8 Tire Tricks and Trailer Tips for Farm Your Equipment

These ideas from farmers include a way to check and balance pressure on all four semi truck tires at a time, a trick for removing a stuck wheel, and a hub removal tool. These hacks were first featured in All Around the Farm.

1. Quad Tire Pressure System 

I wanted a way to check and balance the pressure on all four semi tires at the same time. I built a controller bar that has an air chuck nipple, allowing me to hook up the pressure hose from the shop, a pressure regulator, and four seated hoses, each using quick-connect sleeve locking air chucks that connect to the Schrader valves (valve stems) on the tires. I set this unit up, dial in the pressure regulator, and go get a cup of coffee as it does its work. I have evenly balanced tires every time! -Truman Johnson, Urbana, Ohio

2. How to Remove a Stuck Wheel

If you have ever had a steel or aluminum wheel being stubborn and not coming off the hub of your semi, here is my trick: Get a bottle jack and chain. Wrap the chain through the wheels. Put the jack on the hub and start jacking. Boom, the wheel is off! -Colin Hart, Hopkins, Michigan

3. Hub Removal Tool

Sometimes the tapered or wedge hub on the rear axle of a tractor is difficult to move. Many people will pound a couple of tapered chisels into the slot in an effort to spread the hub apart. Typically, one chisel will fly off, rocketing across the room due to the extreme pressure. My idea uses two heavy angle irons. Each will bolt to the hub on opposite sides of the hub’s slot. The two angle iron pieces are connected to a threaded rod that runs between the irons. The nuts turn against the irons, allowing enough separation in the slot to easily remove the hub from the axle. -Gary Frahm, Miles, Iowa

4. Custom Spindle Nut Tool

The most recent custom tool I made is a special socket to torque down the spindle nut on a John Deere 8R series tractor after taking the front hub apart. Everything came out of the scrap bin, including the broken 3/4-inch drive adapter. The tool stood up to the 384 foot-pound requirement that is called for in the John Deere specifications. -Scott Holmes, Plains, Kansas

5. Grain Hopper T-Handles

After losing another hand-crank handle in the pit, I decided that was the last time. I built and installed T-handles on our hopper bottom trailers. I started by welding a 1 1/2-inch impact socket onto a piece of 3/4-inch square tube measuring 21 inches long. Next, I placed the socket onto the trailer door shaft nut and spot welded it in place. This was done for easy removal later, if needed. We find that grain elevator employees greatly appreciate the ease of operation, and we no longer lose hand-crank handles. -Brent Strine, Mount Carmel, Illinois

6. Ratchet Strap Winding Tool

When hauling items and strapping them down, the worst part of the job is rolling the straps up when finished. I always have a cordless impact driver handy, even when I travel. I found a half-inch drive socket that would fit snugly into a scrap piece of electrical PVC pipe and drove it into the end of the pipe to wedge it in tight. I then cut a slit in the other end of the pipe. I slide the slit over the edge of the strap, hook up an impact gun to the socket, and quickly roll up the strap. -Tom McCormick, North Liberty, Indiana

7. Loading Traction

We love our dovetail equipment trailer, but unfortunately, the drop end can get very slippery. To solve this problem, we use hold-down chains, spaced appropriately, to improve traction. The chains allow us to load motorized equipment with ease. -John D. Rohrer, Watertown, Wisconsin

8. Handy Skid-Steer Trailer Mover

Many farmers have ruined a pallet fork by attaching a ball to just one of the forks and then lifting too much weight. My solution was to get a lower arm three-point drawbar and bolt the outer holes to each of the pallet forks. Now you have a handy hitch for moving trailers that are equipped with either double-tongued hitches or ball hitches. Also, a skid-steer loader is more maneuverable, so you don’t have to turn around to see where you are backing up the trailer. -Merle Wenger, Newton, Kansas

Share Your Ideas

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