New Rear Tires. Tubes or No?
 

Looking to replace rear turf tires on a new to me GT3204 that will be used primarily for clearing snow with a 353 snowblower attachment. Trouble free and reliable is the goal as I would rather not deal with tires that will not hold proper air pressure during cold winter months. Should I install tubes with the new tires for added reliability? Tire size is 23x9.50-12 and I do plan to use tire chains and wheel weights. Opinions and or experiences please. Thanks!

New Rear Tires. Tubes or No?
 

I vote for tubes, as they provide additional protection against tire deflation. Tire problems always seem to occur at the worst times, often in winter when cold temperatures cause inflation pressure to drop. Moving equipment from a warmer indoor ambient temperature to a very cold outdoor temperature is the usual cause of tire deflation.

Every 10 degree change in temperature results in a 1 degree change in tire pressure. So if I have my rear tires inflated to 10 psi in my heated garage at 60 degrees and I go out to plow snow at 20 degrees my tires could lose 4 pounds of air! 6 psi might not be enough to keep the tire on the rim and could cause a flat tire. :bigthink:

Having the tube will prevent the rim leakage if that should happen. Of course you could pump your tires up to 14 psi and maybe that would prevent a problem. The addition of ballast in a tubed tire might also reduce deflation of the tire because the ballast together with the small amount of air in the tire would take longer to cool down when the tractor is moved form inside to outside.

I have had more problems with the front tires over the years due the additional weight of blower/thrower on the front. Moving snow around can cause side pressure on the tires causing them to leak at the rim if underinflated and without tubes. This is a good reason to have tubes in the front tires as well.

I have put tubes in every tractor I have restored and have never had the problems I used to have without tubes. To me. it's good insurance! :biggrin2:

:ThumbsUp: Yep, what he said.

Someone has to be on the other side! I am a no tubes guy. But tubes definitely have their place. If you are putting any liquid in the tires, tube them! If your wheels are rusty and you don’t have a means to refurb, then tube them. But the rust can easily puncture the tube then you are breaking down the tire to patch it anyway. If you are a “historical” kind of owner and want to run the vintage tires. You will likely have to tube them since the rubber is likely so hard it won’t seal in the bead area. you should bead blast your wheels and paint or powder coat and they won’t leak, replace the valves when you mount new tires. I don’t like tubes because you cannot plug them. Tubes rapidly deflate when they get a hole and you have to fix them on the job. tub-less tires are almost always slow leaks and take a couple days to go flat. I have mostly zero turns and the little tires are a huge PIA to put tubes in. (my jd has tweels so they are always full of air). All my tires except two foam filled rears on a 2182 and the tweels run 10-14 psi. I don’t have tire problems. But I use all my stuff every week. My tires get worn out before the dry rot

New Rear Tires. Tubes or No?
 

Score one for the "cons"! Good ideas to support your position! I agree that if your rims are in good condition, there shouldn't be a problem. Also, plugging a leak is certainly much easier then removing the tube to patch it. :biggrin2:

I agree with this which is why I wouldn't use tubes on new good tires.

Old cracked ones, 10/10. Big advocate for tubing old tires on a lawnmower. I tubed both cracked rears on my 1914 and they've been holding for a year. :beerchug:

back to kehubbards original post, i think turf tires work best with chains. I used to have calcium in tubes (782) and when they gave way (30+ years old) I bought new turf tires and new wheels and had them foam filled at my local industrial/farm tire dealer.
I have had several 2182's which is my preferred snowblower tractor. cab, heat, power steering, 45" two stage snowblower. It has a spare set of wheels as well but I bought rims and ag tires- foam filled plastic/cement weights with chains. the turf tires had better traction with the chains.


as far as holding air I replaced the original tires(782) bead blasted the rims and powder coated them. Sold the tractor twenty years ago. new owner did not want the air filled spares. they are sitting on a shelf under my work bench. I just went and checked and they have 15psi and 14psi in them I have not touched them and they have never been on a tractor. I would say they have held air pretty well..

Time to be a real nerd now- if it gets cold the pressure of the air captured in the tire goes down. period PV=nRT V volume remains (essentially) constant, n=the number of moles or gas molecules (constant unless there is a leak) R= ideal gas constant(constant, of course), so T (temperature) goes down-> P (pressure) goes down.
this does not matter if you have tubes or tubeless, nitrogen (a scam i dont want to get into here) air, or even if you have calcium and the small pocket of air in the tube to keep it pressurized.
so basically you have to make the choice. good news is that, unless you foam fill, you can always change it if you dont like it.