I picked up this Coats 5040a a couple days ago. It spent most of its life at a high school auto shop, then a low volume general mechanic (not a tire shop) for a couple years after that. I paid $500, which based on looking for the last year seems like a good or at least fair deal in our area, since most of the used american units I've seen in the last year are just plain beat. My alternative was a chinese unit, but I figure this thing will be servicable for a very long time, and who knows about a chinese unit. But that's not why I'm Posting.
I've literally never used one of these machines before, and so I threw a 42x14" (bias ply - heavy) off road tire on it for my first attempt at removing a tire. In hindsight, that may not have been the best choice to learn on
It fit just fine in the bead breaker, and it fits just fine on the table (without hitting the upright post, etc). I was able to get the first bead removed from the wheel very easily, but when I tried removing the second bead, it kept "slipping off" of the duckhead. It's a nylon duckhead.
So my question is:
* Would I be better off with a steel (or hybrid nylon/steel) duckhead if most of my use will be offroad tires on wheels where cosmetics aren't a concern?
* Is it possible that I just need a new nylon duckhead, and sticking with nylon is better (I believe this is the original OEM duckhead that came new on the machine).
* Or is there some sort of technique thing I just need to learn? I had a lovely assistant lifting the other end of the tire the best she could, but next time I could probably lure over a drunkard or two.
FWIW, I was successfully able to very very easily remove a much smaller passenger car tire.
Finally, if you have any other advice for my low volume hobby shop usage, I'd be happy to hear it. The machine came with a beat up in line lubricator, so I ordered a new one. The return spring for the bead breaker was missing, so I threw a temporary one in for now, and ordered a replacement. In general the machine feels like it has had very little use though.
I've literally never used one of these machines before, and so I threw a 42x14" (bias ply - heavy) off road tire on it for my first attempt at removing a tire. In hindsight, that may not have been the best choice to learn on
It fit just fine in the bead breaker, and it fits just fine on the table (without hitting the upright post, etc). I was able to get the first bead removed from the wheel very easily, but when I tried removing the second bead, it kept "slipping off" of the duckhead. It's a nylon duckhead. So my question is:
* Would I be better off with a steel (or hybrid nylon/steel) duckhead if most of my use will be offroad tires on wheels where cosmetics aren't a concern?
* Is it possible that I just need a new nylon duckhead, and sticking with nylon is better (I believe this is the original OEM duckhead that came new on the machine).
* Or is there some sort of technique thing I just need to learn? I had a lovely assistant lifting the other end of the tire the best she could, but next time I could probably lure over a drunkard or two.
FWIW, I was successfully able to very very easily remove a much smaller passenger car tire.
Finally, if you have any other advice for my low volume hobby shop usage, I'd be happy to hear it. The machine came with a beat up in line lubricator, so I ordered a new one. The return spring for the bead breaker was missing, so I threw a temporary one in for now, and ordered a replacement. In general the machine feels like it has had very little use though.
