Justrolledintotheshop
Big thanks to whoever one of you first described the ratchet strap trick.
Had to use two straps, as one was too short to reach all the way around a tractor tire. Pic 2 bead seated, it worked! Pic 3 shows the reason for needing the straps: inner tube kept trying to escape and got pinched between rim and bead. Ratchet straps allowed a more controlled closing of that gap, preventing the tube from escaping. Pic 4 is from getting the tire off a 36" rim, using tire spokes.
Discussion
Had to swap some tractor tires over to slightly less-rusted rims, as the dual wheel attachment mechanism was rusted to shit and broken beyond economical repair.
When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. But when your only machine is a backhoe, every job becomes an excuse for firing it up.
Oh, and whoever invented tire spokes had to be simultaneously a genius and an absolute moron. Somehow, they're very very close to the perfect shape but this isn't horseshoes or hand grenades and close doesn't work. Getting one to slip past and actually gain some purchase was a challenge, had to get a long prybar in there to make it work.
Anyway, I was struggling with getting it all back together and seating the bead again as the gap between rim and tire was large enough the inner tube kept wanting to expand that way and would get pinched. Then I remembered reading here about tightening a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tire, and that worked a charm. Got both wheels done, now I can drive on soft boggy ground without getting stuck.
This sub can be an education, sometimes!
Tire tech here, in the future inflate the tube just enough to have it take shape but not so much it's putting pressure on the tire before you mount the second bead. It makes it so the tube will be less likely to pinch. Doing it vertically on the machine itself can also be easier, it requires a couple different tricks but once the tricks are learned doing it vertically is generally easier than on the ground.
This is really good, thank you!
whoever invented tire spokes had to be simultaneously a genius and an absolute moron. Somehow, they're very very close to the perfect shape
In your 4th Pic, those are tire machine bars, Or light duty bars. A lot of folks call them spoons (I don't because we use special spoon bars)
What you need is this
https://www.kentool.com/product/tubeless-truck-tire-irons/
Which we call semi truck bars. They are a larger, heavier duty version of what you already have. They have some specific tricks that work charms on tractor tires that I don't have the energy to type out and it wouldn't translate to text well anyways.
Congratulations on a hard job well done.
If you're interested companies make giant rubber hoses with a valve and d rings on them with a braided cover for that exact reason. You wrap the tire and tighten it on the d rings. Then inflate and it punches like the strap. Just another option if you find yourself doing this often.
Good work. Not easy but is anything ever down on the farm????
Going broke?
That's always an option, yeah.
Going broke and breaking equipment are the only things easy to do.
I'm the 3rd generation farmer in my family.
As the saying goes, it takes the 1st generation to build it, then second generation to expand it, and the 3rd generation to squander it.
My dad since I was young has always told me, pay attention, and don't fuck this up.
I've seen and helped my dad make some expensive mistakes that we had to haul into Deere ...which broke our expenses for a few seasons/years... it sure is easy to make and hard to recover from.
Especially since the labor force is either being deported or unwilling to come to work since they’ll get deported
All my farm hands are citizens.
Marijuana farming doesn’t count.
Thats a hobby, the farm is 1000 acres of grass.
I had to use a belt and my knee to get a mower front tire to inflate over the weekend. And from past equipment maintenance work half a can of ether to mount a 60” tractor tire is slightly too much
I've just been watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas so your wording "half a can of ether" gave me very much the wrong idea about what you'd done with it 😀
bat country. :)
Can’t stop here!
Haha, I bet the latter was loud.
I use a 5 gallon bucket lined with an old pool noodle and pipe in like max compressor psi. It works.
Holy shit. We use this in the mountain bike community with a stubborn tubeless bead. Super rad to see it scaled up!!
I've done this trick with a garden tractor tire that refused to seat even with the starting fluid trick. Now, it's my go-to for reseating tires. A lot less sketchy than starting fluid or brake cleaner.
Learned this from a guy who did stock car racing locally. Used it on lawnmowers, dolly tires and other stuff. Like you said, control is the best feature.
I finally got burning ether to work after the ratchet strap failed me
Did you sit in the middle of the tire when tightening or outside?
which is the osha compliant side?
I was thinking I would stand inside, but I am not sure its the best idea.
Just be carefull not to inflate too much before taking the strap off. I've exploded a few straps with ether.
Look! A wagon wheel!
I just did this yesterday with my hand cart!
Did you use more than one drop of Zalo? I've been told one is enough.
It's all fun and games until a nylon strap explodes and someone loses a testicle
Redundancy testicle. You got 2 for a reason.
finally, some good f'n content 👍
Whenever my uncle's needed to seat a tire that was being stubborn or wouldn't fit the tire changing machine, we'd fill the thing with some sort of spray and light the bitch on fire, the resulting explosion would seat the tire to the rim.
I don't think we ever tried it on a tire that had a inner tube though.
For a shop, it's normally a shot of ether, which is also where so many eyebrows go.