Tire story

I have a 1950 8N that I got about three years ago. I was told the tires were all put on new about ten years earlier. One of the rears was loaded and other dry, didn't know that at the time. But this isn't the topic of my tale.

A couple of weeks ago I used it shredding my pasture, about 7 acres or so, taking an acre at a time after work. One of the front tires went flat after sitting overnight and wouldn't hold air. The fronts were both pretty weather cracked and I decided to replace rather than try and repair. So, I went to a local ag tire dealer and bought a couple of new tires and tubes and thought I would change them myself. The new tires were made in Taiwan and the tubes were Carlisle branded, made in China. Yeah, I know, but what can you do?

The tires were actually much better looking than the originals on the tractor when I got it. Much thicker sidewalls and just better built. The tubes were a little thin but I gave them a try anyway. The first one split in the middle next to the rim after one day. Didn't even make one rotation. I broke it down and there it was, the rims were not rusty and didn't have any sharp places. I thought I may have pinched it but not really. While I'm thinking about what to do, the other one did the same thing about two days later. Hmmm... Since I put them on myself, and not wanting to deal with the dealer anyway, I went shopping and found some at TSC here in Lubbock. Yep, China again, but these were much thicker, a lot thicker and heavier. I put them in and so far so good. I have run them about four hours and no leakage that I can see.

Oh, my dad had taught me to do tube type tires a certain way. He would use baby powder in new ones if they weren't already coated. Air it up just enough to seat the bead, let the air out and "shake" it around so the tube could center itself better, and air it up again. The beads are close together and as they seat they spread, stretching the center of the tube between the beads. Left that way they are thinner and can split, like mine did.

I know this is kinda rambling, but I see the frustration with new tubes now that everyone has been griping about. I know a lot of things TSC sells are being questioned, but these tubes were much better than the name brand ones at the dealer. I think his were old anyway. I will tell him about it sometime, but it was worth another $30 to me not to have the irritation.

Rubber products are about the hardest material to be able to look at and tell the quality. No test that I know of to tell the level of rot resistance or, as you discovered, the quality of the seams.

The worst I've seen was a tube for an electric scooter. Bought it sight unseen online (wouldn't have bought it if I looked at it). It was a gray, slick plastic material. Put it in, aired it up, 10 minutes later it was flat. Took it out and the seams were separated. There was no stretch to the material, the seams could be pulled apart with minimal effort.

Another example was a set of acetylene torch hoses. They looked good, felt good, worked great... For about a year! They rotted away, cracked and leaked where the fittings were crimped on.

I have a tire on my mixer grinder that has 15 patches on the tube. It's an old USA made tube so I'm not replacing it until the patches leak! It was low the other day. I guess I will fix it again.

I put tires on the small stock trailer - bias ply. I asked what my options were. Six different tires, all made in China. One of them has leaked from the first day. I just add some air when I use it.