What do you think of this wheelbarrow hack idea

[Brian Runau]

My tire is always flat, have to fill it up every time I want to use it with something heavy. Not sure this would work? Would the foam just break down over time and be pieces within the tire? Landscaping is my other hobby so I use my wheelbarrow a lot. Thanks Brian

https://www.housedigest.com/1409862/wheelbarrow-repair-flat-tire-expanding-foam-hack/

[Tom M King]

Put a tube in it. The first thing I do when I buy a new wheelbarrow is put a tube in it while everything is nice and clean. We have one airless tired one, but no one likes to use that one. A pneumatic one rolls easier over small obstacles like rocks. The wheelbarrows here only might need air every three or four years.

[Bill Howatt]

If you use it a lot and it's always flat, I'd say you have a leak (brilliant, I know) that might be patched or it's around the rim. However, the one-size-fits-all solution is Tom's recommendation of a tube. I did that and it permanently fixed the problem easily - well, easily after I got the tire bead back on. You may find the cost comparable or even cheaper for a tube.

[Jim Becker]

I switched to non-pneumatic tires on "all the things" and it was totally worth it. They are solid, but flexible and never can get "flat" unless you cut a chunk off of them. "All the things" includes the wheelbarrow, the garden cart, my hand truck and the front wheels on my ZTR.

[Tom M King]

The trouble with the tubeless wheelbarrow tires is that the rubber is so thin to start with, and with just a little deterioration they start to lose air. I think they all come with tubeless tires if they require air.

I know one dual wheeled 10 cu.ft. one we use at the barn has had the tubes in the tires for over 15 years. I need to put air in those tires no more than every few years. A few dollar tube solves the problem on any old one you might have.

Of the ones we use to pour concrete, or move mortar in, no one wanted to use the Home Depot one with the airless tire. Maybe they have improved them by now, but I'm satisfied with the several we have here with tubes in the tires. I gave that one with the no flat tire to one of the workers.

edited to add: One thing you need to look at if you go to put a tube in is that some, even new rims have a lot of weld splatter that can punch a tube. The last new one I put a tube in I ground all those weld splatter nubs down before putting a tube in it.

[Tom M King]

Tubes for wheelbarrow tires come with either straight or bent valve stems. Look at where the hole is in the rim before you order one or buy one. Tractor Supply sells them. You just pull or cut the tubeless stem off the rim and the tube stem will fit through the hole.

[Edward Weber]

The main issue with this "hack" is that expanding foam doesn't have a memory. If it gets compressed, it does not necessarily come back to it's original shape. It's not designed to

Tubeless tires are the way to go and worth every penny for a good one. I have 5 wheelbarrows and many other tools/carts with them, they're great. Too much hassle keeping up with between 20 and 30 small tires.
JMHO

[Bill Dufour]

We put a heavy steel wheel with thick solid rubber tire on our old wheelbarrow as a kid. Added 10-15 pounds to the weight. made the barrow much easier to use. did not bounce up and down so much. Ballast made it less tippy.
Bill D.

[Ed Aumiller]

I tried that with 10" wheels on garden cart and on welder cart and on plasma cutter cart.... BIG FAIL...
If any part of it is missed, the wheel is out of round... not fun...
If it sets in one spot for a long time... out of round due to flat spot... (welder cart & garden cart over winter)...

As Tom recommended.....a tube is the most reliable way IMHO...

All the 10" tires I tried it on have been replaced by Harbor Freight solid rubber tires ... about $10 each... also used them on my finish mower on the tractor and they are holding up very well (surprised me!!)....

[Jim Koepke]

Never have to put air in my wheel barrow tire.

Wheel Barrow.jpg

May not be the solution for everyone.

jtk

[Brian Runau]

Think I'll go with a solid tire. Brian

[Lamar Keeney]

Jim. I swopped mine thirty years ago and it hasn't leaked down either.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Think I'll go with a solid tire. Brian

Solid as in steel or solid as in "never-flat" rubber tires? Never-flat tires are fine if you deal with moderate loads rolled over only moderately rough surfaces. They are much harder to roll over rough surfaces than pneumatic tires.

A digression: There are YouTube videos about converting single wheeled wheelbarrows to double wheeled wheelbarrows. If you have to deal with rough terrain, that might help.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I get disgusted by flats & low tires too. For a wheel barrow that will get any real use I can put up with the inconvience. I can't use my Jackson pro model wheel barrow that came with a solid tire. It is too hard to push. I have to swap that solid wheel with a pneumatic. My hack is to put a highway trailer tire on. They are not as pleasant to push as a light and springy standard pneumatic wheel barrow tire but the durability is great.

IMG_1617.jpg

[Tom M King]

The reason they sell tubes the size of wheelbarrow tires is that many use them. I just put them in to start with while everything is clean. I put tubes in all the boat trailers, and oddball trailers like our shavings trailer that might not get used for years. Even if a tire goes flat from sitting for a decade, they can still be pumped up and rolled if no farther than to the shop.

I have one boat trailer under a shed that we haven't sailed that boat in thirty years. The tires are all flat and dry rotted, but they have tubes in them so I'm betting I can pump them up long enough to pull the boat out from under the shed to the shop where I have floor jacks and impact wrenches.

If such tires don't have tubes in them and the tire goes flat from sitting for years, the tire can come unseated from the rim, and then there is much more of a job to do.

Tubes don't change the advantages of pneumtic wheelbarrow tires, but eliminate the going flat for years at the time. I have some that we haven't used for over 6 years for pouring concrete. I have no doubt that the tires are flat, but also no doubt that I can pump them up and go right to work with them.

Just because a tire is a tubeless tire, it doesn't mean you can't put a tube in it. The wheelbarrow tire tubes have stems small enough to go through the tubeless tire holes.

We have one of the little shallow wheelbarrows for renters to move firewood to the fire pit. Even that one with the smaller than normal wheelbarrow pneumatic tire on it has a tube from Tractor Supply in it.