Getting the snowblower ready for what Brainerd Dispatch predicted to be a colder wetter winter for Minnesota. I have one leaky tire, and now the other is loosing pressure. The bolts are rusted enough it is break a bolt time, (pb blaster on them now) but thought before I did that and buy new wheels and tires for the airens, might take the easy way out with a flat fix product as I have a can sitting on the shelf. As far as I know it is a new tire and rim @ $25 each.
Any experience?
Fix-A-Flat is a temporary repair.
Go to FleetFarm and get a pair of tires/rims.
Tester
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Thanks, I know it is the right thing, but tempted to do the cheap thing.
Do you know why it leaks? I chased a leak in 1 of my pickup’s tires; even a dip in the tub (what a mess!) didn’t turn it up. The llantero, who had a deeper tub, found it was the valve, which he fixed for $2.
If it’s a puncture, a puncture repair may work. If it’s a tiny leak, you can try sealant. Slime makes a version for utility vehicle tires, available at Walmart, etc.
I agree that fix a flat is a temporary repair, but this is a snow thrower, not an automobile. If you aren’t going to use the fix a flat anyway, give it a try. You can buy the new tires and rims if you want to anyway and have them around.
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No. Just put a tube in them and be done with it. When my mower tire had a leak in it, the tire shop just put a tube in it and no more problems. Of course you have to get them off first no matter. I had to make a puller for the mower or just use a pickle fork and some shims to force it off.
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If I felt comfortable doing a tube, I would, but trying to put a tube in a wheelbarrow tire was an escapade in no go, bent the rim before I could pull the bead of the tire over the rim, now these are plastic rims, probably could break it with a plastic spoon!
Go to FleetFarm and replace the rims/tires.
The last thing you want to do is get up in the morning, and find two feet of snow, plus what the snowplow pushed into driveway, and start shoveling.
Tester
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I guess you could say I sort of used it.
I put tubes in my snowblower tires. The only ones I could find came with “Slime” already in them. That was years ago, and I have to admit that it worked. I haven’t had to add air since. Well, perhaps once or twice, but I used to have to fill the tires with air every fall and by spring they were low. Those small rims don’t seal very well.
They actually make a small tire changer.
But for the price of the tire changer, you can replace the tires/rims for less.
After all, this is seasonal equipment. Not something that’s used all the time.
I find replacing the tires/rims cheaper.
Tester
That’s why you just take it to the tire shop and let them do it. I think it cost me about $10 for the mower. Maybe they have them at Fleet Farm to replace the whole things, I’ve never looked. You can always just order new ones. I use Jacks small engine for mail order on small engines and equipment or if you are in Minneapolis sometime, Cedar Small Engine is fairly well stocked.
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Based on decades of experience with snowblowers I strongly recommend putting tubes in.
Or moving to the Gulf Coast. 
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Couldn’t find them at Fleet but Jack’s has the wheels for $50-70 each depending on model and $25 each for the tires. Tubes are about $7 plus a little for labor.
I used a 1978 Cub Cadet riding mower until 3 years ago, I bought it in 1993 with the original cracked and leaking tires on it. One large bottle of tire slime and and they were still holding air when I wheeled it out to the curb at the end of 2014.
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Just put a tube in it and be done with it.
I watched the video and wondered how that would work on one of the little front tires 
Last time I put a tube in my mower tire I pinched the tube while re-mounting the tire. Had to then patch the new tube and re-mount the tire. Never again. That is a job that will cause a preacher to cuss.
I didn’t find it necessary to remove the tires on my snowblower to put the tubes in. I simply removed the valve stems, pushed one bead in, stuffed the tube between the rim and the tire taking care to put the valve in the hole, and blew up the tube.
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My riding lawnmower, which still can find roofing nails from 7 years ago, runs on Green Slime tire sealer. That’s all it is going to get until it goes to that great lawn in the sky.
Although sometime I have wondered about Great Stuff expanding foam…
Since you’re not using a snowblower for transportation, I don’t see the harm in trying it, just make sure you get the non-flammable kind. If it doesn’t work, you can always buy new wheels later.
Have you ever replaced an inner tube on a bicycle? You could use the same process. You might buy a cheap kit that has the right tools for the job in the bicycle section at Walmart, or at a bicycle shop. That way you’re less likely to damage the new tube.
Apparently, Fix-A Flat can’t be used below freezing temperatures.
https://www.fixaflat.com/us/faq-details.php?id=7
Tester
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