Internal cracks inside tire

I have a white 2-70 with BF Goodrich rear tires that have good tread and are not that old. I seem to be having issues with small cracks on the inside of the tire pinching a hole the tube and causing flats. Tire guy says I need to replace the tire. Is there anything else you can do? I put a new tube in with a patch to protect the tube in the area where the crack is located. Any help would be appreciated.

The perfect thing would be a big old for real tire boot. Would you have an old tube around ? Cut a really big chunk out of it, feather the edges, and I would use Weldwood contact cement to glue it in. Also sprinkle a big PUFFF of baby powder around before you put the tube in.

Hi I have Michelin agribibs on my Valtra, one of those was doing similar in the side walls. it had fluid in so it was a pain by the 3rd time we took it off after the tire shop did it the first time. They put the cheap made in China plastic tube in that lasted a month before getting a hole in and you could see other places it was near through the other times we mended it !.

What we did with that in the end was put an expensive thick rubber tube in it, then looked real careful inside the tire for any signs of more places that would give trouble soon. Once you knew what to look for it was easy to find them. I was going to use small tire boots on those spots to, but our local guy said thats to expensive.

He recommended some rectangular patches maybe 2" wide and maybe 4 1/2" long to stick over the new forming bad area's just to stop them rubbing the tube. That tire lasted 2 years like that on our main loader tractor with no further problems. I had an opportunity to get rid of that tire and rim for a good matched one as a straight swap, when my friend put flotations on his tractor so i got rid of the bad one.

Yeah technically the tire guy might be right and what I did depends on how bad the cracks are, mine was 1/4 to 1/2" long at the most. I probably had $60 in patches. $180 in the tube, but way over 2" of lug left on tires that are probably 1500-$2000 + each for good radials to replace them. If I did the backs the fronts needed changing to as it's front assist so i'd a probably been in at $6000 pretty quick. Maybe you can replace yours for a sensible price and just be done with the messing around. Regards Robert

Real easy to sort of fix that. Take an old tube and cut it down the area where it would ride on the rim then lay it in the tire and then put in a new tube. The old tube will protect the new tube and will last a very long time BTDT many times. Years ago one could buy a tire liner which would do the same thing but I have not seen them in years

I had a set of tires on the front of my JD 6400 that started doing that. They had 70% tread yet. I had the tire shop out twice and new tubes just lasted maybe a month or so then back to slow leaking.

JD makes a tire sealer that is made to be ran in the tires all of the time. It does not corrode rims and cleans up with water. A five gallon pail is around $110. I dismounted the tries and pulled the tubs out. I then remounted the tires tubeless. I dumped in half the pail in each side as I mounted the tires. I pumped them up and drove the tractor around slow for about an hour. The sealer came out in several places. I parked the tractor with a jack under it over night. The small leaks stopped by morning. The larger leaks took a few days of use. After that I would maybe have to pump the tires up once every other month or so. That was three years ago last Christmas. I just finally had to replace both tires this spring. One finally split about two inch long down one side. So I got another three years out of them by running the sealer in them.

You could line the tire with just about anything, so long as 1) it won't pinch or poke into the tube, and 2) that the tube can inflate as needed. It concerns me a little that the tire, itself, is cracking, especially if it is enough to pinch and damage the tube. If it were me, I'd be looking around for a different tire, as the tire will most definitely fail when it will cause you the absolute most pain!! However, I might be willing to try to find a smaller turf tire that would snugly fit inside, cut off the bead, then have your tube inside the inner tire. The inner tire would help distribute any pressure, would help prevent punctures, and would provide ultimate protection for the tube.

Now let me say this - I'm only theorizing here. Have never done anything like this and not real certain it "can" be done. I've heard of doing this without a tube, with the outer tire bead making the seal, but never with a tube. ...But if one were very careful putting it together, I think it might could work.

Car tires that are ran without proper air pressure will have internal cracks because of sidewalls flexing.

So what could cause tractor tires to crack?

Did you have ballast in tires?

I have used reliners like this that work for me. I don't use fluid in them.
http://www.gemplers.com/product/9DR13/Off-Road-Tire-Reliner

If it's cracking on the inside, it's pretty rotten. Pretty soon it's going to split, and that will be all she wrote.

Keep in mind that booting it is a temporary solution. Keep your eyes open for a replacement tire.

Way back in 1951 the same thing occurred in the 14-30 tires that came on my uncle's '48 W-6. One just started leaking for no visual reason, the tires were loaded with chloride solution and it started seeping out at the valve stem hole so to the local tractor tire shop went the tractor. Tear down revealed internal cracks in both casings causing tube chafing and leak source. Tire man said this could have been caused from running the tires too soft causing excessive flexing at each tread bar. Whatever, a good rim cleaning and painting...and a new set of tires was the answer

Bill I spent 22 years as the owner, tire installer, of a farm tire business. These guys are not giving you good advice. Your tires are shot. I dont know your size, but Firestone tires are the best built bias ply farm tire made.

While we're spending his money, lets go whole hog and just have him buy a new tractor.

Problem solved.

Shoot over 15 years ago I was told I needed new or better tires on my W Speed Patrol and I said when they go flat I'll replace them well the new ones are still sitting in the back of the machine shed and the old ones are still being used. Funny how a tire that took very bad can in fact last for years.

yes ,, that could work ,,i have 2, 13.6x28 tires i will give you to try that on ,, i really think it could work ,,.. BUT ,, my tire guy is not old school ,, es;pecially when it comes to pricin his work , 2 weekx ago i had him change a hi trie that simply was rotten , had a 6 inch split in the tread area ,, so i had him retire that one and showed him 2 others , we agreed on the best one and before the end of the day the wire bead onthat tire split and ruined the new tube ,,had himcome back , and we put a 14.9 used 28 i had on there ,, , the mate to the 13x6 will probably fail before the next season ,, boththose tires were out of round and could rockyou to sleep ,

I learned the tube cut open trick when I was working at a tire shop over 30 years ago. Easy to remember when I learned it since I worked there when my 2nd daughter was born. That was also the fastest I have even driven 90 miles as in I did it in under an hour. Her mother had a stroke while she was pregnant

If it only has one crack causing the problem, putting a boot inside the tire would be ok. If it got cracks everywhere inside I'd be looking for a different set of tires. I needed a 13.6x38 so I put a want ad on craigslist, and got a good used pair of 13.6x38's (that still had the 13.6 on the cleats) from a guy who parts out tractors for $600 for both tires with tubes.