Fred Werring

Well-known Member
So I've changed a few rear tractor tires using some Harbor Freight tire irons...they work OK on car size tires, not so much on rear tractor tires.

Looking at the Ken-Tool website ( http://www.kentool.com/index.php/products/tire-irons-mount-demount ), never realized how many different tire irons there are.

Looking for suggestions on what size/shape to buy...but I think anything would be an improvement over what I use now.

Also

My current method of breaking beads is to lay the tire flat and push down with a front loader. After I get the beads broken, I'll put them back on the tractor to help steady them while I demount the tire. I think gravity is getting stronger though, those tires are getting harder to get back up off the ground.

Saw this gizmo at Northern Tool, Esco manual bead breaker.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200322827_200322827

Anybody got one? Does it work? Reviews are good, but thought I'd ask here.

Thanks

Fred
 
I have a manual bead breaker something like that one. It will usually break down the bead on anything from ATV tires to rear tractor tires. Most of these are designed to work with just a socket and hand ratchet to operate them, NOT with an impact wrench.
I did run into one tractor rear that it would not break the beads on. On my farmall M I ended up using a sawsall to cut the tire off the rim but the tire was shot anyway and had probably been on the tractor for 30-40 years and had some clacium chloride leak so the rim was pretty rusty.
The other rear tire had not leaked any chloride and it came off fine even though it was just as old.
 
I have not had any luck with the screw type bead breakers. I just us a good slide hand bead breaker( Ken Tool# 35926). As for tire spoons/tools. Get a good long straight spoon(Ken Tool# T38/33238) and a matching off set tire tool(Ken Tool#T45A) . I have these tools that are over 30 years old and still work well and are not bent/junked. The slide hammer breaker is the highest priced piece. You will spend a few hundred dollars on these good quality tools but they will out last you. You can also find them at auctions, Craigslist and EBay used.
 
JD, are you able to use the slide hammer with the rim still on the tractor, or do you take it off and lay it flat?

Fred
 
I also have a bead breaker similar to what you are looking at. They work great. The first time I used mine I had just had wrist surgery so I was one handed. I used the breaker to R&R a tire that was still on the tractor. Took a little finageling but it worked. The next tire I broke down was a rusty old beast that had been "seasoned" in calcium chloride. The bead breaker worked like a champ. I have one of the slide hammer bead breakers and I only use it after the bead is broken with the screw clamp one. If it wasn't for destroying the rim, I would use a bead breaker hammer instead of the slide hammer.

OTJ
 
Some people overthink this. This is the extent of my tire tools. Hammer the wedges in,drive the curved wedge in between them and work your way around. Either on tractor tires standing up on the tractor,or smaller tires laying on the floor.

Those irons really are too long for tractor tires standing up though. You can't read the tape,but they're about three feet long. The guy who comes out and does my loaded tires uses irons about eighteen inches long and he whips those things around like a fat guy uses a dinner fork. Mine are too long to be handy on the backside of a tractor tire. They come down and hit the floor too soon when you're putting a tire back on too. One of these days I'll come across a deal on some shorter ones.
a149423.jpg
 
If you guys are going to go Through all the trouble of taking the tire and rim off the tractor and laying it down, get yourselves a duckbilled tire hammer with the long handle.. Far faster than a slide hammer. The picture above shows 2 of the irons you need, the long 2. You also need 2 about 1 foot long. Once you get used to changing rears you will find that you use the shorter irons far more than the longer ones. I wore out 4 or 5 of those bead breakers. It doesn't take long if you do 8 or 10+ rears a day. If you do 1 or 2 every now and then they are ok. I thought I was in tall clover when I got my first hydraulic breaker. Good luck with your tire work. Things go a lot easier if you purchase a rubber lube to De mount and remount your tires. You will find dish soap just isn't slick enough. NAPA sells a decent 1, but there are others that are far slicker. They come the profess ional
 
I used a couple of Ken tools #6G drop center irons to change a 6x16 tire. The notch grabs the bead or rim edge nicely. Working my way up to the rears. Darn chloride anyway.
 
Anyone see the youtube video about the inner bead mounting tool some farm tire man come up with. Uses a short iron and a 3/4 drive ratchet. Interesting. Just search on inner bead mounting tool youtube. He said if he didn't have the tool he would quit the tire business at his age, 69.
 
I haven't seen the 3/4 ratchet bead breaker,but I saw where somebody drilled a hole in a big socket and put a short piece of a tire iron through it for putting tires back on. That looked like the best thing since sliced bread.
 
mike, dont tell the correct police, but when i get a bad one that the bead wont break on an old rotted tire, lay the tire and rim flat on the ground outside and pour a cup of gasoline around the bead and let it soak in over nite, ....dont light it!!! the gas softens the rubber and the bead generally breaks pretty easy.
 
The slide hammer bead breaker is the one to get. Northern sold one for half price that works rather well too but its not quite as nice as the Ken tool. There is a bit of a technique to using one. Tractor tires are done on the machine. Small tires you need to stand on the tire and work the tire with your feet while working the bead breaker at a guess of a 30 degree angle from vertical. If you try to work the tire while not standing on it your will be there a while.

Spoons you need a drop spoon and a straight spoon 18 to 24 inches long. I prefer the shorter drop spoon and a longer straight spoon. Don't buy the cheap ones. The Ken tool ones are thinner at then end and have good steel in them to handle the abuse. If your working too hard you may need to change your technique but it still is not an easy job. Be aware of the fact the spoon can slip if not used right and whack you in the head.
 
rrlund, do yourself a favor and clean up the mushroomed heads of those wedges, before some ER doctor has to cut a piece of one out of your leg, or worse.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top