What do you think of this wheelbarrow hack idea

[Brian Runau]

My tire is always flat, have to fill it up every time I want to use it with something heavy. Not sure this would work? Would the foam just break down over time and be pieces within the tire? Landscaping is my other hobby so I use my wheelbarrow a lot. Thanks Brian

https://www.housedigest.com/1409862/wheelbarrow-repair-flat-tire-expanding-foam-hack/


(https://www.housedigest.com/1409862/wheelbarrow-repair-flat-tire-expanding-foam-hack/)

[Tom M King]

Put a tube in it. The first thing I do when I buy a new wheelbarrow is put a tube in it while everything is nice and clean. We have one airless tired one, but no one likes to use that one. A pneumatic one rolls easier over small obstacles like rocks. The wheelbarrows here only might need air every three or four years.

[Bill Howatt]

If you use it a lot and it's always flat, I'd say you have a leak (brilliant, I know) that might be patched or it's around the rim. However, the one-size-fits-all solution is Tom's recommendation of a tube. I did that and it permanently fixed the problem easily - well, easily after I got the tire bead back on. You may find the cost comparable or even cheaper for a tube.

[Jim Becker]

I switched to non-pneumatic tires on "all the things" and it was totally worth it. They are solid, but flexible and never can get "flat" unless you cut a chunk off of them. "All the things" includes the wheelbarrow, the garden cart, my hand truck and the front wheels on my ZTR.

[Tom M King]

The trouble with the tubeless wheelbarrow tires is that the rubber is so thin to start with, and with just a little deterioration they start to lose air. I think they all come with tubeless tires if they require air.

I know one dual wheeled 10 cu.ft. one we use at the barn has had the tubes in the tires for over 15 years. I need to put air in those tires no more than every few years. A few dollar tube solves the problem on any old one you might have.

Of the ones we use to pour concrete, or move mortar in, no one wanted to use the Home Depot one with the airless tire. Maybe they have improved them by now, but I'm satisfied with the several we have here with tubes in the tires. I gave that one with the no flat tire to one of the workers.

edited to add: One thing you need to look at if you go to put a tube in is that some, even new rims have a lot of weld splatter that can punch a tube. The last new one I put a tube in I ground all those weld splatter nubs down before putting a tube in it.

[Tom M King]

Tubes for wheelbarrow tires come with either straight or bent valve stems. Look at where the hole is in the rim before you order one or buy one. Tractor Supply sells them. You just pull or cut the tubeless stem off the rim and the tube stem will fit through the hole.

[Edward Weber]

The main issue with this "hack" is that expanding foam doesn't have a memory. If it gets compressed, it does not necessarily come back to it's original shape. It's not designed to

Tubeless tires are the way to go and worth every penny for a good one. I have 5 wheelbarrows and many other tools/carts with them, they're great. Too much hassle keeping up with between 20 and 30 small tires.
JMHO

[Bill Dufour]

We put a heavy steel wheel with thick solid rubber tire on our old wheelbarrow as a kid. Added 10-15 pounds to the weight. made the barrow much easier to use. did not bounce up and down so much. Ballast made it less tippy.
Bill D.

[Ed Aumiller]

I tried that with 10" wheels on garden cart and on welder cart and on plasma cutter cart.... BIG FAIL...
If any part of it is missed, the wheel is out of round... not fun...
If it sets in one spot for a long time... out of round due to flat spot... (welder cart & garden cart over winter)...

As Tom recommended.....a tube is the most reliable way IMHO...

All the 10" tires I tried it on have been replaced by Harbor Freight solid rubber tires ... about $10 each... also used them on my finish mower on the tractor and they are holding up very well (surprised me!!)....

[Jim Koepke]

Never have to put air in my wheel barrow tire.

508660

May not be the solution for everyone.

jtk

[Brian Runau]

Think I'll go with a solid tire. Brian

[Lamar Keeney]

Jim. I swopped mine thirty years ago and it hasn't leaked down either.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Think I'll go with a solid tire. Brian


Solid as in steel or solid as in "never-flat" rubber tires? Never-flat tires are fine if you deal with moderate loads rolled over only moderately rough surfaces. They are much harder to roll over rough surfaces than pneumatic tires.

A digression: There are YouTube videos about converting single wheeled wheelbarrows to double wheeled wheelbarrows. If you have to deal with rough terrain, that might help.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I get disgusted by flats & low tires too. For a wheel barrow that will get any real use I can put up with the inconvience. I can't use my Jackson pro model wheel barrow that came with a solid tire. It is too hard to push. I have to swap that solid wheel with a pneumatic. My hack is to put a highway trailer tire on. They are not as pleasant to push as a light and springy standard pneumatic wheel barrow tire but the durability is great.

