Mount Tires by Myself?

Suburban Plowboy · Sep 17, 2022

The front tires on my Kubota have seen better days. I am thinking I should replace them. I don't understand why they are so cracked and nasty while the rears look perfect, but I guess I should be glad the expensive ones are in the best shape.

I was thinking I should buy new tires, take the wheels and tires off the tractor, and have a shop mount them. Then I started wondering if I could mount them myself. It's not like they have to be balanced or anything.

Is mounting tires with totally inappropriate tools an unrealistic goal? I have plenty of tools but nothing designed for mounting tires.

ultrarunner · Sep 18, 2022

I’ve done it and mostly it’s all about breaking and seating the bead…

Sometimes one has to get creative when it comes to seating tubeless tires with high volume of air with valve core removed and a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tread to force the bead to the rim…

Suburban Plowboy · Sep 18, 2022

While I'm at it, I have another question.

My farm is pasture and woods, but under it, it's really sand. We don't get real mud here. The grass is bahia, which is just barely grass.

The Kubota had turf tires on the rear when I bought it, and the front tires are on the knobby side, but they are not a lot different from truck tires.

Is there any reason why I should have turf rear tires and these truck-like tires on the front? The tractor has 4-wheel drive, and I would think aggressive front tire treads might give me better traction.

IndyIan · Sep 18, 2022

Suburban Plowboy said:
While I'm at it, I have another question.

My farm is pasture and woods, but under it, it's really sand. We don't get real mud here. The grass is bahia, which is just barely grass.

The Kubota had turf tires on the rear when I bought it, and the front tires are on the knobby side, but they are not a lot different from truck tires.

Is there any reason why I should have turf rear tires and these truck-like tires on the front? The tractor has 4-wheel drive, and I would think aggressive front tire treads might give me better traction.

I think as long as your new tires get close to the same diameter tires currently on the front, the tread pattern doesn't need to match the rears at all.
As for dismounting and mounting yourself, if you can break the bead with something heavy(I've used the corner of the bucket on the FEL), just some tire irons are needed to do the rest, and a ratchet strap and an air compressor. Watch some youtube.

seville009 · Sep 18, 2022

Suburban Plowboy said:
The front tires on my Kubota have seen better days. I am thinking I should replace them. I don't understand why they are so cracked and nasty while the rears look perfect, but I guess I should be glad the expensive ones are in the best shape.

I was thinking I should buy new tires, take the wheels and tires off the tractor, and have a shop mount them. Then I started wondering if I could mount them myself. It's not like they have to be balanced or anything.

Is mounting tires with totally inappropriate tools an unrealistic goal? I have plenty of tools but nothing designed for mounting tires.

I attempted the same with worn out rear tires on my zero turn at the beginning of the summer. One had a small hole in the worn out tread and wouldn’t hold air; the other was close to doing the same.

Looking at the youtube videos, thought it would be a piece of cake to do it myself, so I ordered the new tires online and gave it a go when they came in.

It took me close to a few hours to get one tire off the rim. Ended up cutting it off with a saw. Tried all the tricks to get the new tire on the rim. No dice.

Ended up taking it to a small equipment repair guy a few miles away. Had him put the new tire on, and do the complete change on the second tire. He had them both completely done in about 15 minutes.

So…..my suggestion would be to just by the new tires and then have a local auto or repair shop swap them out. Much less headache.

sea2summit · Sep 18, 2022

ultrarunner said:
I’ve done it and mostly it’s all about breaking and seating the bead…

Sometimes one has to get creative when it comes to seating tubeless tires with high volume of air with valve core removed and a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tread to force the bead to the rim…

This^

JJT · Sep 18, 2022

When I replaced my Kubota L3710 front tires 3 years ago it cost $15/tire to get them mounted.

Two years ago I had the same experience as seville009 when I replaced the front tires on my zero turn. After messing with the first tire for 30 minutes I resorted to the sawzall. What a pita..... The second tire went to the local tire shop, $20, (includes a $5 tip) and less than 10 minutes the job was done.