HF mini tire changer?

bobcat2

Tractorologist
Senior Member
Member
Hello all,

Was curious if anyone has one and does it work? I figured by the time I bust all of my knuckles to get the 4 tires off, then pay to have new tires put on, it may be worth the $40 to invest in one. Local shop charges $5 per dismount and $5 per install.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
bobcat2
 
I've used one for several years, biggest problem I've had was the bead breaker wasn't strong enough. I re-enforced mine, then ended up making my own bead breaker.
 
I'd keep paying 10 bucks a tire and save the frustration!

I don't have one, but I've read on various hobby forums that they work well if mounted solid.
 
I have the manual tire changer, not the mini, and use it from time to time. Once it's mounted firmly it is pretty simple to use, but it isn't the finest manual tire changer ever built. As grnspot110 said, it's got some areas where it will need improvement/repair eventually. The bead breaker on mine hasn't failed yet, but it's a pretty easy fix if/when it does. I looked at the mini, but I went with the other one because I occasioanlly need to remove a tire from more than a 12" rim.

For me the extra time and effort to get my tires to a shop outweights the effort to change them myself - and that's disregarding any fees the shop might charge. I changed several sets of 40+ year old tires in a few days so if I threw the changer out immediately after it would have been money well spent.

Things to consider are that it does take up space to store and it is a non-trivial physical process, so if you have a shop nearby and only a few tires, just pay the man and be done with it, but if you don't mind the space and effort and have a use for it, there are worse ways to spend one's money.
 
I'm lucky. I was given a Coates manual tire changer many years ago. It's great for the 12 inch tires, but won't work for the small front tires or rear wheels with a small hole in it. For those, I just lock a large threaded rod in my vise with a couple of nuts and washers on it. I lock the wheel/tire in the vise with that and use that like a manual tire changer.
 
I have used mine several times - have the base mounted solid on a heavy work table. Locally they charge bu tire size. Everything up through 12" is $12 each plus a 10 miles trip one way to get there. Money saver for sure.
 
I change mine in the press. Once I figured out how to do it works just fine. Found out last week that I won't be changing rear tires on a full sized tractor anymore. Good grief that was a lot like work. Hard on a guy my age. :oops:
 
I change mine in the press. Once I figured out how to do it works just fine. Found out last week that I won't be changing rear tires on a full sized tractor anymore. Good grief that was a lot like work. Hard on a guy my age. :oops:
Last big tire I changed was about 3 years ago. A 20.8x38 and no, I plan never to attempt such a thing again! But my Esco bead breaker did make easy work busting the bead down. For GT front tires, I break the beads in my large shop vice. Much easier than on my mini-tire changer.
 
Well, I did end up with one, I didn't install any tires with it yet, but I did break the bead and remove the tires from a front and rear set of rims for my SS12. Other than needing a cheater pipe to get the leverage to break the beads, I think it'll work out fine for as much as I'll use it.
 
Don't care for the receiver hitch set up. To much wobble and can only get 1/2 way around a tire. On a bench corner to use but going on a pipe to drop over the post on a coats manual changer.
 
I mounted the base of mine to the end of my shop lift table. At the end it's not in the way at all and ready to slip the rest in whenever needed. The table weighs about 500 pounds, so a good platform.
I did the same except I just drilled a couple of holes on diagonal( instead of all four) in my bench top & bolt it down with 2 bolts with wing nuts as I only use it once in a blue moon. I made my own version & used acne rod instead of the 1/2" rod they use. I also made a 4' bar & didn't bother with the bead breaker as I just use my press or just squeeze the smaller ones in the vice, I'll post pics later
 
I did the same except I just drilled a couple of holes on diagonal( instead of all four) in my bench top & bolt it down with 2 bolts with wing nuts as I only use it once in a blue moon. I made my own version & used acne rod instead of the 1/2" rod they use. I also made a 4' bar & didn't bother with the bead breaker as I just use my press or just squeeze the smaller ones in the vice, I'll post pics later
Yes, my vice can pop the beads on up to 18x8.50-10 tires, and the 12" rim tires the Clarke manual tire changer gets them. The HF mini changer's 1/2" rod bent the 1st time I used it, so I tapped it out to 9/16" rod, and no problems since.
 
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