The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Advice on wheels and trailer loading

Hey all,

I'm beginning to put together a to-do list in anticipation of pulling a 1951 Maple Leaf 1300 out of a barn on the family farm next spring.

As far as I know this truck has been sitting in the barn for 15+ years and I'm assuming the tires are pretty rotten at this point.

What's my best bet for pulling it out of the barn and on to the trailer? Should I be hunting for a set of temporary wheels and tires or, in your experience, is there a chance I'll be able to get the tires the truck is wearing now to hold air long enough to get it on and off the trailer?

Unfortunately I have no idea what kind of rubber is on the truck right now. I'm hoping to get out there next month to take some high-quality pictures, but for right now I'm going off some less than perfect pics from two years ago and my memory.

Thanks

Sounds like you don't see the family much, or it's a long walk out to the barn to look at that truck. No matter

I would want to try to air up the tires on it, easier than changing them. If you hook something strong enough to it you can pull it out of the barn with flat tires. Just don't hook the chain to the bumper unless you don't mind bending it.

After 15 years I'd bet all 4 tires are flat, but they might air up long enough to get it on a trailer.

If you can't get them aired up then you're forced to put something different on.

Dan

I pulled a 28 Chevy car out of the barn and it still had air in it after siting 30 years unattended.
Tires weren't good enough to drive even 100 yards I bet, but were good enough to roll it on the trailer, even with the tubes poking out the sidewalls on some of them.

No need to bring spare tires unless you have to roll it some distance, or don't have a method to pull or slide it with flat tires if necessary.

Try a little air, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Grigg

Thanks guys. There will be no trouble pulling it out with one of the three or four tractors that will be kicking around.

I don't get out to the farm as much as I'd like. It's about a five hour round trip from where I live, but we usually get out to Grandma's place in Wainwright for a family dinner around Easter, Grandma's Birthday, Thanksgiving etc. The farm is about another 40 minutes from town.

I would go out this weekend but my Uncle and Aunt are working to get a really late crop off right now and I don't want to get in their hair.

On this quick visit I'd air up the tires and then wait an hour to see if they will hold air long enough to load.

I have a car setting on my trailer right now that will need a shot of air to unload but the tires held air long enough to get it loaded.

I only take spare wheels and tires when I know the load is missing one or more.

This situation is one of the very few times I'd consider using Slime or Fix-A-Flat. You're going to do a one-time attempt to get the tires to hold air, long enough to load the truck onto a trailer, and maybe download it once the haul is done. A little assistance from stop-leak products on a tire that's going to get scrapped eventually won't hurt. Fix-A-Flat in particular is nasty stuff- - - -it reacts with the entire inner liner of a tire to the point that a patch will never stick, so using it at all dooms the tire to the scrap heap, no matter how repairable it might have been. Since the ones on the stored vehicle are junk anyway, no harm, no foul!
Jerry

When you do air them up, don't over do it. Just put in enough at first to get them off the ground. I've had a tire blow about half an hour after I put air in it. I've also had them go WHILE I was doing it.