Removal of a perished rear tractor tyre
My way of removing a perished rear tractor tyre from its rim and then replace with new rnbber. In this article I describe my way of removing a tyre which has reached the end of its life and how I would fit a new tyre.
Firstly you need to assemble all necessary ‘equipment’ which is a sharp robust knife about 8″ to 10″ long and with a substantial handle (mine is a Lidl £2.99 special), a bottle of washing up liquid, a stout pair of gloves, a 4.5″ angle grinder with new thin cut-off disc fitted and a pair of safety goggles and to fit the tyre a pair of long tyre levers. Sometimes I remove the centre to reduce weight.
With the wheel/tyre assembly lying on the ground and starting where the lyre has split, cut the sidewall about 3″ from the rim all the way round, lubricating the cutting
area generously as you go. (See photo 1). This is not as difficult as you might think and took me under 5 minutes for one side.
Turn the tyre over and repeat the operation. You should now have the tread separate from the sidewalls and free of the wheel. Remove this from the wheel. Remove the inner tube by just cutting it free.
Now cut into the sidewall towards the rim to form a notch about 2″ wide tapering to a V. (See photo 2).
Remove this piece of rnbber. Repeat on the other side. It doesn’t matter where it is, it is to give you access to the steel reinforcing bead that sits against the rim of the wheel. I now position the wheel so that one side is raised about 12″ to 18″ off the ground. With your safety goggles on, take your angle grinder and working from the inside of the wheel, cut into the tyre at
the bottom of the notch into the steel reinforcing, taking care not to damage the rim. When you have cut through the steel the sidewall will spring off the rim and is easily removed. Repeat on the other side. Job done!
The whole operation took me less than 30 minutes.
I do actually cut the tread portion into two for ease of handling. (See photo 3).
Using the same technique as for the sidewall I work between the treads and end up with much easier pieces to load into my car to take to my garage for disposal. Be prepared, you may have to pay up to £25 for disposal, but, please do not fly-tip.
Now the rim can be refurbished, and I’m sure you will all know how and what to do.
Now to fit the tyre. With your newly painted rim on a soft surface, like a piece of carpet, place the lyre over the rim. Push one side of the lower bead into the well of the rim and now walk around the tyre, most of it will go over the outer rim and the rest can usually be persuaded with a bit of washing up liquid or tyre soap and kicking or hitting with a hide hammer or with the levers.
The inner tube is now fitted and I use one of those key like devices which removes the core or improves the inner and outer threads and screw onto the valve you have poked through its hole. This ensures it doesn’t slide back inside the tyre. Work the tube quietly into the rim and when home inflate slightly, with the valve core removed, to remove any creases. I now raise the lower part of the tyre onto three pieces of wood each about 3″ thick in a crescent shape in the area opposite the valve. This will enable the bead to go into the well of the rim. Now start working the outer bead of the tyre over the rim. You should be able to work at least half into position by just walking on it. Now you will have to resort to the washing up liquid and use of the tyre levers. Be very careful not to nip the inner tube with the levers or you will have to repair a puncture before you start! Work the levers from either side of the rim making sure the fitted part of the tyre is down in the well of the rim. Work by taking small bites of tyre to move over the rim and eventually your efforts will be rewarded. Now, carefully holding the shank of the valve so it doesn’t pop back inside, inflate the tyre to 13 psi. Inspect to ensure the bead is evenly down into the rim both sides. Happy motoring.
Published in Journal No. 87 Winter 2017/18 : ‘Tractor Grandpa’
A Pressing Matter …….. Not !
When I bought my MF35, it came with turf tyres which, apart from them standing flat for the best part of twelve years, I didn’t particularly want and so, early on in the restoration process, I decided to replace them with standard rear tyres.
Now I’d had trouble with front tyres previously on my TE20, trouble breaking the seal that is. I tried all kinds of things like running my car onto the tyre while it was flat on the ground, smacking it with a sledgehammer, various crow bars and the like and finally I thought of my vice. Luckily, I have an old blacksmiths vice with plenty of room between the jaws and the screw, enough in fact to allow room for the tyre when the wheel rim is resting on the jaws. I used a foot square of ¾” scrap ply between the back jaw and the rim, to spread the weight, and with the front jaw as close to the rim as possible, a good squeeze from the vice broke the seal, it was then turned round and the process repeated, the tyre was then removed with the aid of my lump hammer and a couple of crowbars (some of you may have proper tyre levers!)
