f'n foam filled tires

As you all snow trac owners know I routinely speak against foam filled tires. well my Thiokol Brutis came with them half way into a 130 mile trip I had a blow out. sorry I have no pics I ain't got to take pictures while wearing my MacGyver hat ankle deep in overflow. after a few calls this morning I found a br 300 solid tire in anchorage and will purchase a second one for the other side seems the bombie rims are quite a bit heavier than the old Thiokol 2 piece wheels. next I will go to disassembling the old foamy tires and replace them with alpine guide pneumatic units. mainly because they are cheaper to ship a tire and tube through the mail. I really have no problems with pneumatic tires as long as they aren't 20 years old,and that is a problem with most of those second hand tires. the other thing alpine guide told me is the place filling those tires should be charging the tires around 110 psi if they only do 30 psi they will separate like mine did . I will post some pics of the trip when the job is done I have only had about 4 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours.

Kristi's never have flat tires and all is well in the world wherever we venture...

you mean in and out of the garage

I've always foam filled my tires and have had very good luck with them. The latest Pisten Bully I bought were not foamed but I have replaced two tires with new and foamed them both. The PBs have a solid front tire as do some other brands or models. I personally recommend foaming at least the front and back wheels as a flat in those areas usually will shut stop you in your tracks, literally.

I have told the foam guys here in Anchorage to pressure the tires up the 95 psi when they fill them but they insist the machine only fills to a set pressure that they can't change??


I have found the two piece thiokol wheels the weakest of all the types I have owned. Mine cracked around the bolt heads and I welded a thick kidney shaped washer in the bolt hole area.

I groom up to 150 miles a week but only 70-80 miles a day. My belting went from looking fine at the beginning of the season to having at least 10 broken sections of belt by the end of the season. Always something needing attention. over $6000 dollars to do all my belts with factory replacements. I think I will cut my own this summer.

Snowtrac Nome said:

I routinely speak against foam filled tires.

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It seems that foam filled tires are the norm for most of us, however, I have heard a couple of other dissenting voices on this. Don, can you elaborate on the reasoning behind your distaste for foam?

Jon

Not sure about don , but my own opinion is it is a tossup over the weight verses the longevity. A tire that can't be replaced easily or prone to fail. Then a rare tire is a good idea since no replacements can be found.

akmountaineer said:

It seems that foam filled tires are the norm for most of us, however, I have heard a couple of other dissenting voices on this. Don, can you elaborate on the reasoning behind your distaste for foam?

Jon

Click to expand...

After this weekend go figure , really the big problems come with ride quality and weight. sometimes weight can be a good thing like a loader or forklift other times it can be a bad thing like on a snow cat or when paying a buck fifty a pound for shipping. nobody foams tires here in Nome they must be shipped in and out ,also once the tire carcass has rotted and is falling apart the foam has no more structure. taking apart a foamed snow cat tire is one thing but doing a loader tire is another thing, be advised I never want to do that again. my big thing just comes form there is nobody here to do it, I'm my own tire guy and when there is a problem pneumatics are just a lot easier to break down and you don't have to pay for shipping on air if you just pay some one to do your tires a foam tire may make more since as you may have a few less trips to the tire shop over the life time of the tire.

did any of you guys try to foam fill your own tires?

No I never really thought about being able to do it myself. Do you know of a procedure?

no..i would like to do it myself but i dont what type of foam to get that will take the weight? any ideas?

I checked with my guys at phelps tire its a urethane type substance that is injected in to the tire I would expect the equipment to be expensive. if no body in your area does it maybe a good part time buisness

i have found a company that will fill my tires now not cheap but will save flats thats a bonus.....

my other perma groomer wheel came in today I plan on getting it back up tonight the perma groomer wheel in my opinion is the only way to as far as flat free wheels