Antique Tire Changer - Bishman tire changers

[Curti]

Resisting this old 40's or 50's tire changer at a garage sale was impossible. Does anyone have any ideas where to obtain parts for it? It is missing the fixture that holds the rim in place and the arm that goes around the rim to remove the tire. If I can find the parts I would enjoy restoring it.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Neat find! But I think it may be older than you think. There are 100's, if not thousands of old Bishman tire changers around and parts may not be as difficult to find as you may think. Do a google search for Bishman parts.

A word of caution; those tire changers were made for steel wheels and will not treat cast wheels with any degree of kindness.

[Curti]

Jim, Google is my friend. That was the first thing I did. The best thing I found there were some vids of the old changer freeing a tire from a rim. I contacted two parts suppliers, but no luck.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Jim, Google is my friend. That was the first thing I did. The best thing I found there were some vids of the old changer freeing a tire from a rim. I contacted two parts suppliers, but no luck.

Curt, what parts do you think or know you need? The heart of a Bishman tire changer was/is the Gast air motor. Gast can be found on the web and if you have the model of the given air motor on your Bishman I suspect they can tell you what you may need to regain functionality.

[Curti]

It appears that I am missing more than I thought. There is an electric motor with a pulley but I cannot determine what it drives. I need to do more research.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Curt, for what it may be worth to you the patent number shown on the I.D. plate was issued in November of 1954, however the application for patent was filed in June of 1949.

You will find rather detailed exploded view drawings of the machine at:

Circumferentially traveling type tire mounting and demounting apparatus

I believe you will find the text following the illustrations quite informative.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Jim_Edwards (see edit history)

[Curti]

Jim, this is very interesting! A drawing is what I am looking for. This way I can determine what all is missing.

While Googling around last evening I did find a possible source for parts. The Equipment Service Corporation in RI.

Thank you very much for the help.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Jim, this is very interesting! A drawing is what I am looking for. This way I can determine what all is missing.

While Googling around last evening I did find a possible source for parts. The Equipment Service Corporation in RI.

Thank you very much for the help.

Curt, I too had seen the claim by Equipment Service in a forum post circa 2006 and after looking at their web site more or less figured it was a spam post.

Not that it will help you any at all, Bishman Manufacturing was apparently acquired by Lear-Siegler and became the Bishman Division of that company. I'm guessing sometime in the 1970s. Lear-Siegler is now a portion of URS having passed through more than one corporate merger and it appears to no longer have any relationship of any nature to automotive service equipment.

It would be interesting to come up with the name or names now holding the rights to the various patents held by Bishman manufacturing. I suspect that might well define any prospect of replacement parts.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Jim_Edwards (see edit history)

[Guest prs519]

Thank you for the post, as it applies equally to an old changer I bought several years ago. I thiink you may be in better luck, because your machine apparently does not rely on air. I cannot even find an appropriate dump valve for mine. I used one for a couple of years which was for an air ram operated belly dump gravel truck trailer, but it did not last very good. Thanks again, though. It may be some of the links provided will give me a source for the valve! Perry

[Curti]

Thank you for the post, as it applies equally to an old changer I bought several years ago. I thiink you may be in better luck, because your machine apparently does not rely on air. I cannot even find an appropriate dump valve for mine. I used one for a couple of years which was for an air ram operated belly dump gravel truck trailer, but it did not last very good. Thanks again, though. It may be some of the links provided will give me a source for the valve! Perry

Perry, what model number is yours? Mine is air operated as well.

[Curti]

Curt, I too had seen the claim by Equipment Service in a forum post circa 2006 and after looking at their web site more or less figured it was a spam post.

Not that it will help you any at all, Bishman Manufacturing was apparently acquired by Lear-Siegler and became the Bishman Division of that company. I'm guessing sometime in the 1970s. Lear-Siegler is now a portion of URS having passed through more than one corporate merger and it appears to no longer have any relationship of any nature to automotive service equipment.

