Installing Band Saw Tires

[Larry Frank]

This morning I started my 16" Jet band saw and bang...the top tire broke and came out all over the place. It was quite an exciting moment.

I ordered new band saw tires...urethane ones from Carter. I have been reading how to put them on and watching a couple of youtube videos. Some people install them with the wheels on the machine and others take the wheels off. It appears that it takes quite a bit of effort to get the urethane tires on the wheels. Yes, I will probably heat them in warm soapy water and then put them on.

How have other done this...with the wheels on the machine or off. And are there any other pieces of advice for putting them on?

I found one video of a guy who built a simple jig for putting the tires on with the wheel off the machine and it looks like a good one. It was called "Band Saw Tire Installation Jig".

[Robb White]

Just had to do this last weekend on my G0514X2 19" with Carters and I removed both tires (wanted to change blade speed anyway) and heated the tires in a pot. Most important part is to make the tires hot almost too hot to hold. Also had to have wife help hold them though probably could of got by with zip strips but be quick before tires cool. Good luck.

-Rob

[Judson Green]

I put new urethane tires on my delta 14" about a year ago with the wheels still on the machine. I recall it being much easier than all the hype lead me to believe. I did soak in hot, soapy tap water.

[Matt Day]

I did my 20" wheels a couple weeks ago and followed the video by Sulpher Grove Tools. It's basically a simple jig that gives you leverage. It's kind of buried and hard to find so here's the link.
http://youtu.be/j4etjdqmwz8

[Lee Schierer]

Three or four hands make the job easier. Wear tight fitting leather gloves so you can handle the hot urethane. It cools off pretty fast so you need to work quickly.

[lowell holmes]

I put new urethane tires on my delta 14" about a year ago with the wheels still on the machine. I recall it being much easier than all the hype lead me to believe. I did soak in hot, soapy tap water.

When I replaced the tires on my Jet 14", I put on urethane tires. One tip, instead of boiling the tires in water to improve the elasticity for stretching allowing installation, I nuked them in the microwave. It worked great.

[glenn bradley]

Just did this last weekend for my dad. Set the tire in very hot water (about 4 minutes in the microwave), started the tire on the wheel and clamped it with a small parallel clamp, pulled it on most of the way and finished with a large round shaft screwdriver as a lever. Assured it was seated all the way around with my finger nudging it here and there as required. I put the second tire in the same water expecting it to be too cooled down, it was plenty hot and the second one went on as the first. Very easy with a second person to apply the clamp and keep the wheel from turning on you. I could see the difficulty increasing quite a bit if you were flying solo. The whole job only took about 10 minutes so, grab a neighbor if you are alone.

[Will Boulware]

I put new urethane tires on my delta 14" about a year ago with the wheels still on the machine. I recall it being much easier than all the hype lead me to believe. I did soak in hot, soapy tap water.

Yup. Similar experience. Hot water, leather gloves, and it goes pretty quickly and easily.

[Earl McLain]

My experience was similar. Used a #3 Phillips screwdriver to roll the tires on.
earl

[Bill Huber]

I did my 20" wheels a couple weeks ago and followed the video by Sulpher Grove Tools. It's basically a simple jig that gives you leverage. It's kind of buried and hard to find so here's the link.
http://youtu.be/j4etjdqmwz8

Now that is a really nice video, looks really easy and when the time comes to replace my tires that is the way I will do it..

[Erik Christensen]

I put new tires on my 19" BS a month or so ago - I took the wheels off & would do so again as it made the process easier to me. I watched a number of videos including those with jigs & heating. Decided to just try to install cold first. I did what one video suggested and pre-streched the tire first - stand on it and lift up - rotate & repeat. Secret seems to be - clamp one section to the wheel, pull a foot or so as hard as you can, clamp, repeat - to get the last bit on the wheel the tire has to be under tension through-out its entire length.

I thought it totally easy - very similar to putting a stubborn tire on a bicycle wheel - I owned a bike shop for 5 years in the 90's, installed thousands of bicycle tires so it was just more of the same for me - YMMV.

[Larry Edgerton]

I just did mine. I ended up doing it on the saw, kind of a pain on the lower wheel. One thing I figured out that worked well. I cut the shank off of a cheap philips screw driver and chucked it in the drill. I used that to roll the tire on. I could steer it where I wanted after it as on till it was just right.

[Matt Day]

I put new tires on my 19" BS a month or so ago - I took the wheels off & would do so again as it made the process easier to me. I watched a number of videos including those with jigs & heating. Decided to just try to install cold first. I did what one video suggested and pre-streched the tire first - stand on it and lift up - rotate & repeat. Secret seems to be - clamp one section to the wheel, pull a foot or so as hard as you can, clamp, repeat - to get the last bit on the wheel the tire has to be under tension through-out its entire length.

I thought it totally easy - very similar to putting a stubborn tire on a bicycle wheel - I owned a bike shop for 5 years in the 90's, installed thousands of bicycle tires so it was just more of the same for me - YMMV.

Erik,
It must vary by wheel size and tire manufacturer just like rims and tires of bikes. My bandsaw wheels were like that worst case combo of the biggest ERD and smallest tire, but 100 times worse. There was no way I could roll on my bandsaw tires (my Powermaric does have a lip like a bike rim which the tire has to go over, maybe yours did not) without the jig in the video.

I was a mechanic for about 10 years.

[lowell holmes]

Erik,
There was no way I could roll on my bandsaw tires (my Powermaric does have a lip like a bike rim which the tire has to go over, maybe yours did not) without the jig in the video.

I was a mechanic for about 10 years.

My 14" Jet bandsaw wheels have lips as well. I had to stretch and pry them on. After I did, everything was good. The neoprene tires have already lasted longer than the ones that came on the saw.