Rubber tyres and perishing

[bish]

The hoemate I’ve started to restore has rubber tyres which perished years ago so I’m left with the bare steel wheels. I’ve since got hold of a mint set of treaded tractor tyres and a set of original Dunlop diamond tyres. The hoemate is kept outside and I was wondering what causes rubber tyres to perish or am I best leaving the rubber tyres inside the garage?

As a twist to this tale when I collected the sets of tyres they came with another hoemate chassis and bonnet and grille but no engine. These parts are actually better than my original hoemate. Which has given me a thought of having a rubber tyred hoemate with an original brockhouse engine which I can store inside and then perhaps a steel wheeled hoemate with another engine kept outside which leaves me with a question of firstly what other engine could I fit as brockhouse engines seem to be very hard to find and did they actually produce a steel wheel for the hoemate? Thanks Rich

[joegrgraham]

Hi Rich,
I cant help you with the engine, but when it comes to perishing tyres, UV rays (sunlight) is the biggest culprit.
It would certainly be better to keep the tyres inside, especially the original ones as they will already be a little more fragile.
In an ideal world, it isn’t really good to leave any machine outside in the elements, just look how quickly the brake discs on your car rust if you haven’t used it for a few days.

Joe.

[charlie]

Looking through the information I have it does appear that steel wheels were available, so you could have one of each for your collection, all you need to do is find some.
The other thing that does not do tyres any good is leaving the weight of the machine on them for long periods. If possible raise the machine off the ground and support the weight on blocks, even more so if the tyres should go flat.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Keep your tyres dark and in a damp place, not wet. A cellar is a good place or somewhere similar.

Phil

[franktonpaget]

Like Charlie says steel wheels with optional road bands were a alternative fitting on the Hoemate and I would also agree the best thing when not using your machine for a time is to put it up on timber blocks or axle stands to take weight off wheels. Also agree with joegraham on sunlight on tyres, keep them out of prolonged sunlight also I think a coat of tyre paint helps maintain tyre walls.
Various engines were used in the Hoemate when produced by BMB the JAP 2a 1HP and Briggs & Stratton 1HP were used. After production was taken over by Brockhouse the Brockhouse Sprytg engine was used which had been used by Brockhouse in the corgi mini airportable motorbikes these were still being produced for private use at the same time as the Hoemate.The only difference is the motorbike version is kick start while the Hoemate has a rope pull.As a result of motorbike production you will still see spares advertised for this engine.I would have thought you could drop across a sprytg engine or complete hoemate with patience.
Hope this helps
Joe Paget

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