It would be interesting to come up with the name or names now holding the rights to the various patents held by Bishman manufacturing. I suspect that might well define any prospect of replacement parts.

Jim, are you a detective in a different life?

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Jim, are you a detective in a different life?

Hee, hee, not hardly. However, I did spend a lot of my professional life locating often difficult to find repair parts and parts needed to keep military product production lines humming along after some knucklehead had dropped the ball. Do enough of that sort of thing and you learn to take approaches to a problem many have not yet learned.

[Guest prs519]

Curt, I will need to look on the model; in fact, I cannot even recall the manufacturer at this moment. Here is what I did to make my old changer operate, keeping in mind that poor men have poor ways (referring of course to myself, one of my late father's gem sayings).

1. please do not take this as condescending, but these innocent little tire changers are a full load of dynamite, as you trouble shoot it, do so a little at a time, keeping your head turned away as you try the the switches and functions one at a time. These guys really are explosive in their ability to apply mechanical forces.

2. My suspicion is that you are likely to have the same trouble(s) I had with a changer that had sat sem- protected for decades. If you are lucky and all is well, watch how it works, clean and lubricate it, and practice on easy tires first, after inspecting all the collars and such for cracks or damage.

3. The large piston/cylinder in mine was stuck in a corroded interface of an area, so I had to remove it, then I found a gallon can (Ibelieve it was a Folger's Coffee can, and attached sandpaper around the can. I believe I used all thread to serve as a means of connecting the coffee can/hone to my old slow speed drill press. In short order, this cleaned up the "cylinder". It is no Swiss Watch, as they say.

4. The probable reason the piston stopped at a midway position was most likely that it had

a malfunctioning "dump valve". As I recall a massive spring is the default means for one direction of the bead breaker. When ya "flip" the dump valve, it allows air in the cylinder to exhaust, so the spring can overcome (making the changer a simple mechanism) any forces that might be jamming things in the relaxed position. The old dump valve had spools and o-rings which can also be the source of problems. Mayhaps you know all this, and chances are good I do not have it exactly right, but you should be able to see what I mean. Keep others well away until confident of its operation. I used that white grease--lubriplate- to lube the rings on the piston and spools. Hope this is helpful to you.

5. One last thing in honor of Newton, is to remember the equal and opposite of forces. This is true in a big way with these, not least with respect to tying the changer to the floor or some sub-frame.

[Curti]

Prs519, I will definately heed your warning! I am reluctant to start on the restoration of this contraption until I am able to locate the parts that are missing. It appears to me that this model is air powered. There is a large cylinder on the back side

[Guest weldor trace]

I have a bishman tire changer like yours, I cut the top shaft off and use a demoounting tool from ebay like for a coats tire changer, and welded a piece of 1/2" flat stock to the top of the shaft. I liked your link to the manuals, though, I have trouble holding a rim tight when dismounting. The original top piece kept sliding in and locking in the rim when removing a tire. Would like to know how to correctly set the knurled rollers that lock the rim to base. Do they go inside or outside the rim like on the newer rim clamp machines. I tapped another set of holes closer to dismount 12" lawn mower rims, they work good. But I am having trouble holding 14.5" trailer rims, which have no center. Am considering fabricating a set of outside rim clamps like on later machines, any ideas?

[Guest Ford GP]

Jim, this is very interesting! A drawing is what I am looking for. This way I can determine what all is missing.

While Googling around last evening I did find a possible source for parts. The Equipment Service Corporation in RI.

Thank you very much for the help.

This from Yesterdays Tractors Forum:

Equipment Service Corp US 03-22-2006 09:57:07

172.153.174.222

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[TD=bgcolor: #dddddd] Re: bishman tire changer in reply to Gary Mayhew, 07-27-2005 18:22:18 [/TD]

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[TD] We can supply many parts for Bishman equipment. Our number is 401-737-5885. Thanks [/TD]

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[Curti]

We can supply many parts for Bishman equipment. Our number is 401-737-5885. Thanks

THANK YOU, I'll give them a call.

