# tire flat on front of riding lawn mower and its off the rim..



## mldollins (Jun 21, 2008)

can I fix this myself.

If I remember correctly, they use some type of sealant around the outside rim and tire. I know its only five bucks to fix but I would have to remove it and head into town....about an extra hour out of my way. I could do it myself.


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

Do you have an air compressor? It would be almost impossible with a hand pump. No sealer at the bead but you have to get it to the rim while you put air in it. Either remove the wheel or jack up the mower. If the bead doesn't go back to the rim get a piece of clothesline. Tie the clothesline around the tire. Then take a stick and slide it between the tire and the clothesline. Twist the stick which will tighten the clothesline which will squeeze the tire tread in turn forcing the bead to the rim. Then try inflating it. Of course this is all wasted if there is a tube in the tire. If there is a tube just pump up the tire.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Probably all you need to do is pump it back up.
You may have to tie a rope around the tire to help hold the bead against the rim until you get some air iin it, but it should reseat itself.

Jack it up and take all the weight off first, and wet it with some soapy water

Once you get the bead reset, remove the valve and put some "Tire Slime" in it

http://www.slime.com/


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## tiogacounty (Oct 27, 2005)

Not only can you fix it yourself, but it won't cost a dime. The objective is to re-seat the bead. There is no need for a sealants or anything. The objective is to compress the center of the tire, forcing it to contact the rim at the bead. The bead is the reinforced area of the tire that contacts the rim. I usually use a small ratchet strap. Wrap the strap around the center of the tire and tighten until the tire is squished out and touching the rim, not give it some air. Keep your fingers out of the way, as it can get a little violent as the tire pops back on. If you do not have a ratchet strap, try a piece of rope and use a small stick as a tourniquet to tighten the rope. It is easier than it sounds on small tires like those on wheel barrows or small yard tractors. Once the tires get bigger, well it isn't easy or fun anymore. It often involves a real wrestling match, and sometimes even a bit of ether and a tossed match, but that is for another thread. Good luck


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## mldollins (Jun 21, 2008)

.....


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I thought most folks did to reseating this way
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RdF0OXNd0c&NR=1[/ame]


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

agmantoo said:


> I thought most folks did to reseating this way
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RdF0OXNd0c&NR=1


I do but it seems to be frowned upon by some around here. Once on an old trailer house that had been off the rim for years, even that wouldn't work and I used a big trucker strap with ratchet to compress the middle, then used the spray and finally it seated.


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

agmantoo said:


> I thought most folks did to reseating this way
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RdF0OXNd0c&NR=1





Ed Norman said:


> I do but it seems to be frowned upon by some around here. Once on an old trailer house that had been off the rim for years, even that wouldn't work and I used a big trucker strap with ratchet to compress the middle, then used the spray and finally it seated.


The OP seems to have little or no idea of how to reseat the tire beads to the rim and this is being suggested?


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## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

I would fix the leak before I mounted it to the rim.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

It is much easier to do if the tire is warm. You might want to put it in a heated area for a few hours before you tackle it...


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

tiogacounty said:


> Not only can you fix it yourself, but it won't cost a dime. The objective is to re-seat the bead. There is no need for a sealants or anything. The objective is to compress the center of the tire, forcing it to contact the rim at the bead. The bead is the reinforced area of the tire that contacts the rim. I usually use a small ratchet strap. Wrap the strap around the center of the tire and tighten until the tire is squished out and touching the rim, not give it some air. Keep your fingers out of the way, as it can get a little violent as the tire pops back on.


This is what I do, use a racheting strap. Word of caution: once the bead has set...and before much pressure is in the tire....remove the strap! Then, with the strap removed, continue pressurizing the tire to the recommended pressure.


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## cfabe (Feb 27, 2005)

I also suggest the ratchet strap method. I will admit to using the starter fluid fix once in a bind.


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Cabin Fever said:


> This is what I do, use a racheting strap. Word of caution: once the bead has set...and before much pressure is in the tire....remove the strap! Then, with the strap removed, continue pressurizing the tire to the recommended pressure.


Ain't that the truth. That strap gets real tight in a hurry.


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## jross (Sep 3, 2006)

Did anyone say to remove the valve first before trying to seat the tire?


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Did anyone say to remove the valve first before trying to seat the tire?


I've never removed the valve to seat one.
If you have enough capacity on your compressor you can do it either way


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## farmgal (Nov 12, 2005)

It will only go flat again. Buy a tube for it, they are about 10$ - 20$, depending size and easy to install. It will make the tire last forever... well almost...lol


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

...and sometimes, fixing it is all for naught... last one I fixed with the 'tourniquet' method kept going down... realized it had some dry rot cracks in it.

Sometimes the new 5$ tire is the answer. Or better yet, a couple of spares in the barn, ready to go on. IF there were no more tires left in the world, spending hours working on a dud would make sense, but when time is money and tires are cheap..........

oh, forgot to ask... what's a lawnmower? Is that some kind of mechanical goat?


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

jross said:


> Did anyone say to remove the valve first before trying to seat the tire?


that can help a whole lot right there! 

sometimes sealent is needed I had one that just would not stay aired, took it to the shop see if it needed a patch, nope rim leak 5 dollars later and a year later same issue so I took care of it this time, remored wheel,removed tire from rim, wire brused rim cleaned bead on tire, replaced tire on rim. 

did not have proper sealent but did have liquid electrical tape (darn near same stuff, cinched rope on pulled valve and a year later lol had to do it again
this time with proper rim seal but I expect next year will be the same.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

Use fix a flat in a can or similar, and then plan to air it up each time before you use it. If it still leaks, just get a new tire.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

To seal it just mix a little bit of soapy water and wet the area around the rim before airing it up.


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## seagullplayer (Nov 6, 2008)

I have found that once I get a flat mower or yard trailer tire aired up that a shot of cheap fix a flat from the dollar store will help it stay that way another season... (most times)

Most of the time you can get the ratchet strap trick to work just by jacking the tire off the ground, I don't remove it unless I have to clean dirt out of the back side.


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## blb228 (Feb 1, 2021)

A bottle of Stan's Tire Sealant almost always does the trick - anything from punctures, to bead leaks, to old weather-checked tires. I put the stuff in every piece of equipment I have now that has pneumatic tires as a preventative. No more flat tires.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Posted 2/3/21 1:59 AM CST

When my mother's year old front tire on her Cub Cadet got a barbed wire flat on the tread when she turned away from a broken bottom wire strand she saw while mowing her two acre front yard to the east pasture, she broke the bead driving it back to the mower lean to area and called me. 

I went to the farm and re-beaded the tire like my father taught me to re-bead a truck tire on the truck, just on a smaller scale..

i used my S-10 scissor jack to jack the tire off the ground, squirted just a small bit of starter ether i sometimes use to spark plug prime a winter stored yard gear engine, tossed a match and let the ether flash bead and partially inflate the tire, sprayed the tire with water to pinpoint the hole, let it deflate and used my tire plug kit to plug the hole and inflated the tire with the compressor in the mower shed.

That tire is still going strong 4 years later.

Never use fix a flat type sealants because gum up the rim insides and if a tire soes have to eventually be replaced, cleaning sealant gunk off a rim to bead a new tire is a real pain.


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