Tire Dangers

UP Oliver · Jul 3, 2014

Hello:

A couple weeks ago I read about a man who passed away as the result of an accident that occurred while he was working on a tine rake tire. He was 44 and the tire exploded. This happened in Southern Michigan.

I have always been concerned when I am putting air in tires around my property; tractors, balers, haybine. I didn't grow up around this stuff and have been learning on the way. I was just working on my baler tire and had to put this post out. Is a tine rake tire a big tire? I figured I better ask for some advice/information on this topic before I do something that could cause me or someone else injury while working on various size tires around home here.

Thank you for you help.

John B. · Jul 3, 2014

I can't answer your question if that is a big tire or not. But I can say that it doesn't take a big tire to hurt a person. I'm speaking from experience.

I was at work one day and grabbed a fork lift tire off the rack. It was on an 8" diameter rim where the two halves of the rim bolted together. I checked the air pressure in this tire an it was below 30 psi. When I put the air chuck on it and began to air it up it exploded. The repair person who bolted the two rim halves together stripped the threads on 7 out of the 8 bolts. The rim hinged up and hit me in the knee just below my knee cap. It threw me 6 feet and when I woke up my leg hurt and I reached down to see if I still had my leg since I realized what happened. Luckily I only received 9 stitches and a real sore knee. So now I tell everyone that tires are bombs just waiting to go off. Have to be careful of tires that have been run half flat or flat. This causes the sidewall wires to break down. When you air them up the develop zipper cracks and they too can kill.
Zipper Ruptures

John B. · Jul 3, 2014

I had to post this video too. A must watch!
Tire Safety Video

rrlund · Jul 3, 2014

There was a guy just south of here several years ago who was fixing a plow tire and it exploded on him. Broke both arms and he needed plastic surgery on his face.
I was kneeling down on a 10.00 20 manure spreader tire airing it up one time and the ring blew off the back side. It blew me right out the shop door. My ankle pops when I twist it around to this day.

showcrop · Jul 3, 2014

I have never heard of a tine rake but every rake that I have heard of has had tines.

Steve@Advance · Jul 3, 2014

You can never be too careful! Off road and farm tires are exceptionally dangerous.

Highway tires typically fail running down the road, off road tires usually fail while being aired up.

They're never inspected, lay around for years in the sun, rotten, then hit with air...

They make a clip on tire chuck, put it on and stand back. Would be a very worth while investment!

JMS/.MN · Jul 3, 2014

Post on these boards lat3ly about tine rake...guy wondering if it was for potatoes. Was just a landscape rake...thin tines.

JRSutton · Jul 3, 2014

A tine rake is used to rake up tines.

UP Oliver · Jul 3, 2014

Is the danger from rims that come apart? I can't believe a piece of rubber can break both a guys arms under maybe 20 psi? I am out there with my 11L-14 baler tire that is completely shot now. It has been shot for awhile but won't hold air now. After reading some of these posts I wonder if I should have replaced it 5 years ago.

I don't see how that rim could come apart on that baler. Is there a way to tell if a rim is more dangerous than another?

I have a few tires around here that have rough sidewalls, I would spend lots of money to replace them all.

Tom-NoCenTX · Jul 3, 2014

The danger is from both tires and rims. A rim can come apart if bolted kind, or damaged, or rusted out. The rim can be perfect, and yet the tire can explode and cause death or serious injury, If a tire has a catastrophic failure, you better believe it can kill you in a heartbeat. This is why lots of tire shops only inflate inside a safety cage. Tom

Ray · Jul 3, 2014

There's a hundred things around the farm that can kill you instantly.Just have to use some caution with every thing you do.

SteveRussell · Jul 3, 2014

INflating a tire is very dangerous. The tire cage that John B posted may be out of our league, I had one for my company in the Army. Help steal it from an Ord Co that wasn't using it. A soldier in another company was inflating a 10:00 X 20 truck tire,(off the vehicle) you know air chuck in hand, two knees on the rim, face over the chuck, when it exploded, he hit ceiling, came back down broke his jaw on the rim, both knees broke on the concrete floor.

