“Carpeted” Tires Stop “Goathead” Flats

“Carpeted” Tires Stop “Goathead” Flats TIRES/WHEELS Handling Melvin Hagen puts carpet lining inside his tires to solve the problem of flats caused by sharp goathead – also known as puncturevine seeds “Goathead seeds are about the size of a pea with sharp barbs They’ll poke right into a car tire or small tractor tires ” says Hagen “Sit on them or get one in your hand and you won’t forget it ” Goathead plants are commonly found in dry sandy areas Although Hagen lives in Grand Junction Colo the worst infestations are found in Arizona California New Mexico Nevada Oregon and Texas Hagen’s solution for tube-type tires is to cut a strip of 1/4-in thick carpet the width of the tire face and a bit longer than the inside diameter of the tire He first inserts the carpet and then puts in the tube He adds a tube to tubeless tires “I used to cut it to length and use duct tape to connect the ends but now I just overlap it a bit ” says Hagen After breaking the tire loose from the rim he slides the carpet in and positions it against the tire’s inside surface After re-setting the tire he removes the tire stem to make it easy to inflate and deflate the tire quickly several times Once he is satisfied he reinserts the stem “The repetition pushes the carpet out so the goatheads sink into it and stop there instead of pushing into the tube ” explains Hagen Prior to using the carpet Hagen tried adding silicone to tires It cost nearly $20 per tire and it didn’t work The goatheads just pushed through ” he says Hagen has been using his carpet treatment successfully for the past 10 years “It works on everything from bike tires to skid steer tires ” he says Hagen also has advice for people with goatheads in their yard “I take an old blanket or burlap bag and drag it around ” he says “It sucks up the goathead like a magnet Of course then you have to throw it away so don’t use anything you want to keep ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Melvin Hagen 159 Sundance Dr Grand Junction Colo 81503 ph 970 234-4706

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