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What do you do with your old Bushwheels

gchavez

Registered User
Boise, ID
I just replaced some 29" Bushwheels that probably had a bit of life in them but I had about a 2" spot with tread showing so I replaced them. Would love to know what others do with their old Bushwheels. Make chairs? Any good ideas out there?
 
Post them for sale on facebook. Someone will pay half price for a set that is 3/4 wore out.
 
Recap

PHP:
35 we recapped. We’re worn to cords had 4 lbs worn from new added 4 lbs
 

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cut them in half. hang on the wall with clock in the middle. looks great! and you can give the other one to your flying buddy...don't make show a photo of one scott
 
Covid home schooling shop project, the axels are old 18 gear legs:
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Actually they are some way old 6"ers on 4" wheels, on the 12 you can see my 850's with a 29's leaning up against them
 
What product did you use Dieter?
Devcon flexane 80 liquid and there cleaner and primer and rotisserie the tire . As many layers as u want. I have done tires 3 years ago still look good. Have some more to do. My tires are coming 23 years old
 
I just replaced some 29" Bushwheels that probably had a bit of life in them but I had about a 2" spot with tread showing so I replaced them. Would love to know what others do with their old Bushwheels. Make chairs? Any good ideas out there?
Used Airstreak.0508201529_Burst01.jpeg

Sent from my VS988 using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 

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I never knew you could recap them. That would be worthwhile it seems. Except I already bought new 26" tundra. If I recapped them what do you think they'd be worth?
 
Here's a mini-report on coating with Devcon.

I wanted to pre-emptively coat a set of new 31's. I saw that Devcon offered two different compounds, Flexane 80 and Flexane 94. The 80 has a Shore hardness of 84 (not a typo), and the 94's hardness is given as 94. It seemed obvious that the harder compound would last longer against abrasion, but I'd been cautioned that it could tend to delaminate. I thought that perhaps surface prep might be the issue. So I decided to experiment.

I did one tire with 80 and the other with 94. Prep, application and tire inflation were identical. As it turned out, the 94 did crack and delaminate from the tire, in patches, much more than the 80. I'm pretty sure that due to the 94's greater hardness, the compound flexes and stretches less under stress than the parent tire rubber, shearing the bond. I think the 80 more closely matches the parent rubber's stress/strain characteristics. Based on that experience I recommend Flexane 80 as an effective tire coating, but not Flexane 94.

As an aside, I tried Herculiner on a prior set of tires, but it did not wear well at all.
 
I have two sets that I'm trying to make a boat trailer with. Has anyone found a non aviation substitute for the two piece 6" wheels? It will be a salt water application with no more than 250 lb load.

Jerry
 
I just did my 29" Airstreaks again with Herculiner. At 30 bucks an application, I'm happy with the once a year task. I am rarely on pavement, avoid it like the plague, and my plane only weighs 780 lbs., past experience has shown this will expand their lifespan indefinitely.
 
I have two sets that I'm trying to make a boat trailer with. Has anyone found a non aviation substitute for the two piece 6" wheels? It will be a salt water application with no more than 250 lb load.

Jerry

It would be pretty easy to split 6" ATV wheels and weld flanges on in the center to make them bolt together.
 
I never knew you could recap them. That would be worthwhile it seems. Except I already bought new 26" tundra. If I recapped them what do you think they'd be worth?

I would not want to assume the liability, let the new owner re cap them.

To add to Gordon’s suggestions:
it is very difficult to remove all traces of Herculiner type coatings if switching to Urethane product (Flexane)
all of the adhesion issues I have experienced were a result of contaminants and rubber prep.
 
As regards the Devcon product mentioned and demonstrated in posts #11 and #12 -
My 20-year-old 31's had plenty of tread because we fly 100% from grass strips with only occasional use of sand or gravel bars during hunting/fishing ops. My problem was sidewall checking/cracking that caused loss of air pressure even when not at full recommended pressure. Has anyone had experience at using the Devcon product on sidewalls? I could envision a way to rotate the tire horizontally to apply it, but have a suspicion that the sidewall flex during use and expansion during inflation is substantially different than the tread behavior during either. What are your thoughts, ideas, history?
 
As regards the Devcon product mentioned and demonstrated in posts #11 and #12 -
My 20-year-old 31's had plenty of tread because we fly 100% from grass strips with only occasional use of sand or gravel bars during hunting/fishing ops. My problem was sidewall checking/cracking that caused loss of air pressure even when not at full recommended pressure. Has anyone had experience at using the Devcon product on sidewalls? I could envision a way to rotate the tire horizontally to apply it, but have a suspicion that the sidewall flex during use and expansion during inflation is substantially different than the tread behavior during either. What are your thoughts, ideas, history?
I never tried any of these, but there are products to stop leaky tires. https://bestreviews.com/automotive/tires/best-tire-sealants
 
Sidewall checks probably have no effect in pressure loss. Bushwheels has sold tire sealants for a long time because slow pressure loss is common for their tires. My first tires got Slimed mid life and they’re still going strong. The last few pairs I’ve bought got a dose of sealant before the first inflation. Simple long term solution.

https://www.airframesalaska.com/Orange-Seal-Tubeless-Sealant-Subzero-p/orangesealzero.htm

The sealant AF sells WORKS! I had a slow leak in mine (loose a couple PSI over a months time) one dose of the sealant and the air stays the same in the summer and winter other than the normal temp/pressure drop.
The sealant really revealed itself to me when I ripped a tread on the UTV. I shoved some plugs in the gash and made it back to the cabin but had to stop and put air in the tire a few times. Put some of the sealant in the tire and have not added air all winter and I have used it a lot for plowing and really spinning the tires.
 
STANS tire sealant is what I use in my 3 ebikes, one a fat bike run tubeless, same with my Airstreams, good stuff. Any bike shop will have good tire sealant.
 
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Now THAT's what I been looking for!!!! Great post!
I have the Flexane but not the primer... The fact sheet says the FL-20 primer is orange in color, but I don't see any such color on your tire as you apply the flexane...? Did you use the primer, or does it turn black after application?
I'm concerned that an orange tire just might attract the wrong kind of attention!
I've been using herculiner for 4 years now but it doesn't last very long as I'm opperating off pavement most of the time.
 
For me, it's the cost/benefit ratio....., as to using Herculiner. I've used it for 15 years, and average anywhere from 70 to 125 hrs between the expense of the 2 dollar throw away 2" paint brush and the thirty some dollar small can of the goop. The re-application takes in total, about 15 minutes, BUT, that's usually 3 coats, successivley heavier, and depending on the hangar temp, can take as little as 1 day to as much as 3.
 
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