Tire Repair - Inside patch or Slime?

[SalisburySenior]

I have a pinhole leak (very small puncture) in the tread of my tractor front tire. I'm undecided whether to get the tire dismounted and patched from the inside ($$$) or just buy a can of Slime and seal the small hole. Anyone have any experience with the Slime approach? I don't want to put the goo in the tire and then regret it later.

 

[kencunningham]

I bought a atv not to long ago and the tires had numerous holes in them, so i put about 4 oz in each tire.
Seemed to work pretty good and when i bought new tires and had to take them off it wasnt that bad. Just wiped the rim with some paper towels. Of course i was putting new tires on and didnt have to worry about getting it off of the inside of the tire. Any reason why you cant just put a plug in it?

 

[Mark Page]

I carry slime in my pickup, only had to use it once and it worked well. If I had my choice with a tractor it would be a tube. I also slimed the tires on my ATV as insurance against getting stuck a couple of miles from home with a flat. The trip to my hunting spot was very rocky in places and over the course of 5 years the slime never let me down. You will have a major mess if you have to reuse a slimed tire. Do you know what caused the leak?

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

I had a slight leak in the sidewall of a front tire (R4) on my BX24. I slimed both at the same time, early this past spring, and have had no drop in pressure through a lot of FEL work.
Many people advise against slime, but for my sidewall leak, it was either that or tubes.
I would use slime again.

Pete

 

[MDA1775]

I have slime in my tractor, atv, golf cart so basically anything that has rubber tires since everything in TX has a thorn or rock associated with it. I've had good luck with the slime and wouldn't run without it.

 

[mvwicker]

I also had front tire leak. Took the wheel to one place that charged $25 to put a patch on the inside. The guy who did it said he uses Slime on his ATV tires as a preventative measure. He also said that a locust thorn was the likely culprit, and I can believe it. Those things are nasty.

Tire plugs work fine when the car picks up a nail or screw, but who wants to ream a pinhole out to 1/4" ?

 

[SalisburySenior]

Thanks to all who responded. In answer to a question ---- I'm not using a plug because the puncture is like a pinhole and is through the thickest part of the agressive tread.

 

[medic0648]

Only 1 real issue with slime is when you get a hole that needs a patch you can't patch it. And that goes for tires or tubes.

 

[creekbend]

I also had front tire leak. Took the wheel to one place that charged $25 to put a patch on the inside. The guy who did it said he uses Slime on his ATV tires as a preventative measure. He also said that a locust thorn was the likely culprit, and I can believe it. Those things are nasty.

Tire plugs work fine when the car picks up a nail or screw, but who wants to ream a pinhole out to 1/4" ?

I can relate to the issue rgarding black locust thorns. Had a flat on our golf cart last week due to one. The tube cost me $11.00.

 

[PHILIP8N]

I was driving my brand new tractor home from the dealership, owned it less than 15 minutes, and had this 1/4" button head screw go thru my rear tire. I nearly cried. You can still see the manufacturers sticker on the tire! I performed an external plug job, 3 years later, no issues. Philip.