Hello all, I have a used Craftsman riding lawn mower that I had given to me as a fixer-upper. Well long story short, I have a problem with 2 of the tires going flat between uses.
On 2 of the tires I had tubes put in at about $10 per tire. I had heard that there is some stuff that you can get at an auto parts store that you can put in the tire that will seal them up. Has anyone heard of this and what it is called? I don't think it is the fix-a-flat stuff, I think its something else. Thanx.

 

There's a number of them. The one that comes to mind is called Slime. It's thick and green and can bought at Walmart auto departments. They claim a lot of success in ATVs and bicycles, but I couldn't say one way or the other.

If you're using the mower in an area where you expect the tires to get punctured a lot it may be worth it. I believe it would cost three or four dollars for a mower tire.

Hope this helps

 

toni1595,

Believe me, it's wonderful stuff in a dire emergency and will get you going however, if you are going to be the one whom 3 years later has to pull, bang, beat, treat, sweat, curse and break your nuckles and a hammer and chisel to get the tire off the rim and fix it right, then... I would not use any of those products.

Dave237,
God Bless

 

I have to agree with DAVE237 on this stuff. Fix it right the first time, everytime. If it needs a tube or a valve stem, change as required. I have heard of propane used as a propellent in some brands (not good if you get a spark from the tire machine) Put that stuff away for emergincies only Roger

 

Fix-a-flat? no no no..... very caustic to bare steel, any little nick and it'll rust it like crazy.

Slime is good stuff to use, slime tubes, slime the tires the way they are.... works good, its messy if you go back in..... but ALOT safer then fix-a-flat....

 

I cut around a number of locust trees. They tend to drop twigs with 3" sharp thorns. After a few puctures I slimed the tires and no air loss since. Worked for me.

 

Hey I know what you guys mean by not going the tube route but, this lawnmower is quite old and not really worth putting too much into. Its just an aggravation to have to pump up these two tires everytime I go to use it. Really I'm already into it for probably $250 as it is right now, and a lot of the work, like welding up the mower deck, I did myself in sweat equity. The rest was just for the parts from Sears that I needed. But in the end I guess it was worth it. It does do a decent job on my lawn. Toni.

 

i have a pull behind dump cart for my tractor that had the same problem. I got it for free, was old and outside for years. when i got it the tires were flat, and rims rusted, managed to finaly get air in them but always going flat after every use. take a wire brush to the inside of the rims where the tire meets and remove all the scale and or rust, clean really good, inflate and you shouldnt have that problem anymore. good luck.