I just bought a very small trailer to use behind my ATV for farm use. Low speed. It has 4.00/4.80-8 tires on it. They are a little dryrotted. Would you get some tubes and put them in there, or just get new tires and use them tubeless? Trouble I have with tubeless tires is half the time they're flat, and they can be a booger to seat the bead. I put some Slime in there, and once they seal, they're pretty good to go. My local tire place would probably put the new tubes in there for the price of the tubes. I do business with them, and they usually do flat fixes for free anyway.
The last time I needed tires for my boat trailer it was cheaper to buy a tire and wheel from a trailer place than buying a tire and getting it mounted. Even Northern Tools beats that tire/mount price and we have a trailer manufacturer who beats NT.
I live in a small community where good deals are a way to keep customers. I go to Discount tires because they have fixed about half a dozen flats for me, and some small ATV remounts where they wouldn't seal, and they just wave you off when you go to pay. Of course, I go back when I need tires, and they have that on record.
I have to go to the big city in the next couple of days, so will take one and see. But yeah, it'd be nice to just put two new ones on there, but at the lowest cost. I just use this to haul junk, rocks, limbs, sand, etc, so it doesn't have to be that great.
on 7/28/2009 12:59 AM (ET) SteveB wrote the following:
I would just put the slime in there for now. You're not going to use them on the highway, and if you get a flat, you're no going to have to pull it by hand, like a flat wheelbarrow tire. I'm frugal. I won't buy anything unless I can do it cheaper with what I've got. :-)
For cheap if go out of town as others said can probably by those tires/wheels cheap as just the tubes.
OTOH, in small towns there are advantages/reasons to keep the locals in business--I rarely take that route for only a couple bucks for just that reason; too many places are already either merely shells of their former selves or gone. People complain about what they've lost but too many of those same people didn't do anything to help prevent that... :(
Not to hijack the thread but if the local business can't compete you are only prolonging the agony..Their are plenty of ways for locals to remain competive , starting a co-op to increase buying power , diversefing products , providing more advice ,being open on the weekends ect. ,ect...If the local "just expects " folks to shop there and pay higher prices just to keep him employed then to bad...I don't have money just to throw away...I suppose we should be still buying buggy whips to keep buggy whip makers in business??? I doubt locals would pay me more for drywall work just to keep me employed..They get bids.....And for me to remain competive I have to buy materials where they are cheaper and are open when I need them...It's called "capitolism"...Time does not stand still and if they won't change they will go the way of buggy whip makers and should...Just my 2 cents.....
Old tires will blow on you at the most inopportune times.
Too bad you are so far away. I would just give you my old trailer wheels and tires. They are still holding air, I just don't trust them for highway travel.
If the reason local folk "get in the habit" of going online or out to the outskirts to Walmart ,Sears,Target , Cosco , Homedepot , Lowes ,Walgreens , Best Buy , or the mall , ect. is because said local merchant isn't OPEN , doesn't have the inventory or is more expensive , especially now that times are hard and every dollar counts , then it is the local merchants fault....In case you haven't noticed mom isn't home during the day to shop from 8-5 and dad works outside of the downtown area and often only has evenings and Sunday to shop...Same for mom.... If the local merchant doesn't change with the times he will be left behind..The facts may be cruel but they are the facts.....Times change and if you don't change with them you get left behind...If they work at it and stay open late a few times a week ,start a co-op to increase buying power to compete price wise , open on Sunday , provide exceptional customer service or otherwise find their nich they will survive just fine , but if they just keep doing what they have done for the last 30 years they won't......Sad but true....
... That isn't necessarily the only reason at all...often it is simply a habit that has become engrained or an attempt to save a few pennies by avoiding local/state sales taxes; meanwhile actually spending as much or more in either travel or shipping.
I used to live in a smaller community just down the road a half-hour from a larger place--as just one example, people regularly complained about lack of places to eat in town. Yet, now matter how many attempted to cater to that demand over a 10-15 year period, the persistent habits were never overcome and none managed to survive and yet people continued to complain there was "nowhere in town" when it was definitely not true. The same phenomenon occurred in other retail trades as well.
And again, I'm looking at it from the viewpoint of smaller communities that are, indeed, distant from other markets/larger communities where it isn't just another couple of blocks down the street to the next SuperCenter instead of Target or whatever.
If people aren't willing to support their neighbors and communities, they can't complain when their community no longer can support the amenities they would like.
We had an old riding mower with big knobby tires, one of which was flat.
My son bought a cart from HF to tow behind his new mower for neighborhood jobs, but it had very small tires. We took out the reciprocating saw and grinder, enlarged the wheel wells, put some tubes in the old mower tires and put them on the trailer - a much more rugged look.
The tubes/tires have held air for well over 5 years. The cart is getting pretty rusted out, but the old tires are still rolling along.
The biggest thing that locals have to contend with is few people actually pause to think. They let all of the big box whatever marketing do it for them. You could do a great job but the big outfits can buy mindshare.
My friends' brother owns a local appliance shop. He is part of a co-op so he is quite competitive. He and his staff are quite knowledgeable and will do whatever extra it takes. They also open long hours just like big box. The problem is big box tells everyone how wonderful they are with constant marketing and folks simply drive the extra 10 miles to the mall because locals "must be evil".
Or the local deli in my town. It is a true evil mom & pop place. They make real soup instead of pouring it out of a bucket and make great subs on really nice quality rolls baked by a local Italian bakery. I mention the place whenever I have an opportunity and the usual answer is "but it isn't subway.." When I think of subway I think consistent mediocrity. Marketing tells another story.
So you consider "Target" a "local retailor" and a Walmart Supercenter not...LOL...Surely you jest....Perhaps folks were comlaining about "no places to eat" because there were no Pizza Hut , KFC , Taco Bell or Micky Dees..As I said , we live in a different "faster" time..Perhaps folks on the run don't have time to spend a hour or two eating at the local diner or Chic Hole In The wall Restaurant downtown..Especially if they have to travel out of town to shop anyway...That is why you see FAST food restaurants near shopping plazes....Supercenters are popular for more than just saving mony..They save TIME..No need to run all over creation to get all that is needed...Groceries , jeans and an oil filter for the car all in one stop...Plenty of parking and restaurants are close by....Time is money as well....I live in a very small town...30-50 miles to cities....You also completely ignored that the downtown stores typically close at 5 and aren't open on the weekend especially SUNDAY which is now about the biggest shopping day of the week...I suppose you also long for the days when it was illegal for stores to be open on Sunday ???
Like I said people don't like running all over creation to get the things they need...Just because they make great subs or sell competive appliances doesn't automatically mean they will make it if they are off the beaten path with a lack of parking and don't advertise...LOCATION , LOCATION , LOCATION....Instead you just call shoppers stupid...That works really good...LOL...
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