Export thread

I had an interesting situation with my new SD60. After cutting grass for the first time and "playing" with my new ZTR for a week or so, I discovered a completely flat left front castor tire. I checked all the tires for proper air pressure and found the right front had about 8 PSI in it. The max listed on the tire was 28 PSI. I put 8 PSI back into the Left , assuming the dealer knew the correct PSI needed. I also had read that less PSI would result in a better cutting ride on the SD 60. The tire went flat again in about a day. I was upset to think about dealing with Warranty work already. I then put 20 PSI in both front tires. The left lost air pressure again and was down to about 12 PSI by the next day. I refilled it and was calling about the warranty repair with the dealer. The tire has now remained at 20 PSI now for over a month. All I can figure is that the tire never had enough initial pressure to "seal" the bead properly on the wheel. Maybe someone here has an answer that makes better sense or that has experienced a similar situation. I love my new SD 60 and look forward to many years with it.

If it was mine I would of found the air leak in the very first place and not even think of warranty unless it was a factory defect. I run 8 PSI in my castor tires but I also have inner tubes in them. If you aren't set up to do tire work why not just bring the wheel and tire to the dealer instead of the whole mower.

I would have just took the tire to my tire guy. Tires won't be covered under warranty..

RDA.Lawns said:

I would have just took the tire to my tire guy. Tires won't be covered under warranty..

Click to expand...

I am thinking the same thing unless its a defective tire or wheel. Its a new mower so I really think it wouldn't hurt the dealer to help the customer. This is the reason to find the leak first, but not everybody is set up to do tire work.

I would think if you bought it from a dealer he would just put a new tire mounted on a new rim to have a happy customer.

RDA.Lawns said:

I would have just took the tire to my tire guy. Tires won't be covered under warranty..

Click to expand...

Exactly, and if a warranty IS in order, the customer, more often than not, quickly becomes the enemy.

And speaking of tires, as early as 2009 John Deere used tires on some new equipment that my tire repair shop will not attempt to patch because of some kind of internal cloth like material. I was told a tube was required and went that direction. 6 bucks installed at Farmer's CO-OP. Can't beat that price.

Hard to beat farmers co op I use a co-op for my tires chemicals and many parts.

I tested the tire myself and saw no signs of any leak. I was in the process of discussions with the dealer about returning just the tire when it resolved itself. Thanks for all the advice and I'll keep a close eye on it thru the winter as it sits in the garage.

Wimpy tires of today.:laughing:
This one , on a 4 wheel trailer , still held air after being towed 6 miles to an auction.

On a more serious note, as many have discovered, those with a leak of just a few pounds, over say week to 10 days, are very difficult to locate the leak even when submerged in water.

I had a tire on a tandem disk that leaked at the seam where the 2 halves of the wheel had been welded together.

My Kubota tractor leaks air on right rear wheel where the lugs are welded to the wheel. Took me a month to find that leak.

Then I do tire work in my shop I always clean the wheel bead with a wire brush after the tire is off. Then when I install the tire I use a product called bead sealer. This comes in a can with a brush built into the cans top. If you don't do much tire work a can of this will last for a long time. I also find that a little of this sealer around the valve stem also helps. I always install new stems with any tire work.

RDA.Lawns said:

My Kubota tractor leaks air on right rear wheel where the lugs are welded to the wheel. Took me a month to find that leak.

Click to expand...

Now that you mentioned it, and my memory being similar to a computer in that the information is all there but sometimes i just have trouble accessing it.:laughing: Thanks for jogging the memory a little.

This is where the disk wheel leaked ( I buffed and repaired internally with J B Weld ) and it was a lawn tractor tire I should have said in my earlier post.

Those guys at Farmer's CO-OP are good.

Here is what happened to mine. Carried it to the co-op the wire welded the lugs and I went ahead and purchased a new tire while it was broke down.

reynoldston said:

Then I do tire work in my shop I always clean the wheel bead with a wire brush after the tire is off. Then when I install the tire I use a product called bead sealer. This comes in a can with a brush built into the cans top. If you don't do much tire work a can of this will last for a long time. I also find that a little of this sealer around the valve stem also helps. I always install new stems with any tire work.

