Well the tires don't hold a whole lot of pressure to start with so it wouldn't have to lose much to go flat. I think I'll start checking my TP more often also....I think many people probably don't check tire pressure enough.

There are a couple possibilities. ... The tire bead was not sealed well, was leaking and running it flat corrected this., the valve core was leaking and pumping it up corrected this. ???

you may still have a puncture that is plugged by a thorn & leaking very slowly. I've had problems with russian olives & locust trees. Nasty thorns & they tend to drop branches.

Do you have any children? (or neighbor children) Certain "little Angels" have been known to "experiment" with things that adults just aren't fascinated with.

Same tip if your snow plow suddenly becomes crooked.

I had a slow leak but it went away - I figured the bead had reseated. A month later, while plowing snow, I noticed the plow was no longer level (I feared it had been bent) and only discovered too late that I was riding on the one rear rim. The tire was old and rotted anyway, and I had a spare wheel with a tire so all around it wasn't a big deal.

But same as the OP it is a good thing to be aware of.

>> Do you have any children? (or neighbor children) Certain "little Angels" have been known to "experiment" with things that adults just aren't fascinated with.

No, but my wife has been saying she would get back at me for pulling my tired old "King of the Castle and I order YOU to get out there and cut that grass, woman!" schtick but she swears she did nothing.

I wonder if heat in the garage could have caused that tire to lose pressure.

I hope it stays inflated because I'm not sure where I would put a jack under the tractor (a Deere LA140)if I had to change the tire. There is a black plate in the lower center of the rear of the tractor that seems to be part of the frame but I guess I need to check WHERE jack points are in case I ever need to do that.

as far as jacking it, i usually go under the axle for 1 tire, under the hitch plate if i need both rear tires off the ground. for 1 tire i usually just set a jack stand right by the axle, pick up that side and set it on the stand. if you have a floor jack or a scissor jack you can use them, but most bottle hydralic jacks are too tall to fit.

i can check my tires on both my machines every day and they will be fine. then as soon as i need one it has a flat. the left front on teh craftsman GT, the right front on the deere L130. the ONLY tire i have not had go flat besides the brand new AGs is the one that i punctured the side wall on the day i got the L130. i have 2 plugs in teh side wall of the tire and since that day it has never once leaked, and that was 4 years ago! all other tires without any plugs seem to leak down occassionally, though like you i cannot find any leaks anywhere. i even aired one up to 50 PSI to check and no leak could be found, but a few weeks later it was flat again.

david,

sounds like it is time for slime!

My rear tire fixed itself (until it fatally gave out while plowing) but when I got a fairly fast leak in the front, slime saved the day. It has been a year now and that front tire is still holding air just fine.

If you install new blades and get the worst cut you've ever had, maybe the blades are upside down. Of course, I've only HEARD of this ....

Speak to anyone who has an ATV, there is always, and I mean always, one tire with "nothing wrong with it" that looses air. Loosing 3 lbs on a tire that only takes 5 is a big deal.

People need to get in the habit of looking at all the tires every time they get into a car , bike or tractor... it should be pretty easy to get this habit going. I started doing that at age 16 and never seem to have surprises. I am amazed how many cars / tractors that I see with little to no air in the tires... I see people in traffic all the time with about 5 psi in a tire... I don't expect everyone to do engine work or repair axles... but checking oil and looking at tires is pretty easy to figure out..

Truck drivers typically carry a club under the seat. Not to beat on people ... maybe sometimes, but to whack the tires to see if they are inflated to pressure. You might see them walk around the rig, checking tires at a truck stop. It takes a bit of practice to feel the proper response.

>> People need to get in the habit of looking at all the tires

Well, I tell you, I check them now. In fact, I keep the pressure gauge on the drivers seat.

I'm surprized the tire didn't shred, what with hauling my fat butt around the yard.

FAR 91.1. Preflight preperation: The Pilot in Command shall....

I do it the scientific way, I kick the tires, usually you can tell just from looking. I did wonder at the steering being harder on the shops push tractor the other day, one of the front tires was almost flat. The best cure for a slow leak is a tube. Ever had to take off one of those tires filled with slime or whatever? YUK!! One of the rear tires on my ole MF has had a nail in it for three years now, gonna fix it one of these days but I dread it, it's fluid filled.

Kinda high jackin' the thread ..

I get the feeling, there are quite a few plane jockeys on here.? or mechanics.

This was quite a mod. project. It was started at the notorious Air America, where I was called upon to do the avionics installations.

