I have put new tires on the rear of three of my tractors over the years, and have had to fix a few more too. I always take the rim/ tire off and do them flat on the ground like you would with a smaller tire or truck tires. (I have changed my share of them too.) My neighbor would change them while still on the tractor and I have heard that is how most tire men do it. I have never seen it done that way myself. Just got wondering how most folks here do them / have them done. Main issue for me is breaking stubborn beads loose, I know that there is tools that would work with the rear wheel on the tractor but I don’t have any. Thank you for any replies in advance.
- Thread starter JK-NY
- Start date
rustred
Well-known Member
breaking them is the biggest thing. i am replacing tires on my 560 and i removed them to break them with the front end loader. worked really good. i dont have a bead breaker or a hammer so that was the easiest. bonus is the tires are dry. you also need the tire spoons for removing tire from rim. i am installing the rims back on the hubs to mount the new tires this week. have them all cleaned up and regalvanized. i replaced tires on my white this spring and the tire guy came out and did them on the tractor. plus had no choice as they were calcium filled.
I had a 38-inch rear tractor tire develop a slow leak in the sidewall that I believe was some sort of hardware puncture. I inflated it real good and drove it into town 5 miles away and parked it outside the back of the tire shop. Two guys came out, put a jack under the axle, broke the bead and pried one bead over the rim, put a patch on the hole, remounted the tire, pumped it up and I went in and paid for it. Not very much. If I recall, they charged me about $38. Took about a half hour. Drove it home and that was about 7 years ago. In similar circumstances, I wouldn't do it any differently. If they have to come out from town and make a service call then there would be a service call charge in addition to the work. But even then, they're professionals. They made it look so easy. I would have struggled with that thing for most of the day.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
On especially the bigger heavier tires.
onefarmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- 6735 S Lowell Rd, St Johns, Mi 48879
I've done my share of tires and do them on when I can. But I'm working on one now I took off. Whatever works for you at the time
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
I always take them off. To much risk of having the tractor fall while your working on breaking the bead loose and then you can get hurt or dead. I have done tire repair on and off for years both for my self and also as a living
ADB-Ia
Member
- Location
- New Sharon, IA
I do the bigger ones on the tractor. A handyman jack against the drawbar for the inside and against something solid like another tractor for the outside works good for breaking the bead. As with all such work, be careful. Might want to use a chain from jack to axle to keep it from kicking out. Smaller ones like on the front of a front assist I'll take off.
BarnyardEngineering
Well-known Member
- Location
- Rochester, NY
I don't see how you can do them off the tractor without losing your sanity.
My brother and I flipped a 11.2x36 on a rim for a Super C and it was a fight because you could not put any force on the pry bars without the tire trying to flip over on top of you. We got it but we worked for it.
I also stripped two 12.4x38's off some rims and had similar issues. Every time you'd put some force into the bar, the tire would start to flip over. By the time we were done I was ready to just set the second tire on fire and burn it off the rim. Unfortunately I wanted the tire, not the rim...
Smaller tires you can stand on to hold them down, but a tractor tire is way too large. You can't reach across and work the bar while standing on the opposite side like you can with a 20" truck tire or a standard car tire.
Being attached to the tractor basically turns the tractor into a tire machine. A big stable base to hold the wheel while you pry.
My brother and I flipped a 11.2x36 on a rim for a Super C and it was a fight because you could not put any force on the pry bars without the tire trying to flip over on top of you. We got it but we worked for it.
I also stripped two 12.4x38's off some rims and had similar issues. Every time you'd put some force into the bar, the tire would start to flip over. By the time we were done I was ready to just set the second tire on fire and burn it off the rim. Unfortunately I wanted the tire, not the rim...
Smaller tires you can stand on to hold them down, but a tractor tire is way too large. You can't reach across and work the bar while standing on the opposite side like you can with a 20" truck tire or a standard car tire.
Being attached to the tractor basically turns the tractor into a tire machine. A big stable base to hold the wheel while you pry.
![77cc164b-6f12-4583-8f86-3e630deb5822_zpsfvzxz0m7.jpg](https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/d84/Joecdeere/77cc164b-6f12-4583-8f86-3e630deb5822_zpsfvzxz0m7.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds" border="0" alt="77cc164b-6f12-4583-8f86-3e630deb5822_zpsfvzxz0m7)
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
I take them off my tire guy has a slick machine he puts tractor tires and rims on that pops the bead and dismounts the tire in about 2 minutes and doesn't damage the rim at all.
jaoneill
Member
Have done many each way. If the rim is in good shape and doesn't need work I prefer to do it on the tractor. Changed one on the grader last year that hadn't been off the rim in 40-50 years and guessing that the rim needed scaling and smoothing up, I took it off the machine, cleaned up and coated rim and put it back on the machine to mount the tire. Like someone already noted, gravity is your friend and a tire almost falls on when the rim is off the ground and vertical.
Jim
Centerplate
Member
- Location
- Green County Wi
I always change the tire with the rim on the tractor and use the weight of the tire to your advantage. It is nice to have a good fluid pump, but mine is a crappy one. A good set of spoons is a must and a bead breaker is super nice. We borrow this one from a friend.
John in Mich
Well-known Member
- Location
- Ypsilanti, Michigan
I used to do 14, 15,16 inch tire repairs on the ground. That was how I learned it. I never did rears.
Rears went to a farm tire store.
