Side Wall punctures on tubeless tires

[jekjr]

A few weeks ago I stuck two pieces of electric fence wire in the side wall on one of the rear ties on my newest Scag Tigercat. It was mid afternoon on Friday and I did not have any plugs on the truck so I took it to the nearest tire shop. The guy at the tire shop told me that they could not plug a side wall puncture and I would have to put a tube in it. He did not have a tube. I load it back up and went to the next town to a tire shop. He also told me that a lug would not work on a side wall puncture.

We put a tube in it. Last week we were in a small town about 25 miles away and the tire went flat. Using my 2 gallon 110 volt air compressor and 2 cycle cheese generator I was able to get enough air into it to load he mower into the trailer. We finished the yard with one mower and came back to the tire store that had put the tube in. I asked him again about plugging it. He again told me that a side wall puncture could not be plugged. I finally talked him into putting a tubeless valve stem back in it and plugging the two holes in the sidewall. It is still holding the right pressure. We punctured e side wall on the other tire last Monday and plugged it in the yard and airs it back up. Both are holding air now.

Have any of you ever experienced a side wall hole and plugged it with satisfactory results?

 

[shiftsuper175607]

A few weeks ago I stuck two pieces of electric fence wire in the side wall on one of the rear ties on my newest Scag Tigercat. It was mid afternoon on Friday and I did not have any plugs on the truck so I took it to the nearest tire shop. The guy at the tire shop told me that they could not plug a side wall puncture and I would have to put a tube in it. He did not have a tube. I load it back up and went to the next town to a tire shop. He also told me that a lug would not work on a side wall puncture.

We put a tube in it. Last week we were in a small town about 25 miles away and the tire went flat. Using my 2 gallon 110 volt air compressor and 2 cycle cheese generator I was able to get enough air into it to load he mower into the trailer. We finished the yard with one mower and came back to the tire store that had put the tube in. I asked him again about plugging it. He again told me that a side wall puncture could not be plugged. I finally talked him into putting a tubeless valve stem back in it and plugging the two holes in the sidewall. It is still holding the right pressure. We punctured e side wall on the other tire last Monday and plugged it in the yard and airs it back up. Both are holding air now.

Have any of you ever experienced a side wall hole and plugged it with satisfactory results?

The pressure is a lot lower than a car tire...the plugs work fine.
Nothing to lose by trying it.

I have had good luck.

 

[reynoldston]

Have any of you ever experienced a side wall hole and plugged it with satisfactory results?

No, never tried it on a mower tire but I have cars without luck. I have to admit if someone came to me I would of given them the same answer you got it wouldn't work. Also I would of tried the tube, just why didn't the tube hold up?

 

[Bob E]

I have old tires on my mower with sidewall cracks bad enough to leak air. I've filled the tires with enough liquid laundry starch (works like slime) to cover the cracks every time they roll around. One tire went from going flat within a couple of hours to loosing a few psi every couple of months. I've been using them like that for going on 3 years now :laughing:

 

[bertsmobile1]

Most important is you use mower tyre plugs and not car tyre plugs.

Reason is car tyre plugs set with the heat generated inthe tyre.
Mower tyres never get hot enough to fully set the adhesive.

The adheasives are totally different as the mower tyre plug is full chemical / solvent reaction requiring no heat.
The plugs themselves are also different.

Like putting a push bike tube patch on the inside of a tubeless tyre, some times you get lucky, most times you don't.
Plugging tyre side walls is illgal in a lot of places and voids the shops insurance should that ntyre suddenly deflate and cause damage to persons or property.

As far as the law goes, idiot DIYer can get away with it because they do not have the knowledge to know any better but a tyre shop will get taken to the cleaners

 

[jekjr]

No, never tried it on a mower tire but I have cars without luck. I have to admit if someone came to me I would of given them the same answer you got it wouldn't work. Also I would of tried the tube, just why didn't the tube hold up?

