Michaeljp86
Well-Known Member
Ive done a ton of rim repair
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loading tires
- Thread starter maddog
- Start date
Ive done a ton of rim repair
tireman
Senior Member
Well,all I can say to that is it's your luck, keep pushing it if you choose to.:badidea Doing something more than once without suffering consequences does not by any means make it safe or acceptable.Just because there's only gonna be 15-18psi in the tire DOES NOT make it less dangerous.There is still a sufficient volume 0f air to do the job.I speak from experience.When I was 22,with 4 years experience but just starting to do OTR work,I was putting a new tire on a log skidder (23.1-26). This was before I figured out how to use the boom to peel the tire off the wheel while still on the machine.Anyways,the tire was lying on the ground as I inflated it.After installing the core housing and checking the pressure (14psi at that point),I clipped my chuck onto the valve.At that instant,as I was leaned over the tire the bead broke causing an explosion that sent me higher than the ROPS of the skidder.(the loggers there say I was a good 15-20 feet off the ground) At that time I weighed about 195 lbs.Ended up with a skull fractured in 4 places,because I came down head first on the corner of the blade on the front of the skidder.No,it wasn't from the wheel being welded,but don't think that low pressures won't do the deed.They will.Godspeed,buddy.
Michaeljp86
Well-Known Member
This is all news to me about welding on rims, if you read farmshow magazine cutting rims and welding in a ring to widen the rim is common practice. I couldn't tell you how many times Ive stopped in to a welding shop with rims that were widened. On my water wagon I built those rims were probably from the 1940s and I replaced a lot of steel on those rims. They have the split rim deal where you pop the outer piece of the rim off I know those are dangerous so I get way back when putting air in but I've been bouncing around the field for a few years now with 10,000+ pound on them.
In Welding school we build race car wheels and all kinds of crazy things. Aluminum rims were always a NO NO on welding.
Honestly I do not see why welding a steal rim is bad. Now welding a rim while it has air bad idea BOOOOOOOOOOOM. The guy up the road just broke a valve stem off his tractor. I told him next time don't fix it, 1st let me weld a small sleave around were the stem goes to protect it, he thought that was a great idea. I can't take credit for the idea folks have been doing the protector for years, and you can bet IF(or should I say when) my stems break I'll be welding valve stem protectors on them.
Michaeljp86
Well-Known Member
Skid steers seem to be reall common with a stem sheild on it.
Welding a rim with air in it seems like a good way to blow molten steel in your face.
Nige
Senior Member
With all due respect, welding something such as a valve protector tube ON TO a rim as opposed to WELDING A RIM itself is a totally different thing. Done correctly and with some thought about where the high-stress areas of the rim are, I don't see a problem in doing what you are talking about.
I guess we all need to get into perspective than when tireman & myself talk about "rims" we're talking about something like 45, 51, & 57 inch diameter rims maybe up to 44" wide that could easily weigh up to 3000 pounds each. With a tyre installed you're looking at an assembly that could weigh up to 12,000 pounds. That size of rim you do not want to be welding on, believe me. And by the way they usually already have protectors for the valve stems welded on them by the manufacturer, and a 1/2 or 3/4" pipe thread screwed plug 180 degrees opposite to the valve location for ballast filling, at least on the loader/dozer wheel rims anyway.
From past experience having grown up in a farming community IMO when it comes to modifications (usually done in the name of trying to save a buck or two, they historically have short arms & deep pockets) farmers seem to think they are immune from all the normal laws of physics, cause & effect, etc, that apply to the rest of us mortals. Most of them I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them .......
I guess we all need to get into perspective than when tireman & myself talk about "rims" we're talking about something like 45, 51, & 57 inch diameter rims maybe up to 44" wide that could easily weigh up to 3000 pounds each. With a tyre installed you're looking at an assembly that could weigh up to 12,000 pounds. That size of rim you do not want to be welding on, believe me. And by the way they usually already have protectors for the valve stems welded on them by the manufacturer, and a 1/2 or 3/4" pipe thread screwed plug 180 degrees opposite to the valve location for ballast filling, at least on the loader/dozer wheel rims anyway.
From past experience having grown up in a farming community IMO when it comes to modifications (usually done in the name of trying to save a buck or two, they historically have short arms & deep pockets) farmers seem to think they are immune from all the normal laws of physics, cause & effect, etc, that apply to the rest of us mortals. Most of them I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them .......
Here's a video about welding pressurized tires: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiLeji8bLOk
Nige
Senior Member
And a link to a thread in the safety forum posted a while back about the dangers of welding wheels.
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?16857-Dangers-of-welding-wheels
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?16857-Dangers-of-welding-wheels
Michaeljp86
Well-Known Member
You had me laughing there, I couldnt agree more. You really hit the nail on the head.
But what I really find mind boggling about it is that the craziest cheapest farmers out there will hillbilly rig something and never have a issue where a normal person would have been found mutilated in a massive heap of wreckage or roasted in a raging inferno.
Michaeljp86
Well-Known Member
When I was talking about welding a rim I always had the tire off. Stripped the paint off down to bare metal cut and welded in whenever I needed to then primed and painted it.
Showpony
Well-Known Member
Tubeless tyres are not water proof, moisture can enter the tyre casing causing delamination and premature failure, always use a tube when adding liquid ballast.