Bead Breaker

[MT Matt]

There was a topic a few days ago about a tire bead breaker. I finally got to use mine today and I wish I had bought it sooner!

i don’t remember where I bought it online. It’s the HD model. Right at $300 and made in the USA.

I needed to get this beast off the rim. Had one bolt rusted stuck in a clamp so I thought it was best to remove the tire and tube before heating it up.

As long as you can get the lip of the foot started between the tire and rim, the short bolt on the front will pull it in place. Then run the foot down with the impact. Just that easy!  I didn’t have much room on the inside so the cordless ratchet was used. Not as powerful as the impact gun but it had no problems.

I got the rim off the 650. Tomorrow the rust around the valve stem area will be cut out and patched.  The bead breaker saved me a ton of effort.

[ny bill o]

I have the same model, thanks to Just a Few Acres Pete's recommendation. One caution though- on a tire with sketchy sidewalls or badly rusted rim, work it around some rather than going all out the first push.

[MT Matt]

11 hours ago, ny bill o said:

I have the same model, thanks to Just a Few Acres Pete's recommendation. One caution though- on a tire with sketchy sidewalls or badly rusted rim, work it around some rather than going all out the first push.

What can happen in this instance?  On the two tires I’ve done, I had to push three moves to fully unseat the tire.  Then a hammer to knock the rest loose. 

[ny bill o]

31 minutes ago, MT Matt said:

What can happen in this instance?  On the two tires I’ve done, I had to push three moves to fully unseat the tire.  Then a hammer to knock the rest loose. 

4 ply old checked sidewall tire on a 140. The second push, the foot went right through the sidewall. Rim was badly rusted on the bead.

[superman]

WOW! I want to try that, sign me up put me on the list!&$. I have a 1940 H, the rear tires are coming off tires were loaded with chloride a salt mix which leaked into the rim and it seemed to always rust out the valve stem. I've tried the plank method where you put the plank by the bead and backed my SM on plank the tire falls away! but not these tires I left the tractor on overnight no way!

 

 

[MT Matt]

I assure you this thing will pop them right off!  There were a couple tires in the past I fought with and ended up cutting them off. That won’t happen again. 

[twostepn2001]

On 10/13/2026 at 9:26 PM, MT Matt said:

I finally got to use mine today and I wish I had bought it sooner!

l never seen anybody so excited about fixin' a flat!!   lol   Just kidding!!   Several years ago, a tire man came to our yard to fix a flat on my truck. l saw something in the back of his service truck that looks almost identical to yours. l asked him what it was and said it was a bead breaker. l asked him how it worked and he said "Hang on and l'll show you." lt actually took him longer to get it off the truck than it did to bust the bead loose. He said he seldom uses except for a couple of heavy equipment accounts he has, like loader or scraper tires. And a couple of times on farm tractors. 

[MT Matt]

It’s a winner. Tire changing is a unwanted and hated job but this makes it much more tolerable!

[DT Fan]

That's on my list if my China-Joe one gives out. Glad you got the tire off the rime Matt.

[TroyDairy]

Man

I honestly do not know 1 person, farmer or otherwise whom does their own tires here.  Install is always part of purchase and most if not all they will patch their sale years later.  Even if not.  100 bucks for a 50m call to fix a tractor tire is cheap imho.  All the truck co have tire guys swing in 1st thing sat mornings.  Check psi and wear on tires.  Buddy is maintenance guy at grain co.  Said they cant recall last flat/down time they have had since doing that service.  

[Diesel Doctor]

I just changed two 235/75-15 tires the other day.

I laid the wheel/tire on top of my floor jack pad and jacked up against the pickup trailer hitch.

Popped the beads rather easy.

Had to run them in to be computer balanced. $40

We used to use the old bubble balancer that wored rather well.

