Handling Filled Tires

jimainiac · Jan 16, 2013

I am about to swap my rear tires and rims from side to side to gain more clearance for chains. The wheel disks stay on the axle, the rims unbolt. The trouble is, the tires are filled and therefore very heavy. I'm wondering if it will be possible for me to do it myself if I take it real slow and keep them upright. I'm nervous about them getting away from me and tipping over . The tractor is a Kubota L3830, with R4, 17.5x24 tires. It's in a garage with a smooth concrete floor, so that's a help.
Any thoughts on whether this is do-able without special equipment?

RickB · Jan 16, 2013

That size tire is very manageable without special equipment even when loaded. Keep them upright. You will find it much easier to remove the center disc and wheel from the axle, re-position the disc on the rim in the proper setting, then replace the disc/wheel assembly on the axle. Re-torque ALL hardware after a few hours use, and continue to re-torque at intervals until the hardware is fully tightened.

bucktaker · Jan 16, 2013

Yes just be careful and go slow. I have swapped my loaded 14.9-24 caci loaded r1's a couple times you will need maybe two bottle jacks.

MikeInEburg · Jan 16, 2013

1+ on "keep them upright". Once they start to go over, it's a chore to stand them back up.

MFRED · Jan 16, 2013

Upright for sure. And as said, take the complete wheel off & swap centers off the machine. Those tires are wide enough they wont take much to stay upright. However, don't try to stop it if it is going over, figure out how to stand it up after.

A buddy helping is good as long as he can actually help and not just get in the way like a few of mine.

Gary Fowler · Jan 16, 2013

I have moved 18.4x34 with full ballast and as long as you keep them balanced upright they are easy for one strong man to handle. X3 on removing the tire from the wheel lug nuts and not the rim bolts. It is not hard to get the tire aligned with the lug nuts. It should have two stud sticking out so all you have to do is align those and slide it up. You need to have a good pry bar to slide the tire with. You will need to be able to slide it side ways once you get it lined up with the holes. This is where a buddy is handy to have, you need one pair of eyes watching the lug alignment while the other positions the tire. One can do it but it is hit and miss on hitting the bolt holes and might get a little frustrating. The hole aligner doesnt need to be big and brawny just able to see and tell you what direction to move the tire, a wife would do for that. Proper safety instructions would need to be given in that "If I yell, I'm loosing it, get out of the way", the helper immediately gets far away and allows the tire to fall. DONT try to stop it if it gets out of balance , just move and let it fall then worry about getting it back up. A water filled tire can break you leg or worse if it falls on you.

RedNeckRacin · Jan 16, 2013

I vote for an engine hoist. My father in law and I swapped the loaded tires on my 5083E and boy were they a handful if you didn't keep your full attention on them. Please don't attempt by yourself, if you get caught under them in some position that you can't move, it would be a silly way to go when you could have simply asked a buddy for an hour of his time.

SHORT KID · Jan 16, 2013

If you had a 4 wheel dolly, you could jack the tractor high enough, remove the tires onto the dolly and roll them into place. Be careful as was said, if it starts to fall just get out of the way !!!!!!!

boggen · Jan 16, 2013

it is the sliding part of the tire and alignment that can get tricky. atleast it has been for me.

if ya on concrete floor. i am with others go for some dolley.

if you can get a cheap used engine hoist say off of craigslist that might work as a dolly. and if need be a way to tie tire off.

the one thing i hate about tractors. is trying to "block them up" the rear ends of tractors there really not much space to place a bottle jack or a floor jack. and then maneuver any sort of blocks up under tractor. and once you get blocks under them. the rear end can still be a tad "tippy"

get a helper regardless. both for ease, and safety in case something happens.

crazyal · Jan 16, 2013

I did mine by myself. Left the center part of the wheel on the tractor. I removed one, rolled it up to a wall and left it leaning against it, put a jack stand under the tractor, and moved the jack to the other side. Two of the center bolts are actually studs which means you need to get the wheel perfectly aligned. So I decided to left the center on the tractor. Worked real well. All I had to do is get one of the bolts loosely into a hole, the tire doesn't even need to be that straight. Once you do you can just carefully raise and lower the tractor with the jack to get the others to line up and the tire will not fall over.

jimainiac · Jan 16, 2013

Thanks to everybody for the good advice. Especially the point about taking off the wheel disks. I never would have thought of that. That's a trick you either have to learn the hard way, or learn from an experienced hand. I'm still trying to come to grips with the reality of moving something that heavy, even though it's round. I also hadn't thought of the necessity of using a pry bar to move the tire in and out to line it up.
This might seem like a dumb question, but since you have to swap sides to keep the tread in the right direction, you have set the first tire aside somewhere. I wonder if I could lean it slightly against the wall?
I heard an interesting opinion, that if I was just moving the wheels out for use with chains, you could just pull each rim off and spin it around. The tread direction would now be backward, but supposedly with chains on it wouldn't matter. I'm hoping that I will leave the wheels spaced out once I change them, chains or not, so I wouldn't want to do that.
Still trying to get the courage up to tackle this project. I always prefer to do things myself if at all possible, but sometimes that gets me in trouble. Seems like once the bolts are removed I will have passed the point of no return...

