Flat Tires on my Chicken Tractor

[suzyQlou]

The winter's been mild, but still rough on my coop. Specifically on the wheels. Every time I go to move the tractor, I find two flat tires on my coop. Since I've only been moving the tractor once a week, I've been applying the lazy-man solution. A can of fix-a-flat to the rescue

Now that Spring is here, I'll soon be moving the tractor daily. So I need a more permanent solution. I could simply patch or replace the wheels with new ones, but would I have the same problem next year? Maybe I should just get rid of the pump-up tires, and get some rigid ones.? Or maybe I should rig some kind of support (thinking "up on blocks") for when the coop's at rest so that it doesn't have to support all the weight all the time? Other suggestions? Thoughts?

Here's a photo of the coop for reference. The wheels are 8 inch swivel wheels from Harbor freight. The coop is 3' x 4' and pretty darn heavy. Here's a link to the wheels: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-pneumatic-swivel-caster-42485.html They're supposed to support 280 pounds.

 

[JPinnell]

I'm surprised they held air that long The HF tires will hav ethe same issues. Temp swings are hard on those small tires holding air. I'd put some slime in them, and block the coop up when not transporting it, and they'll last much longer.

- JP

 

[The Old Whittler]

I have 4 - 10" pneumatic tires on my chicken tractor. When I first put them on I had the same problem you do. The two on the back had loose valves inside the valve stems. I tightened the valves and that fixed the problem. With the two on the front one had a loose valve and the other had a bad tube in it. After I tightened the three valves and replaced the tube they've done fine all winter. The two on the back were a different brand and came from a different place than the ones on the front and none of mine came from Harbor Freight. Hope this helps!

 

[OldGuy43]

I'm surprised they held air that long The HF tires will hav ethe same issues. Temp swings are hard on those small tires holding air. I'd put some slime in them, and block the coop up when not transporting it, and they'll last much longer.

- JP

I'm with JP on this one. Slime works much better than Fix-a-Flat. It's worth the trouble of letting all the air out of the tires.

 

[suzyQlou]

So "Slime" is a real thing? Is that the real name?

I'm definitely going to check the valves. If only it would be so simple! But long-term, I'll have to figure out an easy way to get the coop up off the wheels. I did use the car jack a couple times for this, but I can't imagine doing that every day. The coop's too heavy for me to just lift it by myself. I see some kind of a lever system in my near future. Should be a fun project.

But before I knock myself out, do I just need bigger, stronger tires?

 

[JPinnell]

I've seen solid tires for a 2 wheel hand truck at HF for reasonably cheap. Do some measuring and see if they fit your wheel brackets and swap them out. I can't see with that coop design why you would need swivel casters on the back? Might just be easier to mount some "no flat" wheel barrow tires on there for $25ea. "Slime" is a brand name of tire sealant, it's even neon green. The smallest tube is less than $10 and should easily fix those tires on your coop, also it would be the cheapest option.

- JP

 

[BillinPA]

So "Slime" is a real thing? Is that the real name?

I'm definitely going to check the valves. If only it would be so simple! But long-term, I'll have to figure out an easy way to get the coop up off the wheels. I did use the car jack a couple times for this, but I can't imagine doing that every day. The coop's too heavy for me to just lift it by myself. I see some kind of a lever system in my near future. Should be a fun project.

But before I knock myself out, do I just need bigger, stronger tires?

The slime is sole at pretty much any auto parts store or even wally world in the auto section. It's bright green you can't miss it. Lol