I have a low hours cat skid steer with original tires. The right front tire just fell off for the second time. No puncture. Pressure was good. Any ideas why and how to prevent it from happening again?
They don't just fall off. Either it was low on air or the rim is severely damaged. How much air pressure do you run in them?
Typically 45 PSI You're probably right though, I must have slow leak
I've tried the soap solution to find a leak... but for a slow leak like several weeks to notice... take the tire and wheel, over pressure it as much as you dare, then dunk it in water. I've found rusted rims, leaking valves, sidewall cracks, and debris stuck between rim and tire bead as causes.
Thanks hoss
I had a tire that would take weeks to leak enough to even notice it the tire was low. I could not find the leak until I submerged it in my daughters swimming pool. It took a few minutes before an extremely tiny bubble of air showed up. There was a piece of very small diameter wire that had penetrated the tread. I did thoroughly clean the tire before it went in the pool !
Another thought .. Heavy tires like skid steer or backhoe tires are so stiff even a completely flat tire doesn't look flat until it starts to roll. By the time I noticed the tire was flat, it was about rolled off.
I gave up on running skid steer tires without tubes years ago. A inner tube wont correct issues with nail punctures but it will help with rusted rims, sidewall cracks, and debris stuck between rim and tire beads. Just saying...
Yup. Sidewalls are so heavy you don't notice flat tire until your in machine and moving. I now look at tire '"Top" and can see if it's "flat", should have a small amount of crown. BTW I also ran 40-50 psi for years, until I got out my glasses, and read the ^%$#@! tire pressure printed on the side of the tire (in the smallest lettering of all of it on there....) and now air them to 70 psi. Why they bend I don't know, I must rub them on something. I am thinking about rolling up some rings of 1/2" dia. rod, and weld it into the rim, in the lip, where a wheel weight would go (if these were OTR tires) to strengthen that area from bending.
Yep, what others have said. The tires are so stiff, you don't often see a bulge like on a automobile tire. What works for me is most of my tires have some sort of ring on the sidewall, like where the tread is tied into the sidewall that I use for a visual reference. If that ring isn't a perfect arc at the bottom, I'll put a tire gauge on them. I run 60psi on the skid steer.
I ran 60 psi for years on my 763 bobcat. Then when I got my cat 226 the recommended pressure was 45, I instantly noticed the smoother ride and more traction. Never popped a tire off the bead even running at 30-35 psi for sand in the asphalt. I started running berryman’s tire sealant and it is well worth it, no more flats when you gets nails or anything it can seal up.
On my machine a flat is pretty noticeable, the machine gets real wobbly and spongy. especially with a full bucket. I had been running my tires at the full rated pressure on the sidewall and was told by my dealer to run 32psi and it would cut down on flats. At the lower pressure the tire is more likely to roll over a hazard without cutting since it gives more readily.