I remember a friend who was a mechanic at a tire shop that also did auto repairs,asked me to come help him dismount a tire a local cranberry grower had brought in,off one of their flatbed trailers..
It turned out the tires were freebies from a 747 at Logan airport!..
They were something like 32 plies,each tire & rim weighed about 600+ lbs..
We fought and hammered and beat on that tire for over an hour,it never budged one thousandth of an inch..he called the guy who brought it in,told him "No one in MA has any means to get that tire off,maybe the airport can--not us !"..
They ended up buying new tires..they never came back to get that tire,it sat behind the shop for years,until it was finally sold--I still have the hernia we both got trying to get it in a truck to haul it away..had a hard time finding any scrap or junk yard that would take it for free too!..
I found some airplane tires for a Cesna at the town landfill's tire pile one day--they looked perfect to me,and had very thick tubes too...I scoffed both up and took them home,they were something like 16-6:50 x 6"..just the size I needed for the front of a riding mower..I was elated..
Till I tried mounting them that is...I looked at the printing on the tire sidewall..
"For aircraft use--weight rating,1,650 lbs !...they were like 10 ply rating,stiff as concrete,I struggled with the tire irons for over and hour--by the time I got one on a rim,the rim's outer diameter looked like a flower,I had BENT it so badly with the tire iron!..I battled with the other one almost as long,and finally got it on..inflated them both to 30 psi...next day,both had like 4 lbs in them!..but they were SO stiff,no air was needed at all,you couldn't get a "flat" with those tires!..
I later learned aircraft rims are a two piece type that unbolt...hmmm..no wonder I had suck a hard time mounting them !..
Another day my friend asked me "Hey--you ever put SOLID tires on a rim before ?--some guy just dropped off about 10 garden carts ,and 20 GREEN solid rubber tires,and my boss said "here,mount these tires"...he had changed a million tires on cars,big rigs,loaders,etc,but never a "tricycle" tire!..
I went to his shop,there was NO instructions on the package the new tires came in--just a weird plastic wedge looking thing...we ended up calling the company and said "how the (bleep) do you mount these tires ?...or get the OLD ones off "?...
The man answered "Just use a utility knife to cut the sidewalls off the old ones,then the remains..to put the new tires ON--you must soak them in very hot water for 20 minutes,and use that plastic tool to coax them onto the rim,before it cools off too much"..
We hung up and stared at each other...ya,right!--like we have the means to boil about 10 gallons of water here,and spend the day putting stupid green tires on garden carts,for what--$50?--when other cars are waiting to be fixed ?..
I said I'd attempt to do ONE tire and see how hard it was..but I'd have to go get a charcoal grill from my house and some charcoal to heat up a tub of water..his boss gave me the money,and I went and got the grill and charcoal,got it going..
Took about an hour to get the water much above the outside temperature!..
I ended up dumping most of it out,leaving barely enough to cover the tire,and I let it cook for awhile..
Then I put gloves on,and got the tire started on the rim,and to my surprise,that hard plastic wedge thing worked slick,the tire went right on!...
It took me about three hours to get all the tires mounted..
When the customer came to pick the carts up,the boss told him "give HIM the money--he's the guy who got those darn thing ON!--we couldn't waste any more time on them"..
The guy handed me a $100 bill and said "that enough" ?--I said "Yeah,I guess so"--and he took another $20 out of his wallet and handed it to me,said "You are the ONLY guy who'd even attempt to try putting those on,every other garage & tire shop said "sorry,you should have bought new tires ON rims!"..
The boss's face was priceless when he saw me getting $120...I fugured he'd take all the money and I'd be lucky to get $50,if that...
I don't want to do any more solid tires though...I had a bad experience with a forklift tire once trying to mount one in a hydraulic press..those are a job for a pro!..
Now I'm 61 and can barely dismount and mount a tire by hand for my own truck..