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breaking down tractor tires
When it comes time to change the tires on your tractor you generally have a few options
Option A, Call the tire service company and have them come out and do it for you. depending on the size of your tractor this may be the best option
Option B remove the tire and rim and haul it to the tire shop if the assembly is less than say 300 lbs this may not be a bad way to go even without handling equipment. If you have large heavy tires and the equipment to handle them this is still a good option.
And then there is option C, there is always an option C isn't there? But option C can have several sub options within like option c1 leaving the assembly on the tractor and breaking down the tire and changing it that way. The tire service guys often will do this because it saves having to handle the heavy rim and tire as an assembly but they will have special powered break down tools to assist them.
so this brings you to option c2 which is part of option B except you are not going to have to load it and haul it. you merely use your tire hammer to break down the bead then spoon the tire off and the new one back on the rim. Having swung my share of tire hammers over the years I find them laboriously boring tools to use. SO I created what I call option c2a where I toss the assembly on the ground and use the loader bucket of my backhoe to break the bead in just a few seconds it is time to flip the tire over and break the other side. then spoon off the one side and hang the tire from the bucket to spoon off the other side This saves me a lot of time and aggravation of having to swing a tire hammer which I hate with a purple passion anyway.
Attachment 34749
Attachment 34750
How do you guys change your large tires?
I do mine myself for several reasons, one I know the rims are old and may be rusty in need of lots of cleaning and or some repair and should be painted before installing a new tire. If I were to take them to the tire shop they would not want to spend the time to clean them like I would want and for sure would never consider painting them and having to wait a couple of days before mounting the new tire their time is valuable and even if they wanted to charge me for the amount of time to do the job like I would want this would bring up 2 things #1 I couldn't afford it #2 they would be devoting so much time to my tire that other customers particularly those who are traveling or otherwise in a hurry would be forced to wait while time was being used on a single tire.
As it turns out the rim may be damaged to the point that it might even be cheaper on me to replace it than repair it anyway. unless I wanted to go back with a tube which I do not