Click to expand...

Same story.
I use a scotchbrite disc unless there is heavy rusting.
Not a big fan of bead sealer but there is a tub of it in the workshop as a last resort.
Do have to use it on really old tyres that are quite hard because most blokes would rather I remove their testicles than fit a new tyre.

i fill the tires in all my machines with 'tire slime' and never worry about leaks again.

turboawd said:

i fill the tires in all my machines with 'tire slime' and never worry about leaks again.

Click to expand...

Would never use that stuff in a car or truck, but it's fine for low speed machines like mowers and tractors.


Leaks can be a real pain to find on low pressure tires. Even professionals will tell you that. Sometimes you can over-inflate and find the leak, but it's easier just to squirt a little slime into them. Ba-da-bing, end of problem.

I've never had any luck with the "slime-type" products.......I bite the bullet N Buy an inner-tube .. problem over !! ..:mur: ..:thumbsup:

I agree that stuff is a mess if it has been used and a tire needs replacing on that rim.

NorthBama said:

I agree that stuff is a mess if it has been used and a tire needs replacing on that rim.

Click to expand...

But tire slim sure is a cheap and easy fix for a home owner without any tire repair skills.

So how many times have yo pulled off a tyre & found a pound of slime in a big blob stuck inside the tyre where it formed a skin over winter.

bertsmobile1 said:

So how many times have yo pulled off a tyre & found a pound of slime in a big blob stuck inside the tyre where it formed a skin over winter.

Click to expand...

Never, I just rinse them out with water, no problems. I use the green tire slim in my own ATV and mower tires when I am in a location I can't fix them. We run the ATV's at speeds of 50 to 60 MPH without any problems with the slim in the tires. The stuff is great.

I have slime in 4 of my 5 mowers. Been working good for me .

RDA.Lawns said:

I have slime in 4 of my 5 mowers. Been working good for me .

Click to expand...

I must have used the wrong brands or.......... I Probably was holding my mouth wrong ....( LOL )
Actually I think my tires are too dry-rotted and they leak through all over .. have loads of tread on the tires but the sidewalls are really cracked ...Florida sunlight from what I'm told .. They came on the mower when I bought it , hell ...they may be 10 years old
I have no idea ... in the meantime the tubes are doin their job !! time to check around for a good used set.....Boobala

My oldest mower has sidewalls you could poke a finger through with little effort. Lol It has a few plugs and slime. I'm going to replace it soon. If I do keep it it has to have a set of tires. Its a 09 zmaster she's been a good mower. My first new ztr I've ever purchased. She has over 3k hours on it.

Funny this thread began with SD60 left front tire going down. Mine went down from day one. Air it up, couple of days later, flat. Considering I wasn't mowing every day as a lot of you, I just aired it up but wasn't all that happy about it considering a new tire on a new mower.

After three years of airing it up to fifty pounds and squirting it with extremely soapy water without so much as a single bubble. I decided to remove the wheel and tire, put it into the sink and use pure soap. Yes Sir, found the problem, a super thin cut that was done on the delivery trailer's ramp that has a piece of angle sticking up that has cut quite a few tires when the dealer delivered mowers. The abrasion wasn't even visible until I had the wheel in my hand.

About a month ago in anticipation of mowing, while I had it off, I put a tube in it . No mas problemo!

I eliminated 2 front tires on my 4 ztrs. Switched them out with the semi solid tires before they ever cut any grass.

RDA,

Did you ride it before you changed the tires and how much if any difference in ride between the semi-pneumatic and the pneumatic tires you removed?

Thanks in advance,

Max

The semi solid tires are a bit rougher. Nothing to bad.

My Hustler will give your spleen bruises. lol

All my mowers have the upgraded seats. Toro calls them air ride seats lol

Mine has the upgrade seat as well. I'd hate to think what it would be like without it. The Ferris is looking more desirable every day.

