How to Replace a Wheelbarrow Flat Tire

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Funny how your current projects will push you to get really old items off your to-do list. In this case, it was finally replacing my wheelbarrow’s always-flat tire with a universal, no-flat version.

Every year, I have had to re-inflate this tire. Then I get overzealous and weight it down too much or leave it without use for too long, and I come back to a flat tire. After the backyard sinkhole project, I faced another flat yet again. But enough was enough. I had a whole driveway of dirt to scrape off (my talent on the backhoe did not extend to being able to get every little speck off on its own), so things needed to happen asap before rain starts washing everything into my garage!

1. Remove the old wheel

Getting the old wheel off proved to be easier than I expected (why do I wait so long to do this simple crap?). I loosened up the hex nuts with some simple pliers and was able to get them the rest of the way by hand.

2. Keep track of small pieces

Once the wheel was off, I carefully placed things aside… or into the dirt, whatever. Point is, I didn’t want to suddenly need a piece and find it missing, so I put everything in one spot and took a picture for reference just in case (sometimes, remembering that you need to take pictures for the blog comes in handy!).

I snapped off the labels of the new tire before taking this picture, but here is the info on the tire. I went with a “universal fit” flat-free one that is supposed to “fit most wheelbarrows and lawn equipment”. Yeah… about that…

3. Mount the new tire in place

The new wheel kit came with extra pieces to fit on either side of the new wheel, which keeps it from slipping around. It’s kind of one of those things where you might wind up with extra pieces you aren’t sure you need, but you just have to keep trying until the wheel seems centered from either side.

4. Make sure there is clearance

In full disclosure, my new tire was a tiny bit larger than the existing one, and for a minute, I thought I was going to have to go back to the store cursing, “fits most wheelbarrows my ass.” But once I adjusted the front piece (which was off-kilter already for whatever reason), things worked out just fine… but barely.

And now, I have a tire that won’t go flat while I’m filling it with load after load of dirt. I’m decidedly less excited about this part as I was when it first arrived, I have to say.

I guess sometimes to do the big things, you’ve got to do the little ones. What are you accomplishing this week?