TomH in PA · Jul 3, 2014

I have a friend who was inflating a new car tire when the (defective) bead broke and blew him across the shop. No serious injury but it really makes you respect how much energy is in an inflated tire. Think about that how-many-horsepower motor running for how long does it take to inflate a tire.

donjr · Jul 3, 2014

Try looking at it this way. 20# doesn't seem like a lot of pressure, right? How about 15# in a rear tractor tire?

OK, that tire is something over 3' bead to bead in radius, and about 5' in diameter, making it's length somewhere around 15' or so cut and stretched out. If it's a 13" wide tire, the radius of the tire from bead to bead will be about 40", give or take. Just use 30" for something to figure with. That 30" times the 180" (15' diameter) gives you about 5400 square inches. Multiply that times the 15# psi and it gives you over 80,000# of force inside that tire. A weak spot will only have 15psi behind it, but the failure will have plenty of force to make that whole 80,000# turn to zero very quickly. The trick is to not be in front of it.....

Anonymous-0 · Jul 3, 2014

Never weld on a rim with a tire on it, either! And don't think that you can cheat the hangman, by removing the valve core, either, they still blow! This tire went off, at about 1369 degrees, and nearly 300 PSI !
BOOM

jeffcat · Jul 3, 2014

For several years now I have been really careful with tires. I leave the core out and this lets the tire seat and fill quickly. NOW this is how I fill it. Use a lock on filler and have a nice long air hose with a coupler you can hook and unhook. You are a good 25 feet away and when you unhook, the air goes out and just put the core in and fill to correct preasure.

WellWorn · Jul 3, 2014

Just last year I had a (cheap chinese) 6x4.00 tube type wheelbarrow tire blow up while filling it, well below it's rated pressure to boot. Fortunately I started hearing the plies ripping and I was backing away in a hurry. The "bang" made it clear that even at 12psi, there is more energy than you might think in even something that small. A while back a neighbor had a 28" tractor rim split (due to rust) when his son was airing up. I replaced both rear rims on my Massey because the bead lips had holes in places, though I've seen others running their tractors and implements with worse. Maybe it's just dumb luck.

IDK - I just don't see how having a tire fail in the field is preferable to having it serviceable and safe before you get there.

old · Jul 3, 2014

Over the years I have seen more then one person hurt by a tire due to something odd happening. Back 30 plus years ago I worked at a tire place fixing tires etc and on the ceiling was a mark form a car tire that blew off the rim and it went up hit a guy in the chin and broke his jaw and then left big mark on the ceiling. The guy who owned the place said he left the mark there to remind people of how dangerous tires can be

jennifer408 · Jul 3, 2014

thanks for posting this, it is important to get the word out to our fellow tractor lovers, after all, tractor lovers are some of the best folks i've ever met in my whole life.

John B. · Jul 4, 2014

A gas or vapor under pressure will want to expand until pressure is absolute "0". This is why tires are dangerous. The bigger the tire the more volume of air and tire surface area to push against. What happens to a balloon when it gets old and you try to air it up or put too much air in a new balloon. Why would a tire be any different.

ertl collector · Jul 4, 2014

It doesn't exactly help they had the air hose hooked to it pumping air in at the same time they are welding

Anonymous-0 · Jul 4, 2014

air hose goes to pressure gauge...

Part Time Pete · Jul 4, 2014

One of the town highway depts near me had a loader tire with a slow leak, so they would just air it up every morning, until one morning it blew. Killed the guy adding the air, and seriously injured his partner standing 6' away.I always use a clip on chuck with 20' of hose for large tires, but I guess it can happen with small one too.
Pete

Doug in Illinois · Jul 4, 2014

Also beware of the air bubble. Mine is past it's 'expires by' date.
Not worth the risk. Also wonder how they can turn a freon tank into an air bubble.
My next air bubble will be aluminum. Aluminum doesn't rust out. DOUG

T in NE · Jul 6, 2014

Blow out the inner dual on 9770 combine with the bin full of corn. You can feel the machine move sideways.

Tire Dangers

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