“Gate Valve” Bead Breaker

“Gate Valve” Bead Breaker TIRES/WHEELS Handling “My son Scott and I came up with this heavy-duty ‘gate valve’ bead breaker that we used on the rear tire of our old Massey Ferguson tractor It isn’t fancy but it works and saved the cost of going to a shop ” says Ralph Altenweg Dayton Minn “The wheel rim was badly rusted due to calcium chloride that hadn’t been changed in years My dad always said ‘use what you have on hand around the farm first before you buy anything new’ and that’s what we did ” Scott works as a sprinkler fitter and he already had some gate valve parts The complete valve is designed to shut off the 6-in water line to a building and is equipped with a rotary wheel that turns a threaded shaft with a yoke at the bottom “The valve shaft has 6 in of travel ” says Ralph The 2 men bolted the valve’s base onto an L-shaped steel plate then welded one end of a 2-in dia pipe perpendicular to the plate The pipe sets on a wooden block and goes up against the far end of the wheel rim to hold the tool steady Turning the valve wheel causes the threaded shaft to push the pad against the bead and break it off the rim “It works somewhat like an apple cider press except that instead of pressing the juice out of apples we’re breaking a tire bead If the bead is stubborn and still won’t come off we can remove the wheel and use a 2-in open end wrench to provide extra torque ” notes Ralph Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ralph and Scott Altenweg Dayton Minn 55327 ph 612 749-6946

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