The tube just got punctured probably a nail or something. Not sure. The problem with us is, running a tubeless tire NORMALLY we have plugs in the tool box and can be up and running in a few minutes. With a punctured tube it has to come off and apart to patch the tube which we would rather not have to do in the field.

We cut a lot of grass many times miles from a tire shop. That is why I prefer to run tubeless if at all possible.

 

[jekjr]

Most important is you use mower tyre plugs and not car tyre plugs. Reason is car tyre plugs set with the heat generated inthe tyre. Mower tyres never get hot enough to fully set the adhesive. The adheasives are totally different as the mower tyre plug is full chemical / solvent reaction requiring no heat. The plugs themselves are also different. Like putting a push bike tube patch on the inside of a tubeless tyre, some times you get lucky, most times you don't. Plugging tyre side walls is illgal in a lot of places and voids the shops insurance should that ntyre suddenly deflate and cause damage to persons or property. As far as the law goes, idiot DIYer can get away with it because they do not have the knowledge to know any better but a tyre shop will get taken to the cleaners

I can see the danger on a car. We try not to run our zero turns on the interstate though so a blow out really is not going to take out too many people.

 

[bertsmobile1]

So you are running across a slope that you should not have been doing, the downhil tyre blows the mower rolls over on top of you and snaps a vertebras.
You are now a parra , quad or deceased.
No action taken against the tyre repairer ?
you have just driven the mower up onto the trailer / flatbed and the out board tyre lets go and it topples off the trailer into the passing traffic, with or without you in the chair.
No litigation ?

For the $ 5.00 of profit in putting in a plug, just not worth the risk for the tyre shop. No matter how unlikely it is to happen.
You put the plug in yourself and the same thing happens, your insurance company will foot the bill because you are a lawncare operator and don't know any better.
You were going to replace the tyre but just forgot about it.

 

[shiftsuper175607]

So you are running across a slope that you should not have been doing, the downhil tyre blows the mower rolls over on top of you and snaps a vertebras.
You are now a parra , quad or deceased.
No action taken against the tyre repairer ?
you have just driven the mower up onto the trailer / flatbed and the out board tyre lets go and it topples off the trailer into the passing traffic, with or without you in the chair.
No litigation ?

For the $ 5.00 of profit in putting in a plug, just not worth the risk for the tyre shop. No matter how unlikely it is to happen.
You put the plug in yourself and the same thing happens, your insurance company will foot the bill because you are a lawncare operator and don't know any better.
You were going to replace the tyre but just forgot about it.

This is the type plug I am talking about. I don't see how it is a problem with 12 lbs of air. Are you talking about the same thing?
You poke this in the hole, pull out the tool quickly, leaving the string/plug and add air.

I had a broken bottle stuck in my tire Friday, I took it out and immediately it went flat. I put a plug in and aired it up and no problems. The next day it was still good. I bought a mower and it has several of the sticking out of the side wall on a back tire. I have not had to add air.


9 Piece Tubeless Tire Repair Kit

 

[reynoldston]

Most important is you use mower tyre plugs and not car tyre plugs.

Reason is car tyre plugs set with the heat generated inthe tyre.
Mower tyres never get hot enough to fully set the adhesive.

The adheasives are totally different as the mower tyre plug is full chemical / solvent reaction requiring no heat.
The plugs themselves are also different.

Like putting a push bike tube patch on the inside of a tubeless tyre, some times you get lucky, most times you don't.
Plugging tyre side walls is illgal in a lot of places and voids the shops insurance should that ntyre suddenly deflate and cause damage to persons or property.

As far as the law goes, idiot DIYer can get away with it because they do not have the knowledge to know any better but a tyre shop will get taken to the cleaners

Any time I have bought tire plugs one plug fits all??? Over here in the great USA I guess the laws are just a little different then Australia seeing we just don't have tire police checking how tires are repaired, our police are just too busy harassing people driving cars to worry about anything else.