"In 1989, O & N began its most ambitious project, with the installation of a Rolls-Royce (formerly Allison) Gas Turbine 250-B17F/2 engine on the Cessna Pressurized 210 airframe. From its first flight in 1989, until its final FAA certification in 1992, the aircraft was subjected to rigorous testing, demonstrating the performance capability and sturdy reliability that was sought. Since 1993, the Silver Eagle has been featured in many major aviation publications, including AOPA Pilot, Private Pilot, Flying, Plane and Pilot, Cessna Owners, General Aviation News, the Pacific Flyer, and most recently, the Pilot Journal. In November 2006, our company was spotlighted as the featured advertiser in Cessna Pilots Association magazine."

Here is a link that might be useful: O & N aircraft mods

I assume I can use one of the tubeless repair kits such as used for a car should a bonafide puncture occur...

Sure!

I bought a tire machine from Northern Tool made to do the smaller rims, while it's not the greatest little gizmo it does work. Rim needs to have at least a 5/8" hole through the center. I use the regular tubeless tire kit for my tractors, I have used plugs in the past with pretty good luck too, think there's 4 in one of my front tires. When trying to reinflate one of these tires after a repair, the volume of air really matters. I usually take out the valve core and use a rubber tipped blow gun to get the bead seated.

Yeah, but ... If your are using one of the tubeless repair kits, you won't have to break the tire down. Just repair it right where it is. .. on the rim.

Tmajor,
A helicopter engine in an airplane? Hey, why not? The 250-20J in the Bell 206 I trained in (Navy TH-57) put out 425 shp if I remember correctly. Not bad for a little trombone.
The Rolls Royce AE1107C "Liberty" turboshaft in the V-22 is basically a helicopter engine serving as a turboprop. It's not a whole lot different from the AE2100 powering the new Herc (KC-130J).
Now that you've mounted one in a cessna, how about a GT? The PTO might be tricky, since they typically run directly off the engine. I think my hi-lift blades would probably lift the sod out of the ground, spinning at 30,000 rpm.

Wankel,
Put a tube in it. Problem solved. I recently put a 1" slice in my sidewall. New tire: $80. New tube: $20 (from JD dealer; Walmart probably sells them for half that--but made in CHINA). Of couse when I took the tire off the rim I found the previous owner had already put a tube in it (and a failed patch in the tread). Had I known that I would have just patched that one and saved $20. That tire had a rough life before even wearing the nubs off. I'll put the repaired tube in the other side eventually (if that doesn't already have one too).
If you do happen to find a puncture, you can certainly use one of the plug kits sold in auto parts and hardware stores. Just pull the offender out, ream out the hole, put the plug in halfway, pull out the insertion tool (wihout pulling out the plug). No glue required. You can cut the exposed half off to as short as 1/2" but it's not necessary.

Butch,
I worked my way through college in a garage, mostly installing tires. Nothing used to piss us off like Fix-a-flat spraying all over your legs and chest while breaking the bead on the machine. That's just nasty stuff. If anyone ever uses it, please let the poor guy know when you get new tires. Better yet, pry off the center cap or hubcap, and write FIX-A-FLAT IN TIRE on the wheel with a black sharpie.

Bushleague,
That's one of the things I love about the V22. After a cursory 2min walkaround (looking for open panels, bird guts in intakes, etc) we fire up the APU, run the preflight BITs for the Flight Control System, Fuel System, Emergency Lube System, and Oxygen Generation System, which the plane does itself while we sit in the air conditioned cockpit and watch the displays. It even wiggles the flight control surfaces. Gone are the days of climbing all over helicopters. It takes pilots 30 minutes to preflight a CH-46, 40 minutes for a CH-53. That's not fun in the blazing sun, or when you're climbing on the tail of a helicopter 80' up in the air over blue water, hanging off the edge of the carrier.

Speaking of people not checking their tire pressure, here's a public service announcement:
If you have a compact spare (donut), check it ASAP! Those things need to be maintained at 60psi, twice your big tires' pressure. Due to the high pressure and low volume of air, they lose their pressure much more quickly than your real tires. Even an air-tight tire will lose about 3 psi per year. The compact spares are more like 5. If your car is 5 or more years old and you haven't checked your compact spare, I bet you it's half full. Even fully pressurized, it can barely hold your car's weight and can't be driven over 50mph. At half pressure, it can't hold your car's weight. I made it a habit to check customers' donuts every time I had their cars in the garage whether they asked or not. I don't think I ever found one over 30psi. Most were 15psi. That's a flat tire!

Here is a link that might be useful: AE1107C

You can put a plug in with the tire on the rim, but has to be off the rim to put in a patch. I worked in service stations too in my youth, I don't use any kind of fix-a-flat on anything of mine.