Foam filling tractor tires

At the mine I used to work at all the u/g equipment had foam filled tires. Impervious to flats. Does any one have any experience with foam filled tractor tires?

My neighbor runs them on his demo cars, I know they are really heavy, I had a JD rotary cutter that had foam filled tires. worked good on it.

I have many people interested in foam filling tire until they hear the price. Are you looking at front or back? I still do a few and they are very heavy, but no more flats. Also they ride rough because there is no give in the tires. The tires still wear out and it takes a sawzall to take them apart the next time.

Foamed my loader tractor tires ,, TO ME it was worth the Investment

Best thing I ever did on skid loaders,but I don't know if I would on a tractor.

Used to have a customer running a bunch of Ditch Witch cable plows that all had small, chevron lug tires. It took me several years to convince him to start getting them foam filled due to the numerous flats he was experiencing. I think he balked for a long time due to the initial cost but he finally took the plunge and got all four tires done on one machine. Between the increased uptime due to not having flats on a continiuing basis, extended tread life due to less slipping in operation because of the extra weight, as well as less equipment damage, again due to less slippage, he came out way ahead. I don"t remember what he said the cost for filling the four tires was but I got the impression that they paid for themselves within couple of weeks just in the increased uptime from no flats. Add in less repair and faster working times, due to less slippage, and it was a homerun all the way around.

Over the years I"ve seen these same things factor into the justification for getting a set foam filled on various other types of equipment both large and small, and it always pays off in the end. However if your riding on the machine the fill makes the tires solid and kills the ride quality so if that is a factor then going with foam filled tires is not what you want to do.

I filled the front tires on a 3000 ford and a 434 IH , about $70 each tire 6-7 yrs. ago . The 3000 is used to pull a hay rake and there is alot of fast turns and bouncing and it was hard on wheel bearings and both rims ended up slitting . The IH is used mostly for bushhoging and the added weight is a great help to ofset the 3pt bushhog . Not alot of fast operating and have never had any trouble out of the IH tires . I would do it again on a bushhoging tractor but not one that is used mostly for field work . One rim splitting you could say it was a bad rim but both of them ya have to look at the added weight .

makes a very heavy tire and one rough ride

Filled the fronts on my small brush hog tractor and very pleased with results. Can't tell the difference in steering or ride, but sure like not fixing flats.

Years ago when I worked for the state highway dept. we used it for the front tires on mower tractors.

It started out as a liquid- After mounting a new tire on a rim they would drill a small hole vent in the tread and pump the stuff on through the valve stem, when full they would putt a sheet metal screw in the hole. Then they backed the whole tire n a special oven to cure.
I would guess that a 16" tire weighted about 150 to 200 lbs.
You will never have a flat tire. but - hard on front ends. = no bounce just solid rubber.

I have often wondered if you could use the expanding spray foam they sell for insulating buildings and have a little less weight.

We had a lot of customeers fill shid loader tires and front tractor tires to help with thorn problems. It costs a lot and they are very heavy. I am going to get 2 new rear tires for my skid loader and have them filled, just for the weight.

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. It was very informative.

I spent more time fixing flats on my 231 MF used for bushog until I got the foam filled tires .
works great and is fine when harrowing and planting.

Foam filling was more expensive that I wanted so went with used airplane tires. $108 each with rims, fronts. They are 18 ply, rated for 19980 lbs and 225 miles per hour. No flats ever since. I do however keep it under 200MPH.