509013

[Tom M King]

The reason they sell tubes the size of wheelbarrow tires is that many use them. I just put them in to start with while everything is clean. I put tubes in all the boat trailers, and oddball trailers like our shavings trailer that might not get used for years. Even if a tire goes flat from sitting for a decade, they can still be pumped up and rolled if no farther than to the shop.

I have one boat trailer under a shed that we haven't sailed that boat in thirty years. The tires are all flat and dry rotted, but they have tubes in them so I'm betting I can pump them up long enough to pull the boat out from under the shed to the shop where I have floor jacks and impact wrenches.

If such tires don't have tubes in them and the tire goes flat from sitting for years, the tire can come unseated from the rim, and then there is much more of a job to do.

Tubes don't change the advantages of pneumtic wheelbarrow tires, but eliminate the going flat for years at the time. I have some that we haven't used for over 6 years for pouring concrete. I have no doubt that the tires are flat, but also no doubt that I can pump them up and go right to work with them.

Just because a tire is a tubeless tire, it doesn't mean you can't put a tube in it. The wheelbarrow tire tubes have stems small enough to go through the tubeless tire holes.

We have one of the little shallow wheelbarrows for renters to move firewood to the fire pit. Even that one with the smaller than normal wheelbarrow pneumatic tire on it has a tube from Tractor Supply in it.

[Jim Koepke]

Often with a tubeless tire that has gone flat the bead is broken and it is a bit of a pain to get the bead to reset to pump in air.

One trick that can work is to tie a loop of rope around the tire with a good piece of wood under the rope. Twist the stick around to sinch up the rope and this will usually squash the tire all around the rim so the bead sets and allows the air to be pumped in to inflate the tire. Unwind the rope and remove it as the tire inflates.

jtk

[Tom M King]

That's the same method I've always used too for small tires. With a tube in one, it doesn't matter if the bead has come unseated.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Small tire wrestling would be an interesting sport. The things are tough to work on. An 8 inch 9 ply is a formidable enemy. I have some 10 inch 10 ply's. I can't work on them.

[Tom M King]

Proper tire irons make it pretty easy. The center part of the rim is smaller diameter for a reason. Get the bead in that small diameter area on one side, and the other side will come over the edge of the rim easily. Once you get that side over the edge of the rim with a tire iron, slide the tire irons around to bring the rest of it over. To put it back on, just do the opposite. It’s pretty easy after you do it a couple of times.

Many have been done with just a screwdriver, but the flat spoon part of a tire iron works so much easier. Tire irons come in a bunch of different sizes.

[Tom M King]

10” 10 plys do sound pretty tough. You probably need to be heavy with small feet to stand on one. Soft wheelbarrow tires are easy.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

This thread has me realizing how much the bicycle and the wheel barrow have in common... How to move a fairly big load with a very limited supply of watts. Getting dropped on a bike ride is almost as humiliating as dropping your loaded wheel barrow while trying to run up a plank. Having the right tire on often makes the difference between success and failure.

[Warren Lake]

years ago I on one visit to the tool and die makes shop I noticed his mower and thought odd it has air wheels. He lived on 16 acres, long winding driveway through forest till up to the home he built. Lots of long grass around and no real lawn he put air wheels on his mower and pushing it I got it right away. i asked him to make bolts for mine and put air wheels smaller but still air on mine,. The difference was huge

Years later a friend bought me a Toro personal Pace. Good mower took me four years to burn it out. The personal pace compared to set a speed was a great thing but it never a perfect mower, A perfect mower would have air wheels Plastic wheels suck and I never knew how bad till trying that mower with air tires. First one ive ever seen.

Do have one of a neighbours I use and the wheels are much wider and round and it moves decent. It also has personal pace but tis fairly worn and check in and out as it pleases. still not as good as air wheels

I get that it would be extra work and cost and reliability issues to make air wheels on a walk behind mower but air wheels would make it better than any competitors product.


Just replaced the air tire on my neighbours really old wheel barrow that has lots of history on it. They gave it to me years back. At the store I asked and thankfully got a guy who past life had been a car mechanic and self employed till he retired. He said right away customers buy the solid wheels and are fine on concrete then are unhappy when they go across a lawn. Will see how long this air wheel lasts. Not sure if it has a tube or not, this post was just after I bought the wheel but think Tom said he has inner tubes in his air tires. Ill take the old one apart and see if it had an inner tube or not think it did

[glenn bradley]

Like Jim, I went with a soft, non-pneumatic tire on the wheel barrow years ago. Well worth it.

