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

To find leaks in tires I use an old dish detergent bottle filled with water and a little bit of dish detergent. I squirt the water/dish detergent mix over the tire and valve stem and look for the spot(s) on the tire that are "blowing" bubbles. Tiny leaks will be tiny bubbles so they maybe be a bit harder to see.

I have found a product called "Flat Out" to work really well in my tractor tires. I can't personally say what it is like to remove/replace a tire after having used Flat Out, but people say you just wash it off with water.

Buy new, you'll get lots of years out of them. Not going to keep it that long, tubes are a cheaper alternative. If badly dry rotted and side cracked, new would be the best. If installing tubes, I always remove the tire, make sure its clean and smooth inside and grind off any weld splatter inside the wheel. I hate installing a tube and having it pop right off the bat. If replacing and ordering by mail, the tires may come flattened in a box. This makes it a bi... to install and bead to pop on. I will place in a WARM oven to soften and wrap a strap around to stretch it. Sometimes I get extra hands to mount. I've tried the BOOM method and burnt the hair from my arms. Too risky for this Hillbilly.

Gosh ya'll like to work hard. I'm Lazy. If tire has Weather Cracks, get a squirt can full of ATF.(the cheap kind)
Remove the wheel and then the Schrader Valve. Squirt about 1/4 cup in the tire.
Swirl it around all sides of the tire, let sit on each side for a couple of hours.
Install Valvestem and air it up. This can work for Months at a time. I'm not sure Why it works, I guess the ATF has some chemical interaction with dried rubber.

Hi biggertv,

Tire rubber and ATF are both petroleum-based products. The ATF will fill in the dry cracking and swell the cracks shut. It's an old tire shop trick from many years past. It will work until the tire totally gives out and rots apart.

It won't do anything for a bad valve stem though.

If you don't have the money for new tires, put a wood block under the axle so the tire doesn't crease when it goes down. Then inflate to lift the mower off the block. I had old neighbor on social security that could afford a new tire right then, but the block trick kept her going for a few months. She did have a compressor her husband left her when he died.

I think I'm going to try the ATF trick first. I have the money for tires, but I'd like to get the property free of hazards before I go buying new tires. Hopefully that trick will get me another season.

rhkraft said:

If you don't have the money for new tires, put a wood block under the axle so the tire doesn't crease when it goes down. Then inflate to lift the mower off the block. I had old neighbor on social security that could afford a new tire right then, but the block trick kept her going for a few months. She did have a compressor her husband left her when he died.

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I have an older ZTR with bagger that I keep for leaf collection. It has a leak on one tire, and I do this wood block trick. If the tire goes completely flat, the bead will be broken.