[dataway]

Had to mount a 26x12x12 compact tractor tire. Last one was a nightmare, after two hours of trying to get the bead to seat I gave up and took it to a shop.

This time after spending two hours cutting of the old tire off, even having to cut the bead wires to get the remnants off, I didn't want to struggle with inflating the thing like I did last time. So I used the starter fluid method. About 1-2 seconds of spray inside the gap between rim and tire .... ignited with a grill lighter .... boom! Perfectly seated in a fraction of a second. Had it back on the tractor ten minutes later.

Is it safe? That's debatable, but in my case it was certainly safer for my mental health. This tire size is notorious for being hard to inflate, about a 3" gap between bead and rim. No amount of ratchet straps will work, just distorts the tire all to heck. I'm sure the right tire machine with the ring of air jets around the bottom will work, but I don't have one.

I suspect the tire shop did the same thing. I head the tire machine hissing away several times, then I saw them messing with ratchet straps, a bit later I heard a "whooompf" sound and they came into the waiting room and said it was done.

So, just saying, if you want a little excitement in your life, give this method a try. If you blow your head off I'm not responsible

[HO 67 BIRD]

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...3910_200673910

I use the above tire bead seater/bead blaster when lighter fluid or ratchet straps don't seem to work.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by HO 67 BIRD

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...3910_200673910

I use the above tire bead seater/bead blaster when lighter fluid or ratchet straps don't seem to work.

In the tire industry this air tank with a ball valve is the preferred method to seat beads on hard to seat tires. Tubeless semi truck tires are notoriously hard to seat and the air tank with ball valve is used most often. This tool could also be built from a propane or refrigerant bottle by someone with some fab skills. BTW, 99 times out of 100 the air tank method works just fine.

I believe the mass exposure to the ether, match seating method was shown on monster truck shows on TV. Dennis Anderson was the first person I remember seeing use that method on TV. I have used it before, but you better get air into the tire really quickly, because as soon as the gasses cool off, the bead drops back off the rim.

[dataway]

I've seen people do it with the valve still inserted in the stem ... yep, often will pull it back off the bead. But usually if you leave the valve out it has just enough flow to keep it from falling back off.

This particular tire size is a pain, and the first time I've ever had to do this. Being 26" in diameter, 12" wide going on a 12" diameter rim (turf tire) it's just a floppy mess with super strong beads, worse case scenario. It's like moving a king size mattress.

Luckily I don't have to do this sort of thing much. Next tire I do will be the bigger tractor .... that will be going to shop.

[Goatracer1]

A funny story with a warning about ether. Many years ago on a very cold winter morning I couldn't start my 1963 Chevy PU truck. My truck had a 400 Pontiac engine in it. I tried a shot of ether. Still wouldn't start so I tried another shot. Same result. On the third shot the engine back fired. The back fire set off the fumes in the crankcase. Both M/T valve covers blew off. The valley cover lifted over the tops of the hold down bolts. And, the oil pan blew 1/2 inch down over the oil pan bolts. Breather cap all most took off my head as it went by so be very careful with ether.

[Sirrotica]

In my experience, you never shoot ether into the engine before starting it, the engine should be rolling over with the starter before giving it a shot, just a light shot is all that's necessary, more isn't better. Ether should only be used as a last resort to start an engine as it detonates badly when the engine starts, plus it washes the oil off the upper cylinder, and rings. I only fog it into the air cleaner while rolling the engine over, spraying it directly into a carb or intake on a diesel is too much.

Washing the oil off the upper cylinder makes the rings scrape the cylinders dry promoting wear, plus losing compression by drying to oil off of the compression rings. Ether should only be used sparingly, and most engine manufacturers recommend against using it at all.

The GM 5.7 and the 6.2/6.5 diesels will loosen the pre chambers in the head and if they fall out smashing between the head and piston. Most any IDI diesel has pre chambers and using ether can loosen the metal causing catastrophic engine failure. It can also blow the ends off of the glow plugs allowing them to drop into the cylinder and making removal from the head difficult, if not impossible

Some diesels have heaters in the intake manifold that glow red hot to heat the incoming air to facilitate easier starting. If you make the mistake of squirting ether into one of the preheated intakes it can explode like a bomb with plenty of shrapnel. My advise is fix the problem that prevents the engine from starting, ether is the lazy mans way to shortcut getting a problematic engine to start.

