Leaking tires... tube or replace? If replace, which tire?

[GearHead36]

I have a 2016 Cub Cadet Pro Z 100S (steering wheel). It's a commercial mower with just over 400 hrs. One the tires has a slow leak. The other 3... have VERY slow leaks. The fastest leaking tire needs air about every week. The other 3... about every month.

Given that the tires are 9 yrs old, should I just go ahead and replace them? Or tube them? 3 of the 4 still have good tread. One of the fronts is more worn, and no, that's not the one with the worst leak. I'm guessing that it's been replaced. The tires don't sit in the sun now, but I suspect that they did until I bought it two years ago.

If I should replace... which tires? Go back with the original Carlisle Turf Masters? Are there any other tire that would be better?

I got a steering wheel ZTR because of the hills & slopes on my property, so I need something with good traction.

 

[Auto Doc's]

Take them to a tire shop and confirm the slow leaks, they my just need new valve stems. If tread is good, put tubes in as long as the tire is not badly dry cracked and rotted.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Take them to a tire shop and confirm the slow leaks, they my just need new valve stems. If tread is good, put tubes in as long as the tire is not badly dry cracked and rotted.

Just know that as soon as you hit a nail, stob, etc. and pop the tire, you will be back to square one and have to remove and replace inner tube.

 

[GearHead36]

Just know that as soon as you hit a nail, stob, etc. and pop the tire, you will be back to square one and have to remove and replace inner tube.

Tubes can be patched, can't they? I used to patch bicycle tires when I got flats.

 

[Oddjob]

Tubes can be patched, can't they? I used to patch bicycle tires when I got flats.

They can absolutely be patched. But getting a tube in and out of a small tire/wheel is not nearly as easy as a bike tire. Also, beware, the bike patch kits you find at Walmart or the like are junk. Do yourself a favor and buy high quality rubber cement and patches. I always tube my leaking tires if they have good tread and aren’t badly dry rotted. If you have to patch, inspect the inside of the tire for any nail, wire, thorn etc that may have punctured the tire or you’ll be doing another patch in a day or two. I learned that lesson as a ten-year-old who made popsicle money fixing flats. As another member noted, you may just have leaking valve stems, so check those before you do anything else. My father showed me how to test valve stems: dab some spit on the end of the valve stem and see if it bubbles. If it does, you can tighten it with a valve tool. Used to be that tires came with dust caps that had the tool built in, but nowadays you probably need to buy one. If tightening doesn’t work, unscrew it and replace with a known good valve. New ones are cheap but even cheaper are valve stems from trashed tires. All Schrader valve stems are pretty much interchangeable. Leaky tires are a PITA. Hope you get this fixed asap.

 

[Projectnut]

As mentioned, take them to a tire shop and have them leak tested in a water tank. If they're leaking around the rim or at the valve stem, they can easily be fixed. If they leak through the side walls it's time to replace them. My experience is that almost all mower tires last 10 to 13 years. After that the sidewalls start leaking. It's not worth the effort to put tubes in them only to have the tires disintegrate within another year or so.

 

[rickpaulos]

I test my lawn and garden wheels in a big tub of water, bigger than the wheel. Leaks are usually very obvious, air bubbling out. I've had the trifecta, leaks through the side wall (trash), leaks from punctures (usually from bits of fence wire), leaks around the valve stem. Leaking valve cores are easily replaced. I've seen some tire stores have a big lever to hold large tires under the water.

Yeah, the smaller the wheel, the harder it is to change a tire. I have some with bolted together rims that are very easy to change the tires & tubes. On some equipment it costs about the same to buy a whole new wheel with tire vs just a tire. My local farm & home store gets their lawn and garden tires tightly bundled together so they are quite deformed. That makes it even harder to install and inflate. I won't buy those anymore.

 

[Auto Doc's]

"Old man trick" to seat a small tire on the rim is a very quick burst of starting fluid into the tire inside, wait a couple of seconds then carefully light it with a small propane torch. A quick flame and pop, it's seated. It takes practice the first couple of times

I also have a cheap manual tire changer from Harbor Freight that works fairly well to demount and mount small tires. My local tire shop hates small tires, especially front rider mower tires, I change my own. Aside from that, tire shops have gotten very expensive in my area.

If you are going to do tires, replace all the valve stems regardless They dry rot with age. Don't use any cheap bargain valve stems from Amazon or Ebay unless you are looking to replace them again in less than a year. (I learned that the hard way). A tire shop carries good ones that work.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

I wish all of these lawn tractor wheels were bolt toge

I test my lawn and garden wheels in a big tub of water, bigger than the wheel. Leaks are usually very obvious, air bubbling out. I've had the trifecta, leaks through the side wall (trash), leaks from punctures (usually from bits of fence wire), leaks around the valve stem. Leaking valve cores are easily replaced. I've seen some tire stores have a big lever to hold large tires under the water.

Yeah, the smaller the wheel, the harder it is to change a tire. I have some with bolted together rims that are very easy to change the tires & tubes. On some equipment it costs about the same to buy a whole new wheel with tire vs just a tire. My local farm & home store gets their lawn and garden tires tightly bundled together so they are quite deformed. That makes it even harder to install and inflate. I won't buy those anymore.

I wish all small wheels were 2 piece bolted . I was assigned a army jeep in 1959 with 2 piece wheels , easy .