Later, when I had some new tires going on new rims, I mounted them laying them on the ground. I am not in need of any tires, now. All of my machines are on good rubber.
IF, a big if, I were to need any rears done, they will go to the local tire guys.
Rears went to a farm tire store.
Later, when I had some new tires going on new rims, I mounted them laying them on the ground. I am not in need of any tires, now. All of my machines are on good rubber.
IF, a big if, I were to need any rears done, they will go to the local tire guys.
showcrop
Well-known Member
It is almost always easier and a lot safer to do them on the tractor. You will rarely see a "tire guy" do them on the ground. However, if it is old and the rim is rusty, the rust build-up will make the rim larger so that the tire is much tighter, making it advantageous to use a loader or excavator or what have you to help break it down.
Bob Bancroft
Well-known Member
- Location
- Aurora NY
I did work on some 34" duals laying down once, otherwise, on the tractor. A few years back I replaced some worn out 18.4x38 bias with cheap new ones, on a tractor I had just bought. They developed the same vibration. So, I ordered the correct size for the rims[16.9x38] in radial, and put them on, tubeless. The rims were like new. I had such a time getting the 16.9R38 to seat and take air, I decided that was my last big tire job. The only tractor tires I have changed since were 16.9R30 front tires, and the young tire guy with the fully equipped truck did them.
Destroked 450
Well-known Member
- Location
- Harned, Ky
Back when I was young with a strong back we had small tractors we took them off the tractor to change, as I got older and tractors got a little bigger we'd call the tire truck and they fixed them on the tractor.
A certain brand tire we purchased had sidewall cracking issues, we spent enough on tire repairs in two years to buy another new tire before getting a bead breaker and doing it ourself's on the tractor.
With a total of 12 flats on those two tires the bead breaker has paid for it's self a few times over.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
My son and I changed four 18.4-38s last weekend. Both of us have a bad back so there was no way we could do wheels that size on the floor and get them picked up. We leave the wheels on the tractor and let gravity help us. Two of the tires we took off of duals we did not need anymore so we stuck a dual hub on the end of the axle and bolted the dual to the hub with two bolts so the wheel was vertical when we worked on them.
On the harvest We had a couple of big combine tires changed by an independent guy who changes tires in the field for the tire shops. These tires cost $6000 each. He was not a very big guy but he could handle those huge tires pretty much himself. We had to help him roll the old tire away and the new tire back to the combine but he did the rest. The temperature was an honest 110 degrees in southwest Kansas. We were all heading for the shade while he kept on working in the hot sun. His son came along to help but he didnt do much. I cant use the words the dad used when he told us what he thought about the son being up all night drinking beer and chasing girls. LOL
On the harvest We had a couple of big combine tires changed by an independent guy who changes tires in the field for the tire shops. These tires cost $6000 each. He was not a very big guy but he could handle those huge tires pretty much himself. We had to help him roll the old tire away and the new tire back to the combine but he did the rest. The temperature was an honest 110 degrees in southwest Kansas. We were all heading for the shade while he kept on working in the hot sun. His son came along to help but he didnt do much. I cant use the words the dad used when he told us what he thought about the son being up all night drinking beer and chasing girls. LOL
Dieseltech
Well-known Member
- Location
- Akron, Indiana
I've done it both ways, and I've found leaving wheel on the tractor is easier.
rusty6
Well-known Member
- Location
- East central Sask.
Its been too many years since I changed a tractor tire to even remember but I suspect I took the wheel off the tractor. The mobile tire guys that work on them now leave the wheel on and just take the tire and tube and chloride off. Air powered bead breakers. All I have to do is write the cheque when he is done.
Destroked 450
Well-known Member
- Location
- Harned, Ky
We had a slide bar breaker before we got this one, don't know where the slid bar is now, don't care either.
Pete in MD
Well-known Member
- Location
- Central Maryland
ON is a lot easier.
caterpillar guy
Well-known Member
I usually do them my self and on is much easier. I have never been able to get a loader bucket to break the beads down like in the pictures shown. I have had good luck with using the forks on a telehandler to just set them and push with the boom to get the beads down. Then with a chan and slip hook pull the bead out enough even on a 12.4-38 to get the tube out and in with only one bead loose. Saves fooling with that inside bead. I can though get the inside bead with the telehandler fork from the inside rear of the tractor. The red colored bead breaking tool is the better one than the black one shown from what I have seen in use by the local tire guys. My brother had them come put a new tire on the grain cart this fall. 24.5-35 guy was happy to have somebody beable to help some with holding bars to get it on the wheel. I also borrowed his air hose to blow out the cab filter on the tractor.
Texasmark1
Well-known Member
Tire store changed my 14.9 x 38s and left the wheels on the tractor.
Thank you to all who responded. I have a rear tire to replace when it gets warmer and will try doing it on the tractor. I will probably get one of those bead breaker tools. I have watched a couple YouTube videos of tire changing on the tractor . It does look like it is easier to leave the wheel on when changing the tire.
onefarmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- 6735 S Lowell Rd, St Johns, Mi 48879
I took this wheel off because I thought I had a good one already mounted to go back on. Turned out that tire was bad. So I had to lay this one down and remove the tire while off the tractor.
I had this rim that was good so cleaned it up and put it on the tractor. Then mounted the tire while on the tractor. I have to say it was soooo much easier on.
I had this rim that was good so cleaned it up and put it on the tractor. Then mounted the tire while on the tractor. I have to say it was soooo much easier on.
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