Breaking the bead of a lawn mower is important when you need to change the tire. No matter if the tire is flat or there is a hole in it, you should change it if you want your mower to move properly. At that time, you don’t have any alternative to breaking the bead.
So, you should know the ways to break the bead on a lawn mower tire. This is not a tough task actually, but a bit tricky. If you know the trick, you can do it without facing problems. Otherwise, you’ll find it really tough. In fact, accidents may happen while doing this.
There are a few ways of breaking the bead. Here in this article, I’m going to share a few ways. Using a simple hand tool or buying a tool specifically designed for breaking the bead- you can choose the way that seems comfortable to you.
Let’s start.
How to Break the Bead on a Lawn Mower Tire
Using a Prybar or Crowbar
If you have a Prybar or a crowbar, you can break the beads on the tire. Also, you can use a long flat-headed screwdriver instead of those. The process is given below.
Step 1- Lay the tire somewhere. Make sure that the base is completely flat and the tire is not wobbling. The floor of the garage is a perfect place for this. You can do this on the driveway too.
Step 2- Stand on the tire firmly. Place your feet properly on the rubber part, not the rim. Standing on the rim would bend or damage that. If it happens, you have to spend a lot of bucks on repairing or replacing the rim.
Step 3- Now it is time to break the seal. Use the prybar or crowbar or screwdriver to wedge into the rubber. Go slow. Doing this fast might damage the rubber if you do any mistakes. Find out the edge of the rubber that meets the rim, and wedge the tool through that.
Step 4- Once the seal is broken, your bodyweight should separate the rubber from the rim. If it doesn’t happen, wedge the bar again inside the rubber and make sure that the whole seal is broken.
Step 5-As there are beads on both sides, you have to flip the tire and do this again on the other side too. Once the seal is broken, you can easily separate the tire from the rim.
Using a Wooden Board and a Vehicle
Breaking the bead is very easy when you have a wooden board and a vehicle. The board should be strong enough in this case. The trick is shared below.
Step 1- Put the tire somewhere flat so that it doesn’t wobble under any pressure. A wobbling tire might make the task a bit tough. So, consider choosing the driveway for this. Or you can do this in your garage too. Don’t do this on the lawn as the surface is not solid there.
Step 2-Place an edge of the wooden board on the edge of the tire. The other side should be touching the ground. Carefully place the board so that it doesn’t exceed the rubber part towards the rim.
Make sure that the board is strong. Also, it should be wider than the car tire.
Step 3- Yeah, you’ve guessed it right. We’re going to press the board so that it presses the rubber part to break the bead.
Drive onto the board slowly. Don’t go too fast. Ask someone to direct you toward the board. If there is none, you can simply place the whole set up in front of the car tire so that you can go without direction.
We recommend having someone direct you. Otherwise, you might move too forward and damage the rim. This would cost you a lot.
The wood should break the seal just after passing halfway. Move forward slowly until the rubber gets separated from the rim.
Step 4- You’ve just broken the bead of one part of a side of the tire. Now, rotate the tire 180 degrees to break the bead of the exact opposite side of this. Then redo steps 1 to 3.
Once it is done, flip the tire to reach the opposite side. Then redo steps 1 to 3 again. This time, doing it at one part should break the bead. If it doesn’t, you have to rotate it and do the same thing.
In this way, you’ll get the bead broken without putting much physical effort.
Using a Hydraulic jack
I guess you have a hydraulic jack at your home. If you have one, you can use that to break the bead of your lawn mower tire. The process is very easy. You just have to have the jack and a piece of wood. If you want to make the process faster, having a power drill with an extra-large socket bit can help you. Let’s talk about the process.
Step 1-Place the jack somewhere flat. Then place the piece of wood on it. Over the wood, put the tire properly. Make sure that the wood covers the rim only, not the rubber portion of the tire. It is there to push the rim.
If you don’t use the board, the jack might damage the rim.
Step 2- Place the whole setup under a strong substance. The purpose of the substance is to push the rubber part down so that it can’t go up when the jack pushes the rim. A flat tow hitch is a good option for this. You can also look for anything similar to this.
Step 3-Now it is time to make the jack push the tire. Use the drill for this if you have one. Otherwise, you’ll have to go manually, which might take some time. Keep patience.
While doing this, to keep the tire steady on the wood, you have to use one hand to hold a part of the rubber. We suggest taking help from someone for this. Don’t touch the rim.
Step 4- Keep lifting the jack slowly. At one point, you’ll see that the beads are broken.
Step 5- This process may break the bead of either both sides or only one side. If only one side is broken, flip the tire and repeat steps 1 to 4 again.
Using Bead Breaker Tool
If you own a garage and have to break beads regularly, you can go for this tool specifically made for the bead-breaking purpose. This saves a lot of your time and effort.
You’ll find two types of bead-breaking tools- handheld and floor-mounted. We recommend going for the handheld one because the floor-mounted one should be fixed on the floor. So, you won’t get the flexibility. Also, mounting a tool on the floor requires time and effort.
Let’s know how you can use such a tool to break the bead on your lawn mower tire.
Step 1- At first, lay the tire flat on a smooth surface. A concrete surface is always a good option for this. So, do this in your garage or driveway.
Adjust the length of the tool so that it fits the size of the tire.
Step 2- Such tools come with two feet. Place the feet between the rim and the rubber portion. Do it sensibly and make sure that the feet have sat properly. Take some time for this because the feet can damage the rubber if not placed properly.
Step 3- Pull the lever of the tool. You’ll see that the rubber tire has been separated from the rim. You won’t have to put a lot of effort here.
Step 4- You might find that the bead is not completely broken. In that cases, move it around the edge to get the beads completely broken.
Step 5- Flip the tire and repeat steps 2 to 4 for the other side.
Safety Steps While Breaking the Bead
No matter which way you follow for the task, you need to follow some safety measures. Let’s talk a bit about the safety steps you must be aware of.
- Using tools like a pry bar, crowbar, or anything like these may cause an accident. So, use gloves in such cases. We recommend using gloves no matter which way you follow.
- Forcing too much is not a good thing to do. Know when to stop. If you force too much, the edges might get damaged. Also, too much pressure may cause accidents that can hurt you.
- Deflate the tire to some extent to make the process easier. However, don’t deflate it fully.
Stay careful no matter whatever you’re doing. This will keep you safe.
Breaking the bead of a lawn mower tire is not so different than doing this for a car tire. So, don’t worry about it. The process is easy. All it needs is your focus and proper action.
Related Article: How To Turn off a Lawn Mower