Saw quite a tire change job yesterday

[Philip d]

At work they had a heavy equipment guy scrape the yard with an old grader and added some gravel. The grader blew a tire and they sent someone out to fix it yesterday. It was a 14x24 with a 3 piece rim. The local guy wouldn?t touch it and they call this guy to handle the split rim jobs. The guy had us press the rim together with a 2x6 and the loader bucket while he pounded it together with the tire maul. After that was done he put the ring on and flipped it over by himself as I was putting the tractor back. He just aired it up ,no chain or safety cage of any type whatsoever. Great big guy covered in tattoos,didn?t look like a fella to mess with. I heard many stories of people being killed by those old split rims,I think our local guys pretty smart to not touch them if he knows someone else who will.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Pretty sure them tattoos would protect him if that tire blew. While reading the story, and you mentioning the loader, I thought you were going to tell us that you put the loader on top of the tire while being aired up

 

[Moonlite37]

I wonder if many people think all multi piece rims are dangerous because some aare, much like the assumption that all snakes are poisons . I do know that there is a possibility that a one piece rim can shed a tire during inflation, but do not know much about it. My idea is that all tire inflation can be a hazard and some tires are not really safe even when removed from a cage

 

[Mutt and Jeff]

Get back to work and mind your own business.

Go into the office and complain that you had to witness something all management has no interest in. (why aren't you at work)

Call OSHA

you have a cell phone it has cameras. record the event, find the appropriate authorities (some rusty tractors group) and fix it

 

[Butch(OH)]

Ya those old split rims killed 3-400 men every day before the government stepped in and stopped the slaughter,,,
Like a lot of other things in life common sense will keep a fellow pretty safe but dumb luck also steps in a saves a few including me.
In 1977 I was a mechanic at a gravel pit and there was a CAT 988 loader in the shop, tires about 4 times larger that that grader tire. I walked between it and the wall and I was just past the bucket and turned in front of it and BOOM!!! I hit the deck as dirt filled the shop and debris was flying. When the dust settled the rings had come off a tire and totally destroyed a wall of the shop,and a set of lockers. The bucket saved me, had it blown 5 seconds earlier I would not be here. That loader has been sitting there for a day, tires and rings hadn't been touched for months.
Needless to say I have a healthy respect for split rims, but I don't consider them be any more dangerous than a drive to town,,,

 

[Welding man]

Several years ago I had a contract to maintain a fleet of 40 to 48 ft. box trailers for a landfill near me. I bought tires, tubes and flaps for 10.00 x 20 tires 50 at a time. Several times, a friend of mine, myself and my son would break down the 50 old tires and install the new tires tubes and flaps in one day and deliver them to the landfill and install them the next day. They were all split rims. We never had one to blow off. We did have a cage and we inspected the rims closely. If a rim or lock ring was bent, it went into the scrap. My son, a teenager at the time made a fortune selling used tubes for people to take to the river to float on.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Locking ring rims and "split" rims are two different things. The rims on the grader are locking ring rims, as are the rims on any rubber-tired construction equipment, and trucks with 20" tires on Dayton wheels.

That said, if you don't know how to work on them (or are ignorant and think they're split rims and illegal) it's best to defer to someone who does.

 

[Bill in IL]

I have a few split rims on equipment. There are several different styles of split style rims. They have never had a problem with the three piece style i have. Just have to be sure the lock ring and groove are clean and in good shape. If i remember correctly its the 5 piece rims and maybe others that are downright scary and the tire shop wont touch.

 

[2510Paul]

Cousin had one blow in his face. His face is pretty disfigured to this day. He had no insurance. I don?t know how many surgery?s he had. Paul

 

[Trkr]

3-400 a day? 146,000 people a year were dying from split rims? I think you need to recalculate your numbers. Also, the government didn't stop them,there are still plenty around. Tubeless tires just became more popular.

 

[Brown Swiss]

Just lock ring rims, I am dealing with them at work working on a 1954 Wilson trailer, this is one of the split rims I took off and is not going back on. Going to be a fire ring now!

 

[tomturkey]

I enjoyed your "SARCASM" . Obviously some either don't see it or don't want to see it. gobble

 

[dr sportster]

I worked with a guy who was in a tire explosion. His nickname was "hatchet face" .

 

[Philip d]

I?m not trying to be dramatic I?ve just only heard horror stories about split time,first one I?ve seen changed was yesterday . I guess it?s likely ok so long as you know what your doing and are careful. I figured there?s likely a good reason the established shop 10 miles away refused to look at it and they had to get a shop 100 miles away to come do it.

 

[NC Wayne]

When it comes to equipment, EVERYTHING can be dangerous. Whether it's a tire, a PTO, a moving shaft, a belt, a hydraulic cylinder, a hydraulic line, or whatever. When anything mechanical in nature fails at an inopportune time, it can hurt a human body because our skin is far 'softer' than steel, rubber, electricity, or pressurized fluids.

What I'm getting at is most of what we call 'accidents' aren't accidental. Instead they happen due to the human involved doing something stupid....often due to them being complacent, or ignorant, to the dangers that are involved when working with machinery.

Granted, pure accidents can happen due to a mechanical failure, but they are far less likely to cause injuries when the human involved educated himself to the dangers, and thinks BEFORE putting himself in a potentially harmful position......

In the end, no amount of guarding, warnings, government intervention, etc, etc, will ever prevent 'accidents' or true accidents from happening because it all comes down to the equipment not being perfect, and the human having free will to be stupid, or not.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Yup, guess so, LOL

 

[Butch(OH)]

Amen!