How To Repair A Tractor Tire Puncture

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**Delight welcome Deborah from Grace Garden and Homestead. I am a tiny-winy jealous of this farmer's married woman since she gets to farm 500 acres aslope her husband. 500 acres! Can yous believe this? It's like owning the whole USA. It seems like nosotros share the love of the land as well as the dearest for tractors, LOL. Today, she will teach united states of america how to patch a tractor tire.

When you lot go a flat tire on your tractor, it basically shuts you down. At this point, yous've got two options. The first option is to wait for someone else to fix it—which can take a 24-hour interval or two and hundreds of dollars…

The 2nd option yous've got is to do information technology yourself—if you know how. This option saves you lot non simply valuable time but money besides—a lot of money.

On average, we fix half-dozen-ten tires a year on various tractors and implements on our 500-acre family farm plus the custom work we do for others.

An implement tire fix would be nigh $20-40 depending on who nosotros take information technology to. One of the larger (non-fluided) tractor tires would cost u.s.a. $300-400 to have someone else come out and ready it.

Obviously, it's important for us to gear up our own tires equally often as we are able. This is a skill I highly suggest anyone who owns a tractor should gain.

Afterwards you become your tube out of the tire, you volition need:

A mechanical buffer (this is the one we utilize along with the base)
(A note on the mechanical buffer: The buffing disk and base shown and linked to is n ot an actual tire/tube buffing bicycle. We have found it to work simply every bit well, be more than forgiving on the tube, and have numerous other applications.)
A die grinder or cordless drill for your buffer
Dawn dish soap and a spray canteen
Glue and patches—preferably both the same brand (nosotros utilise this and these)
Stitching tool
Core tool
The ways to inflate a tire

Inflate your tube until it's firm. Yous can either listen for a leak after turning off your air compressor or use the dish soap solution to find your leak.

To utilize the dish soap method, put an inch or less of Dawn in your spray bottle and fill the rest with water. Warm water works better because information technology mixes with the soap quicker, but cold will piece of work as well. Swirl the soap and water together, and and then take your spray bottle to your tube.

Use a broad spray to spray the tube until it is wet. (If at whatsoever point you lot detect the leak to be obvious, you can stop spraying.) Look for bubbles emanating from one spot on your tube, that is your leak.

If your leak is slow, you lot may demand to put more air in your tube to find the leak. Using the least amount of pressure that volition all the same result in finding the leak is a good practise, as using too much pressure level tin non only accident up your tube only also increase the size of your pigsty.

Mark your pigsty with chalk, crayon, or any you have.

Now you're going to have to allow the air back out by removing the valve cadre (with your cadre tool).

At this point, find a smooth, flat, make clean area on your driveway or in your shop to move your piece of work to.

Use your buffer to remove the glaze from the tube around your leak. Practice an expanse slightly larger than your patch. Don't over-buff or you will ruin your tube. Keep your buffer moving quickly and cease when information technology becomes blackness in color. Ten seconds is usually more than than enough.

Utilise the glue to the buffed area in a lite layer while making certain information technology covers the entire area. Don't stick anything to it, and permit your mucilage dry out. Really. This can have awhile in cool weather condition. Get go a cup of coffee if yous're doing this in common cold weather condition.

Once your glue has dried, it will still exist slightly tacky when you bear upon it, but it won't transfer to your finger.

Have the bankroll off your patch and centre the newly exposed side of your patch over the pigsty in your tube. At present very firmly (yup, actually) roll your stitching tool back and forth over the patch, starting in the heart, and working your style out. Yous need to do this in various directions until the clear plastic blanket detaches from the front of the patch.

This plastic coating may non completely come off, but rather just come loose in several spots. Once this happens, use your fingers to gently remove and discard it. If it doesn't pull loose easily-keep stitching/rolling until it does.

At present, something caused the hole in your tube. Any debris between the tube and tire, a smash through the tire, a wrinkle in the tube caused past besides large of tube for the tire… All sorts of things can debunk your tire.

Examine the inside of the tire itself advisedly for the cause of the pigsty. Remove any objects inside of, or poking through the tire. If a pigsty through the tire is discovered and so follow the same process to patch the inside of the tire. This is non done to keep air in, just rather to proceed debris out, as even sand grains will eventually article of clothing a new hole in your tube.

Now you can reassemble your tube and tire, install your valve core, and inflate to the proper pressure. I don't recommend checking the integrity of your patch by inflating the tube outside of the tire as this will stretch the tube beyond normal circumstances and could potentially compromise the integrity of the gum/patch bail. Information technology shouldn't, but it could.

Congratulations, you've only saved yourself a couple hundred dollars. Get ahead and become back to work.

Hi! I'1000 Lady Lee. I aid homesteaders simplify their homesteading journey while still producing a ton of food! I am a single mother of four, I was born in Israel and raised in an agricultural commune chosen a Kibbutz. Now I homestead in central NC.