[TheForge] Sometimes dumb ideas really work! (Warning: No real metals content.)

[Bruce .]

I know I shouldn't be posting this here, but since many, if not most, of us
deal with wheeled machines (the only metals content here), and since this
is a great forum, I'm doing it anyway.

Yesterday I had a problem with my Troy-Bilt tiller -- both tubeless tires
had gone dead flat.  One I was able to reinflate with my wimpy compressor,
but the other simply would not seat on the rim tightly enough to accept air.

I had been getting this and other machines ready for use and was up to my
ears with dirt and grease by this time, so I postponed my usual approach of
researching solutions on the Internet, and particularly on YouTube.*

I tried a number of things to get the tire against the rim and to fill the
gap, all to no avail.  I reasoned that I really needed something inside the
tire to expand it and seat it.  I didn't want to rush up to Harbor Freight
to look for a tube to put inside this tire as that's a so-so solution at
best.

But I happened to have a supply of inflatable rubber thingies -- *now don't
let your imaginations take hold here!* -- called "toy balloons."  After a
couple false starts, I succeeded in lodging two of these inside the tire,
with their stems outside the rim, and inflating them.  The two inflated
balloons sufficed to seat the tire on the rim, allowing me to inflate the
tire fully.

Of course, there are now two balloons inside the tire, but they shouldn't
matter much because this is not a road tire and operates at only a few RPM
at most.   Anyway, as penance for this sin (and I'm not even Catholic!),
I'm leaving the conspicuous balloon stems sticking out between tire and rim
for the world to see -- but I think that's okay as both are red in color to
match the tiller!

Bruce
NJ
___________

*I did later research this problem on YouTube and found at least three
potential solutions:

   1. Blow up the tire (almost literally) with a combustible liquid
   explosion.  Yeah, this is the macho man solution!  Some even advocate doing
   this while the tire is on the vehicle.  I figure we're going to be seeing a
   few Darwins from this.  If exploding a tire by over-inflation can be
   dangerous, I figure over-inflating one by explosion would be deadly.
   2. Use an inflated bicycle tube of the nominal size of the rim to fill
   the gap between the tire and the rim.  Great idea if you're talking 16"
   rims, but I probably couldn't have found a tube the right size for these
   little rims.  (The bicycle tube needs to be pried out from between the tire
   and the rim after the tire seats, but that didn't look too hard.)
   3. Run a ratcheting strap around the tire and cinch it down till the
   beads expand against the rim.  Absolutely great idea -- I wish I'd thought
   of it.  One fellow using this approach also removed the valve before
   inflating the tire to seat it, so as to be able to deliver the air faster
   -- Obviously the tire will deflate when the compressor hose is removed, but
   by then the tire is seated and may not pull away from the rim.