That is what i was thinking of. But at $50 per tire, too expensive. Harry suggested replacing the inner tube with a pool noodle.
Like that idea!
I do think that I payed much less than that for mine. Will have to search up what I used when I have time tonight.
Not a bad idea if your rims are split and the noodle is a good fit.
Tube tires are notorious for slowly losing pressure, but usually over many weeks, not days. If they are going flat over just a few days, there are a few possible reasons. One that others have mentioned is something sharp penetrating the tire. Another is defective a valve core. Many cheap valve cores can corrode if exposed to water, especially salt water. A final cause, which I have experienced, is that the tubes are old and dry rotted. Your tires may have been sitting in a hot warehouse for many years before you bought them.
The valve core can be checked by simply removing the valve cap and submerging the whole fully inflated wheel in a bucket of water and looking for air bubbles. The other two causes might be detectable by the same method, but you might as well pull the wheel and tube since you will have to patch or replace the tube anyway. If inflating the tube without the tire, only inflate until firm, not to what the tire is rated for. Carefully inspect the inside of the tire for anything sharp.
Be aware that small cart tires are fairly rigid and can be a pain to mount and unmount from the rims. Small tire irons are available to make this a bit easier.
One method for converting a tube tire to a tire that will not go flat, but still be somewhat flexible, would be to take a sheet of closed cell foam and roll it into a cylinder the correct length and diameter to replace the tube. Have to admit that I havenāt tried this.
These are the ones I used on my hand truck. At this point theyāve been on there for about 3-4 years and the thing lives outside, so Iām pleased.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-10-in-Flat-Free-Wheel-3337RW/301463402
Nature of the beast. I was looking at replacing mine with these airless tires and wheels.
Looks like they have some nice 10" airless for $15 a piece.
I may be picking up a set of those. 
Get the airless tires if it is a problem. However I have two carts with aired tires for 8 years rarely need air.
Iāve got two C-Tugs with sand wheels and recently picked up one with the original pneumatic tires. I think that they will work better for me for the 1/4 mile trip between house and pond thatās mostly asphalt and some gravel road. Only 30 feet of sand at the endā¦
My Wheeleez low pressure kayak cart wheels have never gone flat in over 12 years, never even had to pump them up (https://wheeleez.com/product/wz1-kcm/) the kayak mini cart comes apart and fits inside the front hatch of my QCC 700XL kayak.
The mini cart is on sale right now for $115, that is a bargain!
If you donāt need sand tires and want to avoid pneumatic tires, there is a model on sale for only $69.
A replacement pair of sand tires by themselves cost almost as much as a whole cart.
I have a C-Tug with inflatable wheels. I thought I wanted solid rubber so I bought a new C-Tug. Figured out I prefer inflatable, especially for towing a kayak loaded with camping gear uphill or over rough terrain.
My tires deflate often. I just carry a bicycle floor pump in my car. ***In any case, everyone should carry a bicycle floor pump in their car at all times for the car tires. A pump has saved my car tires many a time, including in remote places. Must be a FLOOR pump, for air volume.
C-Tug replacement tires and inner tubes can be bought at Tractor Supply, among other places.
1 Like
Yeah, I also have a Yedo cart with hard wheels, if I am going over hard very flat ground, pavement, concrete it is more energy efficient than the soft sand tires, but on sand and uneven ground the the sand tires are more energy efficient because they do not plow through the beach sand like the hard wheels do or catch on every depression or root or sand paver.
Flats can be fixed. But you need to remove whatever caused the hole. After removing the tire, run some cotton over the inside of the tire and you will see the goat head or whatever caused the leak.
I also canāt believe you roll the boat over miles of goatheads. Flats are an annoyance for bicyclists who still use tubes, but that happens once very few hundred miles or so. I doubt anyone gets enough kayak cart mileage for that to matter. So if you frequently have flats, something is wrong. investigate first what is causing the leak before giving up on air. (unless it is just normal diffusion of air over time).
Any tire will lose air over time, you just pump it up before use. No big deal.
If you donāt want to deal with air tires, and donāt want to buy solid tires, put a pool noodle in and see if that is enough. We are not talking about needing perfect tire contact over many miles at high speed, so some hack may work. Some Ghetto repair includes taking the tube out and fill the tire with grass or whatever you find when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere. If you are tolerant to crappy rolling, and are inventive, you can do something for next to no cost.
Adding sealant, or even tubeless, wonāt help here since you still lose air over time. And sealant dries out and needs to be refilled after some months (through the valve stem, so you end up pumping up again). Iām a big proponent of tubeless, but for occasionally used bikes I even think tubes are better.
4 Likes
Dang! I threw one of them away a few years ago.
Clever.