BOTH front tires flat 3301HST

[res]

Hello everyone,
New to the forum here and I have a question that may be a bit silly but I need some input just the same. I bought a brand new 3301hst and it was delivered a week ago Friday. This past Friday I took it to move a bunch of gravel and level an existing gravel parking lot. It worked just fine on Friday. Saturday morning I started her up, went to pull a leveling drag and noticed that my front right tire was flat and the bead was broken. I immediately put it back on the trailer lifted the front with the bucket and blocked under the axle to keep the rim from sitting on the tire and took it to the dealer. No mechanics on Saturday. (small dealer quite rural) Come back Monday. I get ready to leave for church this morning, back up by the tractor still on the trailer and the other front is flat. Should the front tires be treated with something like slime to help them seal to the rims? I know they take a lot of pressure etc but only a week old and they are both flat and it appears the beads just gave out. I drive a John Deere 5510 at work on a regular basis and even when the tires get low in air pressure they do not give out like this. They are much bigger tires of course. I am going to take it to the dealer on Monday but should I be pushing for some form of inner treatment or is it just part of being new???
Rick

 

[ipz2222]

Should not be going flat. Have them leak tested, where are they leaking???

 

[res]

After a bit of work, I was able to re-inflate them. Those little buggers are stiff and do not like to contact the rim and seal easily with my little compressor. Once inflated, I was able to get the rims to seal and poured soap water over them. There were no leaks. It appears the rim beads just flat gave out. There are no nails, punctures, or other marks on the tires. They have been fully inflated for over two hours but the front of the tractor is still on blocks. I will set it down tomorrow and see how long they hold. My question is, could I have actually turned to sharply or something to break the bead?? I never truly checked the tire pressure after purchase so I have no clue if they were under inflated. I only know they did not have any side bulge when I started working on Friday. If I did something that caused them to fail, I would like to learn so I can avoid such things again in the future.
Rick

 

[Lil Foot]

Sure sounds like they were under-inflated.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I agree, they werent properly inflated. The dealer failed to check them. My preference is having tubes installed. End of issues unless you puncture one.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Dittos above... Underinflated.

I bought my L3800 from a nice guy who was not a tractor person. One of the "injuries" my tractor suffered in his care was a tiny puncture in the front left tire. I never noticed it and in a few weeks the tire was down to nearly nothing. I got it out of the barn and the first time I turned sharply, the tire popped off the bead and turned 90 degrees...

I took it down to my local tire shop and they plugged the hole. I noticed it leaked down in a few days so I took it back. It leaked slower the second time but I soaped the plug and it was fine: The bead was the problem.

I slightly overinflated mine to about 55-60 psi for awhile, thinking it would leak down too. What it did was fully seat the beads. Now I top off that tire every three months or so after it drops a few lbs. At the rate I am going, I'll need new "tars" before that leak is any major inconvenience.

If you didn't damage your beads, some extra tire soap and a little over pressure should seat them once and for all. Have fun and let us know how it goes with the new machine!

 

[skeets]

My little BX had the same problem went to the dealer and complained and the guy behind the counter handed me a jug of slime,,, Said they had a lot of problems with the tire beads sealing and nobody seems to know why,, so I slimed mine and haven't had a problem since. I have to admit they are a pretty good dealer

 

[dtbprc]

since new the bead might have lube or other in it when they put tires on. next time its flat- break the bead and clean the rim/tire. start to fill it and add green slime or fix a flat. it can help maintain bead.

 

[D2Cat]

I had a pull behind 200 gal. sprayer and the tires wouldn't stay up. I tried a few times to get the bead to seal. I finally broke the bead loose completely on both sides and coated the bead with pine tar, yup pine tar! That was 15 years ago and I bet rubber from those tires are on the wheels as they lay in the salvage yard.

PS, only do this as the final straw, not new tires!!!!

 

[Tooljunkie]

The tire rim sealant i use is called rim rust. Its some king of sticky grease. Worjs awesome. I have been desperate and used silicone. Just prepare for a difficult clean up.

 

[MagKarl]

I have had really good results using Napa bead sealer on tubeless tires. It will help seal against slow bead leaks and also acts as a glue to help prevent the tires from slipping off the beads. Next step is to install tubes.

 

[res]

Thanks so much for the feed back. I am along the line now they were not inflated properly from the start. For an update, the tires held pressure at 32# all night with no load on them. I set the tractor down, took it to the parking lot I was trying to finish and ran it for about 3 hours using a box blade and a home made leveling drag. They have been holding just fine. I went and checked them this morning and they are still fine. I did not use the loader like I did yesterday since all of the gravel pile had been moved. So I still need to do some loader work but I am going along with the not inflated correctly diagnosis for now. IF they give me more problems in the future, I will keep the tubes and rim seals in mind. Thanks so much for the help. Rick