Old tire question.

[Jf family]

I purchased an old Ford tractor and it has original rear tires on with unique tread. However the tires have some cracking on them, still holding air.
Rather then getting new tires on the rear would it be possible to replace inner tubes and continue with the old tires? I am only going to use it
a bit for loader work mostly snow removal. Eager to hear your thoughts, maybe I am just being cheap and do not want to buy rear tires. Thanks.

 

[Blackhole49]

Without a picture, hard to say. That being said, run them till they fail as long as you're prepared to deal with the consequences when they do.

 

[old]

I purchased an old Ford tractor and it has original rear tires on with unique tread. However the tires have some cracking on them, still holding air.
Rather then getting new tires on the rear would it be possible to replace inner tubes and continue with the old tires? I am only going to use it
a bit for loader work mostly snow removal. Eager to hear your thoughts, maybe I am just being cheap and do not want to buy rear tires. Thanks.

If still holding air why replace the tubes if they are still holding air???

 

[MSD]

Old tubes are way better quality than the new ones. I have seen new ones fail the day after being installed. The old ones are made of much better rubber.

 

[Texasmark]

Will they hold air now? I recently bought a CIH 84 HP Model 895 built in the end of the 1990s with the OEM 18.4x38s still on it, still holding air. I use it as my plowing tractor. Tread is 50% and carcass cracking is everywhere. One didn't leak and the other one had a slow leak. I started investigating the leaker and spent a goodly amount of time with the soapy water bottle all over the rubber part of the tire.....no leaks.....remembering a comment that I picked up on here, I decided to get some new valve stem inserts....that's the brass barrel containing the valve that sits between the outlet stem attached to the wheel and the end cap. Problem solved, cost a few bucks.......

On a Ford 3910 I bought a few years ago I had one tire going flat over a few days. Investigated and it had a hole in the sidewall center position. It was a tube type. I used a tubeless tire plug to stuff the hole. Been holding air for a long time.....my guess is that the tire had been on the tractor long enough for the tube to seal itself to the inside of the tire so that when I inserted the plug the plug was able to go past the side of the tube and thus provide a good seal.

Considering the cost of rubber these days, and disappearing road service type tractor repair services, I don't favor any tire work and try hard to not need either......and for me to have to remove a tire from a tractor rear wheel......forget that!!!!!

 

[C.Amick]

I purchased an old Ford tractor and it has original rear tires on with unique tread. However the tires have some cracking on them, still holding air.
Rather then getting new tires on the rear would it be possible to replace inner tubes and continue with the old tires? I am only going to use it
a bit for loader work mostly snow removal. Eager to hear your thoughts, maybe I am just being cheap and do not want to buy rear tires. Thanks.

The old tires are probably stuck to the rims and they may fall apart when trying to break them loose.

 

[DanielW]

I agree with C. Amick completelty. A good chance they're seized to the rims and you'd tear up the bead getting them off. I'd just run them until they fail. May be several years. But above all, keep the sun off them whenever you can. New tires may not be as tough rubber, but they're made with a lot more UV inhibitors to account for the solar degradation being way (way, waaay) worse today than it was 60 years ago due to the thinner ozone. It's been discussed on here a few times that you can come across the occasions barn-find tractor with original rubber, but as soon as you start using or storing it with the rubber exposed to the sun it will fail rapidly. Old tires just can't handle today's UV.

 

[Texasmark]

Old tubes are way better quality than the new ones. I have seen new ones fail the day after being installed. The old ones are made of much better rubber.

Korean tubes are what I wound up using with 100% success when I did my own tire work. Other tubes from a different, popular, suppler failed almost immediately. The local tire shop uses Korean also and they haven't had any call-backs and I haven't had any problems with the work they have done for me.

 

[Jim.ME]

I purchased an old Ford tractor and it has original rear tires on with unique tread. However the tires have some cracking on them, still holding air.
Rather then getting new tires on the rear would it be possible to replace inner tubes and continue with the old tires? I am only going to use it
a bit for loader work mostly snow removal. Eager to hear your thoughts, maybe I am just being cheap and do not want to buy rear tires. Thanks.

You might as well keep running what you have, don't disturb them. If in the dismount/remount process it weakens the tire casing internally, a cord failure (internal casing separation) may follow and can lead to pinching a new tube. Best to run those but be on the lookout for replacement tires. You might find good tires on good rims. If you dismount your current tires, you may also find internal rim issues you can't see now.

 

[504]

I learned about old tires from dad. We had a JD A that you could put your fingers in the crack and touch the boot repair. I have one on a 656 that has boot in the sidewall. Run it till it won`t stay up. The tire might outlast you.

 

[showcrop]

A fellow used to bring an old IH to one of the tractor pulls that had a patch of some sort bolted inside of the side wall. I assume he used carriage bolts. He kept bringing it year after year.