 

[MT Matt]

I’m an hour from any tire shop. I’ve had vehicle tires changed in sets at shops. Those are trouble free. Farm tires are a different story. They want you to bring the tractor in to them to change a rear tire. I can do it, just my time. And this tool makes it much easier. Small tires like fronts or implement tires can be popped loose with a couple hits with the slide hammer usually.

Tires shops won’t fix a bad rim either. That’s what needed to be done on the 650 also. I’ll have a few pics up later today of that process. 

[yellowrosefarm]

2 hours ago, TroyDairy said:

Man

I honestly do not know 1 person, farmer or otherwise whom does their own tires here.  Install is always part of purchase and most if not all they will patch their sale years later.  Even if not.  100 bucks for a 50m call to fix a tractor tire is cheap imho.  All the truck co have tire guys swing in 1st thing sat mornings.  Check psi and wear on tires.  Buddy is maintenance guy at grain co.  Said they cant recall last flat/down time they have had since doing that service.  

Farm call for a tractor rear flat with fluid here starts at $500. Then, add a tube and lost fluid if needed.  Mount and balance at a tire shop, $40ea. Some still include it if you buy the tires there, but they are typically twice as expensive as buying on the internet. Having your own equipment gives the freedom to buy used tires, swap tires around, fix bad rims, buy cheap tires on the internet, dismount and patch a hole in a tire from the inside etc. All on my own time, whenever.

Years ago I went to look at, and then bought a brush chipper about an hour south. It was late on a Saturday evening and got dark when I was looking at it. Tires looked pretty bad, and no spare, but I went for it. About 5 miles in a big flap of the tread came off, but the tire was still holding air. It lasted about 35 more miles before I saw smoke in the rearview. Fortunately, there was an empty store with a working pole light over asphalt parking right there. I unhooked the chipper and took the tire/wheel off, drove the 20 miles home, found another tire on something in the farmyard about the same size, swapped it onto the chipper rim with the tire machine, drove back, put it on and pulled the chipper home. Got back about 1 AM.

[Matt Kirsch]

I've had my original XB-550 for probably 10 years now and it's paid for itself many times over. Used it to fix dozens of tires on the farm over the last 5 years. Still use it occasionally to replace trailer tires. 

Yeah a $100 service call is cheap but three service calls and your bead buster is paid for.

[B.B.]

I think I’m gonna get one of these on your recommendations.  

[TroyDairy]

9 hours ago, yellowrosefarm said:

Farm call for a tractor rear flat with fluid here starts at $500. Then, add a tube and lost fluid if needed.  Mount and balance at a tire shop, $40ea. Some still include it if you buy the tires there, but they are typically twice as expensive as buying on the internet. Having your own equipment gives the freedom to buy used tires, swap tires around, fix bad rims, buy cheap tires on the internet, dismount and patch a hole in a tire from the inside etc. All on my own time, whenever.

Years ago I went to look at, and then bought a brush chipper about an hour south. It was late on a Saturday evening and got dark when I was looking at it. Tires looked pretty bad, and no spare, but I went for it. About 5 miles in a big flap of the tread came off, but the tire was still holding air. It lasted about 35 more miles before I saw smoke in the rearview. Fortunately, there was an empty store with a working pole light over asphalt parking right there. I unhooked the chipper and took the tire/wheel off, drove the 20 miles home, found another tire on something in the farmyard about the same size, swapped it onto the chipper rim with the tire machine, drove back, put it on and pulled the chipper home. Got back about 1 AM.

yeah prob about same price here.  And I still do not know anyone (or my dad) whos changed their own for 40 years.  Different areas different things.  Tires online are generally 10-20% cheaper but not mnt and balance.  So I really dont know anyone who does that either.  Since no one owns a machine.  Heck I bet 0 car repair shops have tire machines.  The dealers and shops all just go to the local tire guys.

  We really lean on service at night/sunday morning vs price generally around here I guess.

[MT Matt]

2 hours ago, B.B. said:

I think I’m gonna get one of these on your recommendations.  

You won’t be disappointed.