[dataway]

If it doesn't start with a very small shot of either ... yeah, something is wrong, fix it.

I don't seem much harm in it using a 1 or 2 second squirt, but if the engine is running on either instead of gas, you got bigger problems somewhere.

In my opinion either is more useful for immature antics than it is for actually starting car

[CDN2PLS2]

International MaxxForce has a Two Can minimun on cold days!!

[mgarblik]

I have a tire changer and have been mounting a fair number of tires the past 6 months or so. When a customer brings me a set of Chinese tires that have been stacked 50 high and strapped down for the long trip to the US, they are particularly hard to seat the beads. Had a set of LT tires to mount a month ago, the combination of a wide rim, very narrow beads from being stacked and the stiff sidewalls, made them really tough. I broke down and had to try the ether method. It worked, but took several tries. Ended up using nearly an entire can of ether to mount 4 tires. Just didn't feel comfortable doing it that way and broke down and bought a beat sealer, "cheatah" type tool on E-bay. It was about $65.00 but came with a liquid filled gauge, quality brass ball valve and works really well. I can handle the job by myself and it's much safer. I strongly suggest using ear protection when using one of these tools, very loud.

[dataway]

You just described my tires to a Tee

[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by Goatracer1

A funny story with a warning about ether. Many years ago on a very cold winter morning I couldn't start my 1963 Chevy PU truck. My truck had a 400 Pontiac engine in it. I tried a shot of ether. Still wouldn't start so I tried another shot. Same result. On the third shot the engine back fired. The back fire set off the fumes in the crankcase. Both M/T valve covers blew off. The valley cover lifted over the tops of the hold down bolts. And, the oil pan blew 1/2 inch down over the oil pan bolts. Breather cap all most took off my head as it went by so be very careful with ether.

That was a bad day. Should have stayed in bed.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Went through 3 goofilled inner tubes this summer: all-New with China dry-rot rubber. Air Filling the tube and BANG "what was thaat?". 16"x8"x8" i think. got money back all 3 times. What a workout.

Had the fella send it to a mower shop the next day.

[Bobalong]

I had a small Honda 4 X 4. We'd ride the hell out of it for a summer, then sometimes it would sit for a month or two.

Gas would go skunk. Wouldn't start. So I would drain the fuel from the carb. Put Seafoam and fresh fuel in the fuel tank. Then stick a UN LIT propane

torch into the carb and crank the engine. Almost always it would start, and idle, and if I massaged the throttle gently after a few minutes

the carb would clear up, gas would begin to flow and WA LA pretty soon it would run like new.

Not sure this would work on a V8 engine, BUT for a small carbureted motor. Well it worked for me.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Bobalong

I had a small Honda 4 X 4. We'd ride the hell out of it for a summer, then sometimes it would sit for a month or two.

Gas would go skunk. Wouldn't start. So I would drain the fuel from the carb. Put Seafoam and fresh fuel in the fuel tank. Then stick a UN LIT propane

torch into the carb and crank the engine. Almost always it would start, and idle, and if I massaged the throttle gently after a few minutes

the carb would clear up, gas would begin to flow and WA LA pretty soon it would run like new.

Not sure this would work on a V8 engine, BUT for a small carbureted motor. Well it worked for me.

Propane has been used as a motor fuel for many years, but one of it's drawbacks is, as ambient air temperature drops it will not start a cold engine. Having worked in the aerial lift field and forklifts for years, any engine that sits all night down below 30 degrees usually isn't starting in the AM. They are quite a lot like a diesel when the weather is cold as far as starting.

With dual fuel systems we would usually start them on gasoline and switch over as soon as they warmed up. As long as the engine retained heat they could be started on propane, as soon as they sat it was a chore to restart them.

Doubtful that a propane torch would have enough volume of fuel to run anything automotive.