Garden Carts and Flat Free Tires

I have had a garden cart like this one stored in my trailer for 4-5 years. 

It has been packaged up nicely in the box that it came in. I plan on using it to haul water from the camp water source to my tent, wood from wherever it is available, and anything else that is heavy. I have water containers that are 6  and 8 gallon. That means they will weigh 48 and 64 lbs. when full. The weight limit on this cart is 1,000 lbs. So I can load it up with water containers and it should handle the weight.

Here are some specs for the cart:

1. Heavy-gauge steel mesh bed with fold-down sides
2. 13" pneumatic tires for rugged terrain
3. 2-in-1 handle easily converts for both hand pull and towing behind tractors
4. Bolts are welded to the cart bed for quick assembly

The problem with this cart is #2 - pneumatic tires. I don’t want to worry about a flat tire on my cart, especially if it is loaded up. The solution was to change out the tires to flat free tires. The type of flat free tire I wanted was closed cell foam not hard rubber. Closed cell foam gives a bit so it feels like a pneumatic tire.

So here is the story about how I solved this problem.

I heard that Les Schwab tire would fill pneumatic tires with foam so they will be flat free. So I took my tires to one of their stores to find out. The manager told me that they do provide that service, but when he looked up the price for my four tires, size 13x5-6 it would cost $212. OUCH!!! The nice manager suggested that I go to Harbor Freight and buy flat free tires that would fit my cart.

I got on the Internet and did some research to find the right replacement tires. I found them at Harbor Freight for $21.99 each. The rims on my tires are held together with bolts, so it is easy to take the tires off. Some tires have rims that you cannot take apart so you have to be sure that the rims and tires are exactly what you need.

 Here is a good tutorial that will make your tire replacement experience successful.  

Tire Replacement Video

I  had to deal with an offset hub. Notice how the hub on one side sticks out more on one side than the other. Rims on some tires are center hubs.

   

The tires I got from Harbor Freight were also offset hubs also but the hub length was different. Since both my rims and the rims on the new tires were connected with bolts, I was able to take the new tires off the new rims and put them on the old rims. The old rims are a bit wider and the new tires don’t fit snugly; they can slide around the rim. But since they don’t have to hold air, they will work just fine.

Notice that the old tires on the right are wider.

 

All you that have carts with pneumatic tires might want to consider getting flat free tires and avoid a major hassle in the future. Being able to haul heavy loads will make your camping experience more comfortable, along with your Deluxe Camp Sink , Deluxe Tent Shower , and the new Rocket Stoven .

Here are links for the garden cart   and the flat free replacement tires . I can't comment on the quality of the cart or tires since I have not yet used them.