[Terry Wawro]

Are tubeless tires glued to the rim? I just had to buy a new 16 inch tire/rim combo for my wheelbarrow. Was going to insert a a tube but gave up because I could not break the bead, even using a vise.

[Tom M King]

They're not glued. It's just stuck from whatever is on the rubber when they are new. I use a big C-clamp and blocks of wood if standing on it won't pop the bead loose if the big dead blow hammer is not handy. Once it comes off in one place, the rest will come on off. You can slip a tube inside the tire with just one side broken loose, but for the tiny tires it's easier to get one side over the outside of the rim.

Do check the rim to see if there is weld spatter around the inside from where the manufacturer welding the two halves together. Older ones didn't have this problem, but I guess they don't care so much any more and the last new ones I opened up I took the tire all the way off and ground down the spatter with a flap wheel on a side grinder. The last several new ones I've opened up had weld spatter just painted over. I didn't bother to paint the inside since the only rusted out wheelbarrow wheels I've ever had rusted from the outside in.

The tubeless stem can just be sliced off with a utility knife, but I like to get the nub out of the inside too.

When pouring concrete, the rule was if you spill it you clean it up. No one would use the non-pneumatic tired one after one use, so I just gave it away to one of the guys to move firewood with at his house.

[Alex Zeller]

If you decide to put a tube in it remove the tire first and check the wheel. Wheelbarrow wheels are very poorly made. It's not uncommon for them to have poor welds holding the two halves together. I poor weld can puncture the tube. My father went through this for years.

If you go the flat proof route make sure you get the correct size, not just tire size but axle as well. My father tried going that route but couldn't get the bearings off the wheel. That's when he came to me. I have the proper tools (bearing separator and hydraulic press). If I was going this route I would look into one of the dual wheel conversion kits. I've seen them on Amazon for less than $50. I don't know how strong the axle is though. It could bend if you tend to load the wheelbarrow up.

The real answer is to buy a Kubota, lol, and not struggle with a wheelbarrow.

[Bill George]

I got tired of WB tire going flat and purchased a new wheel with mounted solid soft no air tire. Had it for 20 years or so, no complaints.

[George Yetka]

When it comes to labor never short yourself. I would pick up a premium wheel.

When I bought my current property I bought a utility quad after the first time I weeded and had to pull a gorilla cart 1000' uphill to the back woods 20 times. I bought it the day after I finished everything hurt. Now air in the tires is pretty irrelevant. I financed it for 2 years at less than 1% so it didnt hurt too bad.

[George Yetka]

As far as the hack goes. If you are moving garden clipping and other light stuff it may work fine. but fillit with dirt/stone/concrete and I think it will flatten pretty quickly. you can pretty easily flatten it by hand when its solid.

[Bill George]

I purchased the solid tire on the new wheel 20 years ago for use down to our lake place. Its moved a lot of dirt and gravel where my ATV or tractor could not get in with my trailer. The was the same WB my dad had on the farm back in the 1960’s.

[Tom M King]

I found a flat tire on the front of my three year old lawnmower when I went to cut some grass today. No leak found, but I ordered some tubes. I'll try to remember to take and post some pictures of the process. 16x6.50-8 I'll test more thoroughly for a leak when I take the wheel and tire off. I'm sure these tires are thicker than wheelbarrow tires, and I really expected more than three years before leakdown, but I guess they're like everything else these days.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I was excited to mow last weekend. The tire pump was utilized right away. It is so dry and dusty that I stopped mowing right away. A red flag fire alert is in affect. Rain is in the forecast. The tire pump and various patch kits & plugs remain handy. I hope I can mow this weekend.

[Jim Becker]

I found a flat tire on the front of my three year old lawnmower when I went to cut some grass today. No leak found, but I ordered some tubes. I'll try to remember to take and post some pictures of the process. 16x6.50-8 I'll test more thoroughly for a leak when I take the wheel and tire off. I'm sure these tires are thicker than wheelbarrow tires, and I really expected more than three years before leakdown, but I guess they're like everything else these days.
I need to get the rears on my ZTR tubed, honestly. They are getting "leaky" for sure, likely just due to their age. I could certainly replace them, but the cost is high...tubing at this point is a lot more attractive.

[Tom M King]

I have wheelbarrow tires that I know are something over 20 years old that are still working because they have tubes in them. These were the front tires only three years old on this mower. I think they're probably a lot thinner than the rear ones. I'll put tubes in the rears if they start leaking before they're worn out, but for now, I'm kind of curious how long that will be anyway, so will just wait on them.

It might take a sledge hammer to break the beads on the rear ones. I have put a board on a tire and driven the tractor front wheel up on it to break the bead loose. The rear tires are probably big enough that you don't have to take one side of the tire over the rim to get a tube in them.