Got another flat. It’s like $75 for a puncture proof wheelbarrow tire from Northern. Anyone have one of these? Worth it? I can get a new tire for about $10, a new tire and rim for about $20, or the puncture proof w/ rim for $75.
It’s not that I think I’ll get 8 flats over the life of the wheelbarrow (to justify the pucture proof). It’s more about the aggravation factor. You never seem to get a flat at the end of the job…. it’s always right when you need it most.
Maybe I’ll just get a new tire for $10 and another tire/rim combo for $20 so I can get through a job. Unless that one pops……. aaaarrrrggghhh. Most of what I use a wheelbarrow for is probably high risk… for wheelbarrows anyway. Not much dirtwork, but more for cleaning up stripped roofs or mixing concrete on jobsites.
Why am I struggling with this? I should just bite the bullet and get the $75 tire. That way I know I’ll break the handles on my wheelbarrow on the next job. 😉
Replies
spend the 75 . you can move the tire to the next wheelbarrow , and the one after that
Somewhere I saw a product that you squirt into the tire and it expands and becomes like a solid tire. Or maybe I just thought it would be a good idea.
Anyway, I have a solid tire on my wheelbarrow. no flats for years. I got tired on hearing the cement truck coming in the distance and looking at the flat tire on my wheelbarrow.
I got tired on hearing the cement truck coming in the distance and looking at the flat tire on my wheelbarrow.
LOL... yeah that pretty much sums it up.View Image
get it foam filled at a local tire joint..never go flat again. Or DIY w/ great stuff.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" the best investment in life, is a handle on love''
I'm thinking that highly flammable Great Stuff may be a dangerous endeavour for a monkey like me. Me and highly flammable substances under pressure don't get along so good.
I wonder if "Tire Slime" would work? I used it in a little garden tractor tire one time and it worked pretty good.
Actual tire foam from a tire joint is pretty expensive stuff. I got a quote on my forklift's four tires that was around $2000. Granted the scales are way out of balance, but I still wonder if they'd bother. Think they would?View Image
I like Green slime for my lawn tractor, ez and cheap. That works for briars and such, buy my wheel barrows seem to find re-mesh spikes..that sucks and slime wont do it.
Flammable? is GS flammable? geeeezeus I coulda been a deadster! LOL.
Tire shop ought not be more than 20 bucks, unless ya piss em off, by calling them tire monkeys or sum such..( but, I don't know about that for shure, my boat trailer tire cost 50 for foam, and a new tire w/ rim was only 30..go figure).
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" the best investment in life, is a handle on love''
You're not supposed to call them tire monkeys, huh? I'll have to remember that.
You made it, huh? I lost track of the thread.... the courthouse. How'd it go?View Image
I got tire patches and MONKEY GRIP glue.
Brian - I bought green slime tubes for all my wheelbarrows about 5 years ago (got em at Lowes for about $10/ea). Haven't had a flat in all that time. In fact, I've got two spare tires that I tubed at the same time sitting on a shelf in the garage.I've got two 2-wheeled wheel barrows I recently bought that have bigger tires. I could only find one Green Slime tube to fit when I bought them. Thanks for reminding me to get three more.Birth, school, work, death.....................
http://grantlogan.net/
A guy that works with me bought one last year, I spent all day giving him a hard time about spending that much money on a wheel. I was really busting on him. The following day I got a nail in my tire and it went flat. I still said I am not spending that much on a new tire. Fixed the flat and did it again that afternoon. On my way home I stoped and got one for myself. It was well worth it. But I he is the one still busting on me. However I think it was only $50.
One of the MAsons at StoneHenge used Dale's hand truck in a bad way ( instead of YOUR wheeled barrow) and trashed it hard.
Next day or so it was replaced...that is class in my book.
Them guys were good at the ethics of job site decorum.
BTW pencil me off for Mon. next week please.
And in the very near future, I need a fri and mon on the same weekend, Mom took a spell for the worse.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" the best investment in life, is a handle on love''
when my brand new tire blew out on the highway going 70 mph I called them much worst then tire monkeys...
turns out they sold me passanger rated tires for my truck, I only had about 600 lbs in of granite in the bed at the time, so I don't think the actual rating of the tire had anything to do with it, however, a tire going "poof" at speed put me in a foul mood. Coupled with the fact I didn't make fully off to the shoulder, rear end was just over the line so I had to call a cop to sit in back of me, and it was cold and rainy....