I actually ran 1 of my mowers 2 weeks without the upgraded seat. My local dealer didn't have 1 in stock after saying he did. He sent my mower to the shop while we were doing the paper work. About 10 mins later a guy from the shop came into the office. Said we don't have a seat I told my dealer right there to give my check back and I'd go buy my mower somewhere else. He ended up refunding me 300$ but had to wait on the seat to come in. It defiantly makes a huge difference.

I'm probably going to make some suspension upgrades on this yellow monster. It needs a suspension as the lack of one makes it a miserable ride.

I had a leak on my right front castor tire,green slimed it and all has been well since last Summer,its messy but by the time i will have to replace the tire,i will just get the tire and wheel assembly all in one if the wheel is rusted...Im not that cheap

Was also looking into airless tires but I heard they ride pretty hard and this machine needs soft front tires,north east lawns are all pretty rough up here.

I'm going to do the foam filled tires on one of my mowers. Buddy came over to get me to show him how to do it last summer. He ran his all summer and he swears he'd run his car with them if he thought he could.

Works great on two wheel dollies also.

Foam seems like it would have some flex to it,you think that spray foam in a can would work,bet it would,gets pretty firm...fill em up,and cut the excess off that expanded out of the bead.
Guess you could take the valve stem out and fill it that way too,but might have to drill another hole or two so it fills evenly around.

I have watched many youtube video about this and the expanding foam just breaks down in short order and you have nothing left to hold up the tires. Replace the tires is the only option after you destroy them to fill them.

Before you fill them with expanding foam, you need to break down some Styrene foam in very small chunks, break down one bead, fill the tire completely full of the Styrene, put the bead back on, then fill the tire with expanding around Styrene and it will run for years. I've seen several doing it and haven't had any break downs.

You can drill small holes around the sidewall on one side, but, very small. You want the foam to have a place to expand into. You can then shove a tire plug into each hole, cut them off smooth with the sidewall and you've cut off oxygen, dirt, water, etc. from helping break down the foam.

I've got a fairly new sd raptor 36" and it seems one of the front castor tires has a leak. The left tire has almost 10 psi? The right side seems to be my problem. I'm not sure what the correct tire pressure is supposed to be? The the tire says max 40 psi but I only put in about 20 psi.

20 is to much 10 to 15 is good mine are under 10 at about 8

I just fill em enough so they ride nice..prolly no more than 6-8 psi.is my guess.

The book on my Raptor SD 54" recommends 8 - 12 psi front and rear.
I tried 15 and it is a rough ride.

Tom,

I wonder if covering the yard in shaving cream would smooth out the ride and make the blades stand up better to get a smoother cut as well? Just think how clean the bottom of the deck would be as well?

By the way, for all those fellas that holler my mower is never dirty. It was wet today. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

I suppose I should have taken a photo five minutes later, but then, y'all have already seen how it usually looks.

The drilled belt / pulley covers actually worked flawlessly. Thanks for making the first modification on your belt covers, Tom.

Max

mhavanti said:

By the way, for all those fellas that holler my mower is never dirty. It was wet today. Nasty, nasty, nasty.View attachment 31985View attachment 31984

I suppose I should have taken a photo five minutes later, but then, y'all have already seen how it usually looks.

Max

Click to expand...

Look anything like this.
Its been so wet here mowing the last couple weekends, this is what my Super Z looks like right now.

Any one know if the front castor wheels are tubeless? My tire has a slow leak again?

Bigmks said:

Any one know if the front castor wheels are tubeless? My tire has a slow leak again?

Click to expand...

pretty sure they're tubeless. i bought a gallon of tire slime and filled all the tires. i've done this in the past on other mchines and never worry about air leaks. you can buy slime at walmart.

slime seems to be holding up well thus far!

DK35vince said:

Look anything like this.
Its been so wet here mowing the last couple weekends, this is what my Super Z looks like right now.

Click to expand...

Vince,

I think you won! lol

I just use the temporary fix slime in the can,seems to do a great job,when it gets a little soft in a few weeks i just give it another shot..no biggie.

Might just tube it eventually but the slime works great!