Can't just retube that

airbiscuit · Oct 20, 2025

Several years ago, there was an antique auto race in MN (think 1910s). A person was killed when turning a corner at speed (20mph?) when a wood spoke wheel 9that looked perfectly good) broke, and the car rolled. They changed the rules after that.

That said, I don't think the OP has enough runway on his property to reach a dangerous speed.

fatjay · Oct 20, 2025

It'll be sturdy when I'm done with it. And I don't take it for more than a mile down the road.

fatjay · Tuesday at 12:43 AM

Also I don't do anything "at speed" as the brakes consist of dropping the bucket.

airbiscuit · Tuesday at 12:45 AM

You are anything but boring

fatjay · Tuesday at 1:21 AM

airbiscuit said:
You are anything but boring

That is high praise in my book

WinterDeere · Tuesday at 7:25 AM

What's your hourly rate on that job?

If you're having fun, go for it, I've certainly done worse myself.

Then again, if you have easy access to a used replacement for @CH4Ohio's claimed $30...

fatjay · Tuesday at 10:56 AM

WinterDeere said:
What's your hourly rate on that job? If you're having fun, go for it, I've certainly done worse myself.

Then again, if you have easy access to a used replacement for @CH4Ohio's claimed $30...

I looked around, didn't see anything local, only shipped. $100 is a pretty good deal for what it is, but it's more of a figuring it out thing. Never changed a tire on a wheel before. It kinda sucks without the right tools.

WinterDeere · Tuesday at 11:07 AM

You can pick up a nice cheap set of tire irons on Amazon, which help enormously for getting the tire off of or on to the rim. Use your loader bucket or a bottle jack under a vehicle to break the bead, and the rope tournequit trick for re-seating the bead. Lots of farmers have found lots of ways to make this job more do-able without having to visit a tire machine.

airbiscuit · Tuesday at 11:17 AM

We would put a plank at the edge of the rim, and drive up on it to break the bead

WinterDeere · Tuesday at 11:19 AM

airbiscuit said:
We would put a plank at the edge of the rim, and drive up on it to break the bead

Nice! I put the edge of my loader bucket on a block of wood placed on the sidwall near the bead, and just press down. Same idea. Others put the tire under a vehicle, with a jack between the sidewall of the tire and the frame of the vehicle.

It doesn't take a ton of force, probably just a few hundred pounds, but it's more than you'll want to do without some leverage.