Zebrafive · Jan 16, 2013

jimainiac said:
Thanks to everybody for the good advice. Especially the point about taking off the wheel disks. I never would have thought of that. That's a trick you either have to learn the hard way, or learn from an experienced hand. I'm still trying to come to grips with the reality of moving something that heavy, even though it's round. I also hadn't thought of the necessity of using a pry bar to move the tire in and out to line it up.
This might seem like a dumb question, but since you have to swap sides to keep the tread in the right direction, you have set the first tire aside somewhere. I wonder if I could lean it slightly against the wall?
I heard an interesting opinion, that if I was just moving the wheels out for use with chains, you could just pull each rim off and spin it around. The tread direction would now be backward, but supposedly with chains on it wouldn't matter. I'm hoping that I will leave the wheels spaced out once I change them, chains or not, so I wouldn't want to do that.
Still trying to get the courage up to tackle this project. I always prefer to do things myself if at all possible, but sometimes that gets me in trouble. Seems like once the bolts are removed I will have passed the point of no return...

After you had one wheel/tire off you could remove the center disc and reverse it, bolt it back in the wheel and then put the tire/wheel back on. (If this what you are trying to do) that way the tractor will always have one wheel/tire on, vs pulliing both and swapping side to side.

Zebrafive · Jan 16, 2013

Gary Fowler said:
I have moved 18.4x34 with full ballast and as long as you keep them balanced upright they are easy for one strong man to handle. X3 on removing the tire from the wheel lug nuts and not the rim bolts. It is not hard to get the tire aligned with the lug nuts. It should have two stud sticking out so all you have to do is align those and slide it up. You need to have a good pry bar to slide the tire with. You will need to be able to slide it side ways once you get it lined up with the holes. This is where a buddy is handy to have, you need one pair of eyes watching the lug alignment while the other positions the tire. One can do it but it is hit and miss on hitting the bolt holes and might get a little frustrating. The hole aligner doesnt need to be big and brawny just able to see and tell you what direction to move the tire, a wife would do for that. Proper safety instructions would need to be given in that "If I yell, I'm loosing it, get out of the way", the helper immediately gets far away and allows the tire to fall. DONT try to stop it if it gets out of balance , just move and let it fall then worry about getting it back up. A water filled tire can break you leg or worse if it falls on you.

Glad to hear an 18.4-34 loaded is doable. I need to pull the left off my JD 6415 to install a fuel tank guard. My plan is to find out what size the axle hub bolts are and get two more as long as possible and cut off the heads to make guide studs. I am thinking of using a pallet jack and pulling the wheel/tire straight out far enought to install the fuel tank guard.

I have successfully R&R a 16.9-28 that was loaded and had a cast iron center.

The kid · Jan 16, 2013

RickB said:
That size tire is very manageable without special equipment even when loaded. Keep them upright. You will find it much easier to remove the center disc and wheel from the axle, re-position the disc on the rim in the proper setting, then replace the disc/wheel assembly on the axle. Re-torque ALL hardware after a few hours use, and continue to re-torque at intervals until the hardware is fully tightened.

I'm with you on this Rick. Like on a MF135 there are many combinations to bolt the rim to the disk to get the spacing you want. Doing it with the entire wheel off the tractor would be the easiest. I can't imagine trying to line those holes up rim to disk with loaded tires. I'd also suggest positioning the tractor backed up close to a solid wall so when you removed one you wouldn't have far to go to lean it against.. I would also break all the nuts loose ( rim to disc) (wheel to hub) before jacking it up and removing the entire wheel. Leave them snugged but you can exert more forced leverage with the wheel still mounted. Just like you would do an auto wheel.

RickB · Jan 16, 2013

SHORT KID said:
If you had a 4 wheel dolly, you could jack the tractor high enough, remove the tires onto the dolly and roll them into place. Be careful as was said, if it starts to fall just get out of the way !!!!!!!

That's about the most dangerous way I can think of to (try to) move tractor wheels. I'll bet that is a keyboard dream that has never been attempted by the person that posted. The darn things are round; they will roll just fine on their own.

When I was doing road service full time I routinely removed loaded 16.9x30's on New Holland tractors by myself to access the transmission control valve. Usually doing this job by myself is easier than coordinating movements with a helper. Not to say having someone around if things go south is a bad idea.

Soundguy · Jan 16, 2013

yep.. upright.

I'll roll up to 13.6-28 loaded .. if they are larger I 'loader' them into place then move around.

14.9-28 and 16.9-24 are the heaviest i've moved without laoder help.. and both of those were probably too heavy to be safe.. thus my new lower range..

be safe.. and if it starts to go.. let it and jump out of the way.. you can always leverage them up later while you aren't hurt.

skipmarcy · Jan 16, 2013

Another point to watch is how you jack/block the tractor too. If you do like I did the first time and put a floor jack under the center of the rear diff like you would do on a car or truck and remove the first tire, the weight of the other side will want to tip the whole tractor to that side and could really throw you off balance - it did for me as I did not know the tires I was removing were loaded to begin with. Either use jack stands or blocks on each side if jacked in the center or use two bottle jacks to raise it so it won't tip to one side. Good luck with your chore !!

crazyal · Jan 16, 2013

Zebrafive said:
After you had one wheel/tire off you could remove the center disc and reverse it, bolt it back in the wheel and then put the tire/wheel back on. (If this what you are trying to do) that way the tractor will always have one wheel/tire on, vs pulliing both and swapping side to side.

If the 30 series is like the 40 series you can't do that because you need to spin the wheel, not the disc around. The wheel has a bracket that has two positions. Just turning the wheel around would get the spacing right but it would reverse the tread.

The kid · Jan 16, 2013

crazyal said:
If the 30 series is like the 40 series you can't do that because you need to spin the wheel, not the disc around. The wheel has a bracket that has two positions. Just turning the wheel around would get the spacing right but it would reverse the tread.

you would obviously rotate the tired I would think. This only reverses the thread if you flip the tire over for spacing and keep them on the same side.

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