When I found out they sold me tires that were not even close the weight rating my truck called for, (Big visable sign in door jamb) it only added fuel to the fire.
Hey Sphere, have you tried foaming a tire with GS? I'm curious.
I once shot some can foam into an enclosed area and it never really expanded... mostly stayed liquid. Big mess. Ended up using two part foam...now that's fun sh*t!PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
I do it almost every year, I hate them flat spots from storage times..like winter.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" the best investment in life, is a handle on love''
I tried that with great stuff, did not end well.
nuff said..my line is thumped. Don't ask.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" the best investment in life, is a handle on love''
Brian. In April-05, 37.54 for a solid with rim. Fits like the old one. From American Tire I believe, purchased at a local general store.
For the previous 15 yrs or so, original tire-added a tube in.............very satisfied with the tube added, no flat because of broken seal after slooooooooooooooow leaking.
The solid is good, but pushing it is not as comfortable. With the right air in a tubed tire you can maneuver over unlevel ground easily, the tire takes the small jogs without altering the trajectory of the push. With the solid, you fight the no give a bit more. I personally like the air/tube better, but what the hell.......as often as I hope to use on uneven ground anymore I guess I won't mind.
This was on an old Jackson deep cont. barrow.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
roofers, drywallers and HVAC guys are the bane of the wheelbarrow tire. truck tires too I guess. I put on set of Michellins ($$$) and the very next morning I go out to admire my new tires and see a shiny little screwhead sticking out of one. Thinking it's a little 1/4" long sheetmetal screw and I don't like it ruining the look of my new tires, I grab a vise-grip and pull it out. gee, it's pretty long.........psssssssssssssssssssss.
psssssssssd me off.
I've got you beat! Last week I pulled a LIVE .223 bullet out of my trailer tire.John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
I bought a solid rubber one for about 38 a couple of years ago. I might flinch at 75 but this one has sure been worth it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
While it is nice to know this one won't go flat at an inopportune moment, I do miss the smooth ride of a tubed tire. My rubber on the tire was so cracked I needed a new one and that made the decision. I use it around the house and on occasion on the job. I think on a daily basis I might have bought a spare air had I known the different ride of a flatless.
But nothing harms the relaxing recline of a good wheel barrow.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Sometimes I wonder about emptying a can of great stuff into a wheelbarrow tire. How hard can it bee to make a leak-proof tire?
zak
Home Depot also sells them. I have one and am very happy with it.
Remember how much you paid for it at HD?View Image
"Remember how much you paid for it at HD?"
I told my wife to buy me one for my birthday.
I was too cheap to spend the money myself but was really tired of the wheelbarrow always having a flat tire everytime I wanted to use it. Next birthday, I guess I will just have to ask her to buy me one for the other wheel barrow.
Harbor Freight has a 15in. "flat proof" wheelbarrow tire listed on their website for $39.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91015
Thanks... that might be just the ticket.
Got lots of good advice in this thread. Thanks for humoring me gents. I'm thinking I'm gonna order one of the Harbor Freight deals, and try the green tire slime in my flat. Hopefully that'll get me some miles.View Image
Brian , a place in Worcester, Ken Jones tire can fill them with soft rubber so they still have give to them.
http://www.kenjones.com/index.asp?pgid=8They do it to tractor and loader tires and show you that you can stick nails and bolts thru them and not hurt the tire.We had it done to the bobcat a while back $150.00 a tire need to get the lull done. goes without saying, less for smaller tires.David <!----><!---->
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An option that doesn't look like it has been covered might be to buying a tube to insert into the tire. It will eliminate one common source of leaks, rust or a dent at the rim. A tube is cheap, about $5 or so, and easy to patch if it ever does get a nail in it.
A tube also preserves the cushioning and rolling characteristics of the air filed units. Some foam filled, puncture-proof, units are about as good but at $75, I think I saw one at HD for $55, but the payback is is in the next lifetime unless you use it all the time or can sell it to someone who does.
