# foam filled wheelbarrow tires



## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

anyone used spray foam too fill up wheel barrow tires? have a dual wheel wheelbarrow that you cant keep air in the tires! one of those tubless tire deals but try and find a tire tube now a days! gets little use but might get a bit more ifn the tires would stay up! :soap: or should i just break down and get utility trailer tires and tubes, special order and worth more than we paid for the thing in the first place! (was supposed to be better than a single wheeled one but i don't think so!:viking


----------



## OkieDavid (Jan 15, 2007)

I don't have any wisdom on this topic but I have considered the very thing myself. It'll be interesting to see what develops from this thread.


----------



## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

The spray foam I have experience with seems quite rigid after solidifying. I would guess that if you put it inside a tire it would balloon it out very nicely at first, but as you rolled the barrel around the foam would start to crack, breakup, and finally disintegrate into a powder with long use.


----------



## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Is your problem just that the tires leak down over time? You can make your own sealant using a cup of 50/50 antifreeze and enough shredded newspaper to make a slurry about the consistency of a conventional milkshake. Push the tire loose from the rim on one side pour the contents into the tire and then reset the bead and inflate. Rotate the mounted tire to distribute the slurry and the tire should remain up for an extended time. With disuse, it will leak some and you make have to inflate the tire again until the mixture is again distributed inside the tire. Enjoy


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Tire Slime:
http://www.slime.com/


----------



## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

I have replaced my wheel borrows and yard utility trailer tires with foam filled no-flats from Harbor freight .
I dont think great stuff expanding foam would work well .
though if your after a solid flat proof tire you can fill them with self leveling poly urathane caulking (expensive but it works ) Ive used it to fill the front tires on riding lawn mowers.


----------



## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

I've never heard of any do it yourself tire foaming products, but commercial tire shops can indeed foam tires. I priced getting the front tires of my compact Ford tractor done due to many flat tires from running over mowed off weed stubble. Factory tires were extrememly thin and of poor quality and neither Ford and tire reps would do anything to remedy the situation. They told me I was trying to do actual farm work with a compact tractor geared toward suburban gentleman farmers? Duh, I was indeed trying to do farm work with a tractor. Really the only complaint I've ever had about the 1720 Ford.

I didn't get the tires foamed as the ride was said to be much rougher due to less give. Rolling a heavily loaded wheelbarrow with a tire with little give will be tougher than one with just air and more give. Ever pushed a steel wheeled wagon or implement and hit a rock with a wheel. Stops you cold as the wheel won't give enough to go over it. Similar to a foam filled tire compared to air filled.


----------



## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

We got our front tires on our Ford 9-N foam filled commercially some years ago. The tires are just about worn out, tread is falling off, but they are still going. Of course, we don't run fast enough to worry about bounce, just had too many thorn trees around here. I think they've paid for themselves many times. I had tires on my garden cart that kept going flat until I took the wheels off a worn-out wheel-chair and put them on it! Haven't had trouble since.


----------



## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

Regular spray foam from a can you get at the hardware store won't do the job. It won't survive the weight load, and will just collapse.

Fix-a-flat spray foam can work. Biggest challenge is spinning the tire enough to work the foam around and get it to the leak, not just pooled up on the bottom.

Slime and the like can work. Similar problem with getting it to the leak. But, unlike the fix-a-flat foam slime and the like don't skin up and solidify, so you can continue to add air to the leaky tire and eventually it gets fixed. Or at least gets better. I've yet to see one completely fixed with slime.

Genuine tire foam is nifty, effective, and not very cheap. I do think it's worthwhile for various applications.

A can of air and a compressor to recharge that can works well also.


----------



## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

I use trailer tires and throw the ballons away that come on the rims,


----------



## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I have been using airplane tires on the front of the tractors and those work great.


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Biggest challenge is spinning the tire enough to work the foam around and get it to the leak, not just pooled up on the bottom.


If you have a compressor and a blower, turn the wheelbarrow upside down, and blow air across the tire to make it spin.
Be CAREFUL, because you'll be amazed at how fast you can spin one this way


----------



## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

Go to your local farm store and buy a couple of tubes that have slime in them and put them on. I have a couple of them and they are worth the money. You can get them for about $8 each.


----------



## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

I have read some were someone using grain and packing it in the tire and then adding water, to make the grain swell, I have never tryed it, (they may have welded a pipe nipple in to the rim, to fill the rim and then cap it).


----------



## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i'll second the slime. "Slime" brand tire sealer. "Fix-a-Flat" is junk.

use slime or a slime filled tube that is sold as such and you will never have a flat again.


----------



## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

I have used slime and tires still go flat, (yes it is good stuff, but not flat proof. and yes fix a flat is jsut to get you to some place that can fix the flat right,),

The best is the recycled air craft tires for off road vechiles, there 14 to 30 plys and are real tires, but not for wheel barrows, when I put the aircraft tires on the pasture pickup, the only time I have had a flat is when the valve core rotted off, I went to the bolt in type valve core after that, (actually the air craft tires are stiff enough to hold up the pick up when there flat)


----------



## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

Hey.

Sand the bead of the tire with sandpaper to rough it up. Wirebrush wheel to remove rust and scale where the bead sits. Use rubber cement or some sort of bead compound to act as a gasket between rim and bead of tire. Replace valve stem too.

RF


----------



## Big Dave (Feb 5, 2006)

I have the same problem. Tires go flat all the time and no place to get a tube to fit. Went into a Tractor Supply store and found a GARANTEED not to go flat tire and it came on a rim. It is also Bright Yellow. 35 bucks No more flats, this thing is like solid rubber. I used slime and fix a flat but neither worked.


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

I've ha good luck with the rough bead clean rim and a bead of sealer. Did one that was acting up 3 years ago and it is still holding up.


----------



## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

nothing in a can will fix cracked sidewalls or totally rusted wheels. i prefer not to use solid wheels on anything i have to push or pull around. a little bouce in the tires sure helps when rolling over anything bigger than a 1/2 inch pebble.


----------

