Small tire changer

Not long ago, I went over to Mom’s to see about getting her cart that goes behind her 24 hp Craftsman lawn tractor useable again. It was a John Deere cart bought in the ’80’s. The tires were old, cracked, weathered and very flat!

So, I started looking for a small tire changer to DO IT MYSELF! ; )  as I am a DIY’er! I’m getting to where I don’t like paying anyone to do something I can do myself~ sound familiar?

I found one quickly online at Northern Tools for about 50-60 bucks. So here is my quest for a small tire changer and design changes to probably make it better.

For starters, to use this unit, one has to bolt it or clamp it down to something secure, otherwise a user could become quite upset if this tool moves around while attempting to change the tire!

A small tire changer from Northern Tools

However, I had to take it a step further and make it more official! I look at things these days and just  wonder “how can I make it better?” Well first off,  I am not going to mount it the top of a workbench, nor to the floor!

I needed to bring this tool up to waist level first off! After lifting a patient years ago while working in a hospital, I damaged my lower back, so I really analyze how to do things correctly! I’m a physical therapist assistant first and a home body DIY’er second.

So, I ordered a section of 4″ square tubing from The Metal Depot online and received it a few days later. Kind of pricey~ the metal itself wasn’t too bad, but the shipping adds to the price~ OK, now what?

I figured I’d need to mount it securely to the floor, so for illustration purposes, I’m showing it here and would mount it  to the floor where my MaxJax car lift bolts down to. You can visit my MaxJax info if you’d like!

Now I just need to fit the tool the the square tubing, right? Bring out the cutting rig!!

OK, I give, this isn’t actually the part that I’m cutting for the tire changer modification, but it’s a cool photo of me using my Everlast PU205 Plasma cutter! I used my regular cutting torch to cut it.

To make the mounting to the floor, I had some scrap angle iron to make the mounting to mount this tool to the floor. Looking pretty good so far!

Though I’m not the greatest welder in the world, I do love welding, it’s kind of like sewing in an abstract way! Plus for some reason, Chinese metal doesn’t weld so well. : (  I used my ever so cool Systematics 175 amp mig welder to put these two pieces of metal together~ which can be seen in my Tool section. It’s an older machine and it’s USA made!

OK, now it’s mounted to the floor and ready to test. Now these tires have been on the rims for a very long time! They did not want to budge! In the process, I bent the all thread slightly, but working gradually around the edge of the bead, it gave! Thank goodness! I used the tire irons that came with the small tire changer, and they worked OK. There are better tire irons available and I may just buy them and add to my collection.

Don’t worry, I didn’t get too close to my  ’59 Apache to the left of this tire changer!!!!

Here it is mounted to the floor in another part of my garage. The new tires I bought through sears and they went on very easily! Under normal circumstances, most tires on small wheels are probably not so difficult to break the bead, which was the most difficult part of servicing this particular wheel. But I’m pleased with the turnout and my modification.

I do plan to add to this blog in the not so distant future by making a short video of using this tool. The more stubborn folks would just use big screwdrivers, but I like tools! I just need to see what small tires need to be changed~ perhaps one of my brothers has a small tire that needs to be serviced to make my video!

I hope this has been helpful and informative~ Dne’