That was relatively simple on the front tyres, but the rear ones were a different kettle of fish!
Some years ago, I’d had to replace one of the rear tyres on myoId TE20 (it never had much tread when I bought the tractor some 38 years ago) so I set to, without success I might add, trying to get the thing off. I eventually gave up and resorted to the ‘professionals’ at the local tyre company; well, they did get it off and they supplied a new one but, in the process, they totally mullered the rim; both sides. I wasn’t best pleased, but they did give me a 10% discount!
Then, of course, I had a beat-up rim, albeit complete with tyre, but as it was only a few hours old and covered in tyre-fitter’s gunk, it came off easily; some hours later, with the aid of both sledge and lump hammers, I got them back to something like normal and ground off the sharp edges that would almost certainly have cut the side walls.
With that experience behind me, I decided not to go that way again.
A while ago, I joined the Ferguson Club from whence I’d received some sound advice on other matters, so I gave John Selley a call. It transpired that he’d come across the same problem but he, not wanting to save the old tyres, resorted to various knives and an angle grinder in the removal of same! As my turf-tyres had life left in them, I wanted to get them off relatively undamaged if possible, hence the call to John.
He knew a man who knew a man who had a hydraulic press that would easily break the seal if we could get the wheel in it; we couldn’t, but he directed us to a farmer a way down the road who “might be able to help.” Now, said farm sported a newly opened farm shop and cafe staffed by an extremely attractive young lady who plied us with coffee and sticky buns whilst waiting for the farmer to appear. He’d “never had that problem” but thought the local agricultural dealers might be able to help. By this time though, I was lost as John was driving, so I have no recollection of where or who they were (John doesn’t even remember the trip) which is a great shame as I can’t directly credit the chap who gave me the solution to the problem. (If you are that man and happen to read this, please let me know and I’ll give credit where credit’s due.)
Anyhow, John met an old mate outside and whilst he was chatting I went in search of a press. In the workshop I met a chap to whom I explained the problem and “did they have a press?”
“You don’t need all that junk mate” he explained “you just need three old bits of old angle iron, a lump hammer and room to swing it! Look here” he said gesticulating to a huge Fendt tractor “it’s so simple; if I wanted to change those tyres, I wouldn’t even bother taking the wheels off.”
I can best illustrate his method with the photographs I took as I tried it out at home.
I firstly cut three lumps of 2″ angle iron about 4″ long and de-burred all the edges then, as my wheels were already off, I worked on the floor.
Method as explained to me:-
“Firstly, thump a cold chisel in between the tyre and the rim to give the angle a start, then knock in the angle, one corner first. `
When that has a start, smack the angle home as far as it will go.
Drive angle in in direction shown.
Drive in from the side.
Move round the tyre a few inches and repeat the process with the remaining two angles. By the time they’ve all been beaten home the tyre will be free of the rim on that section and the rest can be freed off using just the hammer.”
I have to say I was sceptical when he first explained it to me and though I didn’t say anything, I thought he was having me on, but all I can say is “try it!” it worked for me!
It’s always good when the simple solution works and it’s not just a fluke; I’ve now used it on four rear wheels, the ones illustrated and both on my TE 20 (I managed to puncture both those on the same day) but as it is quite literally a ten minute job to get the tyres off with this method, I wasn’t too long off the road.
I did try leaving the wheels on but found the inner rim seal was impossible to break as there wasn’t the required space to swing the hammer, however, it’s much easier to fit the new tyres (or replace the old ones) with the wheels on the tractor as that enables gravity to lend a hand, an extremely reliable helper and free to boot!
By the way, I got £80 for the old tyres on eBay, much better than carving them up to make flip-flops or starting a bonfire!!
Repeat at intervals round the tyre.
You can quite clearly see the years of rust.
Despite stonding flat for twelve years, both innertubes held air when they were pumped up.
Tyre and rim virually undamaged.
Published in Journal No.99 Autumn 2021, John Lindley