[Guest reason1972]

i have a Big Four air powered tire changer golden sixties special 8060.could someone please help me find out how to use or a site i can find anything about it.i have googled and all i find are the new ones.i have tried to put pics in but cant for some reason.i am on facebook under robin eason in new port richey florida.if you want to friend me i will accept.

Edited January 31, 2013 by reason1972
put pics in (see edit history)

[Mike Dube]

Jim, Google is my friend. That was the first thing I did. The best thing I found there were some vids of the old changer freeing a tire from a rim. I contacted two parts suppliers, but no luck.

Curt,

Here's a seg-way. I have problems balancing the 17" tires on my '32. While its easy enough to have the tire store to spin the bare wheels after removing the tires & tubes, can you suggest a simple way to find the heavy spot on the tires? My thought is, if you know both beforehand and mount accordingly, balancing should be easier to accomplish.

My Auburn has the drop center rims, no lock rings. They aren't perfect, but I don't think they're all that bad either.

Thanks

[Curti]

I just have my tires and wheels spin balanced as an assembly.

[Guest bolensboneyard]

Boy am I glad to find someone who will even talk about old tire changers.  I am relieved to see the post with BIG FOUR in it as the only wording I can find on this old machine is big four on the valve at the bottom of the cylinder.  I have gotten this machine to work, as good as they did back in the day, in the center post turning operation.  I thought I had the bead breaker working with enough power to do some work when I put the grease fitting back in the top of the cyl.  It worked one time but is now weaker than ever.  It will not even come down on its own.  I has a swing out arm for the bead breaker and two peddles one for the post turn and one for the bead breaker.  A flip lever on the side of the breaker appears to lock the upper and lower together.  I have finally reluctantly pulled the piston apart and find a simple single plastic? ring that looks like a chevron seal and located one the same size as the worn? one and hopfully much more pliable.  Two pin holes in the piston appear to aid the expansion of the seal.  I have not ordered the seal yet.  I believe the valve at the bottom of the piston is defective.   It is an L shaped unit marked Big Four.  The inlet air comes in the out side of the valve.  The exaust air end screwed into the cyl. goes out the in side of the valve.  Appears backward but that's the way it was when I got it.  At the bottom of the valve is a hole with the valve held in by a spring like snap ring.  I can see light coming through two of the openings.  When my compressor is low air will blow out of this valve at the bottom.  When the pressure builds up it will stop and charge the cylinder but no longer give me enough pressure to even move on its own.  I can see that their is a lot of knowledge on this site.  Please help  I will attach a picture if I can figure out how.  Thanks in advance

[Nevadavic]

Here’s a tire changer that doesn’t use cylinders or pistons to change tires.  Just place your hand on the handle and turn!  Sorry, it’s not for steel wheels but for vintage wooden wheels with split rims.  The brass tag says; “CLARK TIRE CARRIER & CHANGER CO.”  329-331 Washington St., Oakland, CA.  Pat. Dec. 7, 1920.  It actually does what it is supposed to do.  I’ve changes several tires over the years using this tool.  I guess I should restore it someday.

I purchased the tire changer at an auction at the C.O.D. garage in Minden, Nevada when the car dealership was going out of business in 2004.  C.O.D. Garage started business in 1912 by Clarence Oliver Dangburg   At the time it was the only garage between Sacramento and Bodie, California.  The auction went on for three days and there was a lot of interesting vintage car dealer items sold.

[keiser31]

Here are a couple at a local shop. Oldies, but GOODIES....

Edited April 15, 2016 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[MochetVelo]

I have a Weaver Model E Tire Changer like the photo above. I'd sure like to see one in operation or find the manual. I just use it to clamp the wheel and then use tire irons to mount and remove the tires.

