"Art" wrote in message
...
Ulysses wrote:
My old Sears riding mower needs some new tires. They are 18" x 8.50-8.
Are
these things really hard to change on the rims? They look like they
would
be difficult. Would I probably be better off buying new tires already
on
new rims?

This guy makes it sound like it's not too difficult but he's worked for
John
Deere and has lots of experience:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4998482_chan...paign=yssp_art

How hard is it for someone who's never done it before?


Those are fairly easy. It's the smaller 410x350-4 that are the real
pains. The center part of the rim is the smallest diameter. Just make
sure you have the tire bead down in that center part before prying the
other side over the edge of the rim. A couple of large screwdrivers or
prybars will do the trick. I doubt you can buy them already on the rim
and if you can they will cost a small fortune. Any L&G shop that sells
the tires can also install them. We used to charge $7.50 for
installation on top of the cost of the tire.

$7.50 I could live with. I called a local discount tire store and they
wanted about $25 to change each tire. That would come to around $50 per
tire (more or less) and for just a little more I've seen them selling with
new rims. There's a lawnmower/small tractor shop in town--I'll see how much
they want to change them. I generally call them last because their prices
are usually the highest.


Just read your link and it sounds good to me. The only time we ever
changed the tires while the rim was still on the machine was when they
were seized on the axle and didn't want to come off.

--
Art