Having one, or DIY, foamed in is an option but the foam can end up uneven, lumpy, and if parked with a load can develop a nasty flat spot. Also you lose some of the cushioning aspect. You can go over a 2by laying flat with a load of concrete and barely feel it with a air filled tire. Foamed in, and some stiff puncture proof ones, make it feel like you hit a wall as they have little 'give'.
Not a terrible trade off if the 'hired help' is taking the beating. Working for yourself every shock and strain wears on muscles and joints. It can beat you down and take the joy out of building. Every little insult counts and takes its toll. Tough guys who neglect their bodies can be seriously hurting when that bill comes due. Too often I see the 'my body can take it types' showing up a decade later limping, stiff and bent like Quasimodo. Something to consider.
Just my 2 cents worth.
'bout time ya spoke up,,,I for one missed yer inputs.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" the best investment in life, is a handle on love''
Don't even try foaming the tire. It will just smoosh down and make a lumpy flat tire. My local harbor freight had a pile of yellow airless wheel barrow tires in the clearance isle. They were something like 25 or 35 bucks. I picked one up and bounced it around, seems OK.
Thanks.
I got one for about $40 from my local lumber store. It's great, I didn't opt for the yellow one though.
Just buy it.
Now I know I should be more on top of things, but the final straw for me was when I heard the concrete truck whining up the street for my pour (which for some reason always strikes dread in my heart)and I finally took time to check my wheelbarrow tire. Well, you know how that one ended, don't you?
8 yards isn't that bad a pour, but it sure goes quicker with 2 wheelbarrows. :-)
Mike
take a look at Lee Valley....they tire and rim (#XP230) for $39.50
75 bucks?
you're getting bent over.
I bought two for our wheelbarrows a few months ago for about 30 bucks a pop.
another thing.... even if it was 75, how much time do you spend getting the tire changed and down time as a result...
The time prior to purchasing the two solid tires, the wheelbarrow on a job went flat, it took the guy an hour to get it replaced and cost abour 15 bucks... that cost the company around 50 bucks right there.... the next one that went flat I went to HD and bought one for each, even though one of them had a good tire I swapped it out...
Ever notice the tires blow at about the worst time? never again.
Edited 3/21/2006 9:05 pm ET by CAGIV
I'm gonna check HD tomorrow. Didn't even think to look there. That's nuts about your truck tires... I'd be fit to be tied too.View Image
Just looked into the latest Lee Valley catalog and what do you know, on page 18 there is a "Universal Flat-free Tire and rim" Item "XP230" for $39.50. Comes with a variety of bearings and shaft bushings.
Flat free for substantially less than $75. I can't vouch for the tire itself I can for the company. Top notch and they seem to sell only good products. Their customer service is first rate and returns are not an issue.
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&cat=2,44639,33271,53703&p=53703
Lee Valley.... would never have thought to look there either. I love their catalogs, but most of their stuff just sits on my wish list... $$$$. I do manage to snap up a few good deals from them from time to time. I agree... super company.View Image
What is a framing gang's principal use of a wheelbarrow on site? What are the other uses?
You permitted to burn your scrap?
Gene,
Yes, I'd say about 95% of my work is framing where a wheelbarrow wouldn't have any place. But I do find myself assisting in the occasional concrete pour for pay or at my own house.... mostly just footings, but the occasional slab too.
A wheelbarrow might also make an appearance on my site for something like a roof tie in. We do some additions and part of my scope would entail stripping part of a roof to facilitate the marriage of the new and old roof framing. Or demo jobs that we take on occasion to fill a slow spot or as part of an addition/renovation. A wheelbarrow is not something we use everyday, by any means, but certainly makes a few appearances.View Image
I even like a wheelbarrow for moving tools. There have been times where I am going to set up a work area in a back yard and there is a WB handy. I'll load up the skil saw, compressor, nailers, hoses, cords, fasteners, lunch box, and rest some folding horses on the handles. One stop shopping!
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Marathon, maybe already mentioned, but here is their site.
http://www.marathonind.com/Products/wheelbarrow-tires.htm