 

Phil

[Jim Milewski]

I have a Weaver Model E Tire Changer 405 - do not have a manual, am missing a spring on the handle that allows you to adjust the bead breaker - any ideas

 

Jim (Central NY)

[MochetVelo]

I still would like to see how the Model E Weaver Tire Changer actually works. It does make a handy wheel holder, but the big "bead breaker" hook doesn't seem to be very effective. Can anyone post a YouTube video?

 

Phil

[Guest hayman65]

I think I have this machine. .im trying to sell it and its complete. .could you send me a pic of yours??

ron.demello@yahoo.com

[Curti]

These are the only two pix I have of it.Insert other media

[Guest hayman65]

I have a T100 big four just like the one that bollensboneyard has here. .im trying to sell it and its complete. Maybe you know someone interested?? 

ron.demello@yahoo.com

[MrEarl]

Great to see this thread resurface! I’d be interested in purchasing a pre war changer in any condition mainly for display. All I have now is this little bead popper.

 

[Guest hayman65]

My machine is complete. .requires air .

it hasn't been used in a long time but im sure with a little tlc she'll be fine. 

[Restorer32]

The 2 orange machines in post 23 are not tire changing machines but rather tire inspection equipment. A pic of Dad's recap shop in the 1960's would show almost identical machines. The large one is for opening up truck tires for internal inspection. The smaller one with the rollers is used to hold open a smaller tire for inspection or application of a patch prior to vulcanization.

[JoeJoe]

My son is into demolition derby and bought this old air operated tire changer. We need an air valve for it (has 3 the same in it) but can not find manufacture label on only the Logo on the side panel.

If anyone know make or another could get some parts from would greatly be appreciated. 

Thanks

[truckin-on]

Resurrecting this topic in the hope that someone can help with an old Atlas A-4 manual tire changer.  It has a air cylinder that drives the bead breakers - up and down and seems to be all there. The entire bead breaker mechanism swivels around the machine, so you don't have to move the rim. The top bead breakers is a bit odd - can be configured in several positions but I'm not sure which is for what. Also, I'm not sure how the two bars are supposed to be used. The one with the small wheel and the flip-out lever seems to work fine to remove a bead, but I've not had it quite so easy installing a tire.  I also don't understand how the large wheel bar is supposed to be used, and what the bar with the ring at the end is for - it fits over the central shaft, but not sure if it's to hold down different types of wheels or what.

 

I've searched for any manual or video on how the various parts of this are supposed to work, but no luck so far. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated!

Edited September 12, 2022 by truckin-on (see edit history)

[TerryB]

Not quite the same but…..

 

[TerryB]

More…

 

[TerryB]

More….

 

[truckin-on]

Thanks Terry!  Extremely helpful - the "Put-On tool" (great name) is exactly like mine, and the instructions help explain the usage.

[roadiez]

Been a while since I've seen a new post on here...

 

I just got one in the past year. Has the sheet metal as well, which I see is missing on most.

Been repainted blue, but you can see the red poking through...

 

I've actually used it to break beads. But mine doesn't have the lugnut hole rod to stabilize the rim from spinning(yeah, that old!).

I did mount it on two 6x6 posts to raise it up & can be removed really fast.

It's late(11:30 PM & raining) so no pictures tonight.

I will sell it, $300.

But must pick up or be willing to pay 60¢ mile(in advance!).

 

roadiez824@gmail

Once you email me I'll respond & give you the number to call\text.

 

I'm about 2 hours south of Louisville, 3 East of STL, & 3 north of Nashville.

[kgreen]

I found the bead breaker part of the Take-Off Tool, the large C-shaped device, in a flea market years ago.  That would be parts T-129, 113, 114 and 130. It did not have the handle so I put a steel pipe in the threads.  I've used it many times to break beads, then use the old hand techniques to get the old tire off a rim and a new tire installed.  That effort can raise a sweat.  Would be nice to have the rest of the machine, but then garage space?

Edited April 11 by kgreen
clarity (see edit history)