Last time I was here, we had a flat fixed on my dad's old Yanmar tractor. (the tire guy patched the tube) The same tire is flat again. All 4 tires are dry-rotted with holes in the sidewalls and the cords showing. Rather than repair it again we are going to replace all 4 tires (ouch!) When I got a quote on the tires in May, they were $260 apiece. Now the price is $325. The tubes are another $50 each.
They said if the wheels are okay (and I think they are) we could run them tubeless and save some money. Also if one gets a puncture, I can plug it myself in the field and you can't do that in a tube tire.
My dad always put water in the tubes for cheap wheel weights. We're not planning to do that; any tractor work that requires that much traction we will hire someone with their own tractor. This one will just be used for mowing and occasionally pulling out stuck vehicles or small stumps. I guess you could put water in a tubeless tire but it will rust the wheels a lot faster. Putting 100# of lead shot or steel BBs in each tire would be interesting but expensive.
I've never heard of running tractor tires without tubes. What say y'all? I'd mostly be doing it just to save $150.
BTW, we can't find "F" type front tires in the right size, I don't think they make 'em anymore. But we did find "R" tires the right size. It's a 2WD tractor; should I have the tires mounted with the chevrons pointing to the back since the front axle is not driven? If I make a mistake here it's easy to fix by just swapping them.
