three leaks in three tires, each had a pin hole in the threaded portion,, then I come to one of the front tires,, no leaks in the thread area,, but I noticed some dry rot cracks around the tire on the side wall,, and sure enough 4 little leakers from those cracks.



Tube time, or time to buy a tire, neither idea sounded good to me, both would require breaking down the tire, and the tube would keep me from plugging any future holes.



Here is a different way to fix a flat, that I came up with



FIrst I jacked up that front wheel, then let all the air out of the tire, then I pressed down with my hand to flatten the tire over the dry rot, while still letting the air out, this opened up the cracks. I took some Permatex Adhesive sealer and soothed out over the cracks, where the crack was all the way through, the sealant was sucked into the hole because the tire was trying to retain it's round shape (it had a slight negative pressure inside as the rubber tries to go back in shape) After filling the cracks in, I then Opened the valve to let it suck air into the tire as it retained it's shape, this closed the cracks back up, squirting out the excessive sealer, I smoothed out the sealer along the side of the tire, then let this set for 24 hours (the front tire was still off the ground, and it had zero or a slightly negative inside pressure.



That was a month ago, still no leaks, I have since fixed two more new punctures in another tire (these were just holes) using this sealer, and a similar Procedure making a negative pressure before smearing the sealer on the hole., then letting the air pressure go back to zero



I don't know if I was the first to come up with it, and I can see no way to make money from it, but, it sure works for lawn mower tires and their low pressure



You see I'm an inventor, so I'm always looking for a better way, see some of my inventions on my web site


An easier way is to add green slime sealer when they are new. Any puncture or leak is automatically sealed by the slime. I haven't had a flat in 4 years.

It's better when you have it around, or can find it

>

Or use that "fix-a-flat" stuff

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Fix a flat is flammable and suitable only as a short term fix isn't it?

They changed their formula about a decade ago. Non-flamable gass is now used.

tom

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I'd say any fix to dry rotted tires is a short term fix ;)

Yep, it ain't called fix a sidewall. :)

I have used fixaflat many times, and many times it failed, especially in side wall leaks

I'm not sure this is the case with this one tire,, these dry rot cracks were just on one side, and due to the tire being flat all winter,, they may be more structural, than dry rot

I know this,, there is no signs that these cracks ever existed now in the tire

>

Your machine shop is sure to curse your name if you ever have them go into a fixaflat tire.

"damn you (your name here), this stuff st> >>An easier way is to add green slime sealer when they are new.

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