I thrashed my cast centers after all!!! Should I ever need to put some weight back on, I will fabricate extra steel plates and bolt them to the wheels...something like 100lbs apiece, so they can be taken on or off one at a time with no hassle.
So I rented a 14'' gas saw with metal blades. The wheels being placed flat on the ground, outside up, I cut the centers in halves in an hour. Then split the halves apart with cold chisels. To my surprise that wasn't enough for the centers to even budge at all!
So I took the tires/tubes off the rims, and got myself a propane weed burner (flame thrower). That thing is amazing, it puts out a 20-in long blue flame and sounds like a jet airplane. I rented it for a few bucks a day... then decided to buy it since it proved so useful.
Heating about a third of each rim for a few minutes, I was rewarded with a pleasant thump as each massive center dropped to the ground.
I feared the heat might distort the rims, but it didn't.
I sold the centers (now split in halves) as scrap. The balance record shows that they weighed 1900lbs total, that's 950lbs each!
I won't miss them for sure.
Now I'm having the rims sandblasted for $50 each. I'm having dishes laser cut from 3/8 plate with the 6'' center hole and 8-bolt hole pattern, for 70$ each. Some welding, a good paint job, re-mount the tires with new tubes and I'll be all set!
A tractor salvage yard had quoted me $2000 for two used wheels with 50% tires... I think I'm much better off doing it my way.
Gotta post a pic when I'm done.
