{"id":41490,"date":"2026-10-01T20:28:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/?p=41490"},"modified":"2026-10-01T20:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:31:40","slug":"how-to-change-a-tractor-tyre-single-handed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/how-to-change-a-tractor-tyre-single-handed.html","title":{"rendered":"How to change a tractor tyre single-handed *"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

*Um, almost. LSS did help with holding tyre levers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(fran\u00e7ais ici)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The background story<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

About a month ago I noticed that one of the rear tyres on the tractor had developed a split in the side wall. This was not entirely unexpected; the tyre had been well past its use-by date when we arrived in France in 2012!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Old<\/a>
Old perished tyre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So after some research, I purchased a replacement tyre online. The price was painful. Mind you, it is a large tyre, a 16.9-38, weighing in at 90kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days later it arrived. Well, not without issues. The delivery company stopped at the end of the tar road, approximately 400 metres away from La Darnoire. The driver telephoned, and said they were not prepared to go any further and get their tyres dirty. So if the mountain won’t go to Mohammed…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truck driver was a – shall we say – fairly large woman. She explained that she was afraid of damaging the canvas sides of her 18-tonne lorry on low-hanging branches. She pushed the tyre off the vehicle, (Tail lift? Pah! That’s for wimps) and I signed the paperwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way of getting this 90kg beast back to the farmhouse was by rolling it. This did not go easily, as it refused to roll in a straight line. I eventually made it, covered with sweat. Who needs to go to the gym when living here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning the operation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Now for the next task, fitting it to the tractor. This was not something I wanted to do. Fortunately in a nearby town a small one-man business with the name GT Pneus specialises in changing tyres, including those on agricultural vehicles – and they also do house calls. We’ve used him in the past for car tyres. These I am quite capable of changing myself; but the problem lies with balancing them. So LSS gave him a call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should mention at this point that all four tractor tyres contain a puncture-sealing liquid. I became tired of patching tubes; there are a lot of thorny Prunus spinosa<\/em> (sloes) around here. Fortunately it was always the front tyres of the tractor which were affected! So I obtained a puncture prevention liquid called Linseal OKO<\/a> from the UK (this was obviously before Brexit). I have not had a puncture since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When LSS mentioned that the old tyre contained this liquid, the tyre-change chappy immediately said a new tube (and, of course, replacement liquid) would be required. Because of the polystyrene beads, the liquid would have formed a solid coating around the inside of the tube, making it impossible to remove without destroying the tube. A new tube would add to the cost of the callout, bringing the total price to around \u20ac300. LSS said she’d get back to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was obvious that GT Pneus had no experience with Linseal OKO. It does not contain polystyrene beads. And remains in liquid form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also obvious that I would have to change the tyre myself. Oh joy. You see, even if I did fit a new tube, I would also need to purchase more Linseal OKO to put in it. And getting anything from the UK these days is a major problem. Not to mention the transport being expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing the tyre<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

After some careful thought, I calculated that the biggest problem would be breaking the beads on the tyre. The only way to do this without purchasing expensive beadbreaker tools was by having the tyre on the ground. The wheel nuts proved to be “torqued” exceedingly tightly, requiring the use of an extension tube on the 1″ socket wrench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Removing<\/a>
Removing the wheel nuts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the wheel nuts loosened, the rear of the tractor was raised by means of a trolley jack and sturdy oak blocks. The wheel was then removed and laid flat. Well, I say laid flat. It was too heavy to lay flat gently, so it basically fell off under its own weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wheel<\/a>
Wheel is removed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You will note I had placed an axle stand under the tractor for added security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now to break the bead. I have a Hi-Lift jack, so using a large chunk of steel, some heavy chains, and the Hi-Lift, I was able to carry out this task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Breaking<\/a>
Breaking the bead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ignore the vertical piece of pipe; it was just there to hold the jack upright while I took the photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wheel now had to be turned over so that I could break the other bead. I did this by using the late Aged FIL’s block and tackle. The ancient rope snapped at the last minute, fortunately just as the wheel came upright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Block<\/a>
Block and tackle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, nobody said this job was going to be easy! I then enlisted LSS’s help in putting the wheel back on the tractor (I jacked the tractor up and down with the trolley jack until the wheel studs aligned).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outer bead was then levered off the rim. I used a length of rope to retain one tyre lever whilst employing the extension tube to increase leverage on the other. These tyres are tough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Using<\/a>
Using tyre levers to remove the tyre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now to get the tube out without damaging it. I used a length of rope around the tyre, connected to a ratchet strap fixed to one of the hangar steel support posts. This enabled me to pull the tyre outwards sufficiently to be able to get the tube out. LSS assisted with this as well. Even the tube itself is heavy, bearing in mind it also contains around 6 litres of liquid! (By the way, it was fully deflated at this point, even though it does not look like it on the photo, as I had completely removed the Schrader valve.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inner<\/a>
Inner tube removed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And in case you were wondering, the box on top of the old refrigerator (which is now a meat smoker) is our biltong dehydrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I struggled to get the other bead off the rim despite using copious amounts of lubricating wax (the Aged FIL had a large tub of this tyre-changing stuff). But eventually I succeeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tyre<\/a>
Tyre completely removed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In order to install the new tyre, I attempted something which works on car tyres – placing a rope around the well-lubricated rim, and pulling on the rope to seat the bead. Now I did ask AI whether this was possible, and the answer came back saying: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No! Don’t do it! The rope will snap, the tyre bead is too strong, and you’ll severely injure yourself. Take the vehicle to an approved tyre centre instead.”* <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*AI responses may include mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried anyway. And it worked. Sort of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Attempting<\/a>
Attempting to seat the bead on the new tyre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I used a ratchet strap to apply the pulling force. It’s difficult to see in the photo, but the bottom of the bead has already seated on the rim. But just after this photo was taken, the rope simply pulled out of the gap between the tyre and the rim without getting the rest of the bead on. Upon later reflection, I should have varied the angle of pull of the ratchet strap by moving it upwards on the hangar support post. So, out with the tyre levers again. Using my body weight at the same time as gradually rotating the tyre, the bead eventually went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The inner bead is on!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tube was then reinstalled, complete with the liquid which remained in the tube the entire time. I just had to be careful to make sure the valve was always at the top before deflating\/inflating it! At this point I did inflate the tube partially in order to ensure it wasn’t twisted or pinched anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now to seat the outer bead. Much struggling ensued before I realised there is a knack to doing this. The tyre needs to be moved inwards so that it falls into the centre section of the rim. This was achieved by once again using a ratchet strap and a block of wood. A pair of vice-grips helps to keep the bead from coming off entirely. (Note to self – must get more of these things.) The tyre levers then made short work of seating the remaining bead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Outer<\/a>
Outer bead installed!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tube was then re-inflated. Job done!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/a>
New tyre ready for use<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At least now I know how to do it. And saved \u20ac300.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*Um, almost. LSS did help with holding tyre levers! (fran\u00e7ais ici) The background story About a month ago I noticed that one of the rear tyres on the tractor had developed a split in the side wall. This was not entirely unexpected; the tyre had been well past its use-by date when we arrived in … Continue reading “How to change a tractor tyre single-handed *”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41490"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41499,"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41490\/revisions\/41499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/la-darnoire.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}