Help remove tires in bulk

I have a problem I have been trying to solve and its got a particular set of parameters.  I was hoping you all could help me out.

At work we have a bunch of scrap wheels with tires on them. Old tires, worn tires, shredded tires.  More come in fairly regularly. Steady supply.

Problem: Tires must come off the rim and the two must get separated. Scrap and recycling. There is no budget for a tire machine of any sort.  There may be a 120V line that we can use. I am handy with building stuff to create a solution.

I have tried a sawzall but it goes through blades like crazy. Cutting them off by hand takes forever. Angle grinder with cutoff wheel spews smoke and hot burning rubber.

What solution do you have? Build a manual tire changing stand and do em by hand? Log splitter for wheels?

Looking for something trouble free and simple.

Thank you

CL ad.  Free scrap aluminum and steel, must take all.  Some scrap person might be willing to put in the work for the couple bucks they'll get at the recycler.

Any farms in your area?  Many times silage is stored under a tarp and weighted down with tires.  Sometimes farmers use old free car tires for implements or hay wagons.  I know that both brush hogs at dad's farm are currently on some Uniroyal tiger paws that used to be on my 66 Bonneville.

Oh... find a manufacturer of permanent mulch or a company that does those jogging tracks with shredded rubber.

How many are we talking about?  I suppose you could sweet talk a tire shop into helping.  If there are any wheels worth keeping, tell them they can keep the good wheels and you will dispose of the tires in exchange for them using their machine to dismount them

What size/type tires? Can the budget really not spare $50 for a HF manual tire changer? Though having used one before, I would only go that route if you're talking mostly high sidewall ratio tires.

Log splitter to smash the wheel into a taco, then it falls out of the tire. I saw this on an old Dirty Jobs episode about a tire recycling plant, I'll see if I can find the video.

EDIT:  Curtis, good ideas. We have a place to dispose tires and scrap the rims, so thats all set.

I just need a way to separate the wheel from the tire

Have you considered explosives?  Might not work, but sounds like fun.

I would think a modified log splitter would work.  Something with a goal-post-type thing that holds the tire while the ram punches the wheel out

I also wonder what would happen if you laid the tire/wheel flat on the splitter deck and just tried to crush it on that plane.

Here's the video:

This contraption probably has a bit more power than a regular log splitter, but perhaps you could reduce the effort required by removing (at least most of) the center from the wheel, either by cutting for a steel wheel or with a large sledgehammer if you have any aluminum wheels.

or

Leverage works wonders.

A buddy of mine used to run a junkyard.  He used to use a log splitter.

I'd look at the cost of simply paying some company to take them away versus how much labor costs you'll have to do the work yourself (you said there's no budget for a tire machine, but unless you're doing the work on your own time for free there will be labor costs involved.)  Sometimes time is money.

What is your budget and how many tires are you processing a day. I make custom equipment to destroy stuff for a living. PM me and maybe we can figure something out for you.

I had a HF changer.  Used it for 50+ tires.  I bought a real machine and have no qualms about it.  If you're an auto shop and they don't have budget for a used old changer to dismount junk tires I would question everything 

do you have a air compressor ?

thats how we did it years ago , bought a used air powered tire changer for $75

  but it is a lot of dirty work , 

If you were closer I would give you my old HF changer. 

Don't get the hf one. It may work on recent tires, but when tires get especially old and stiff you'll bend the hf stuff pretty quick.

At least, that's how I bent my hf one. 

Coats 4040 tire changers are under $500 these days used on FB Marketplace or Craigs.  Yeah they scratch the hell out of the rims but I am guessing you don't care.  $500 is a whole lot less than any homebrew solution and actually safe-ish, able to get parts, and guaranteed to work.  

A friend of mine has the cheap HF changer.  As with most budget items it is likely best for occasional, less extreme use.  The primary issue was some bending in some of the parts (the push down, bead breaker thing)..  That can be essentially solved by welding in some reinforcements. It of course needs to be bolted to a concrete pad.  They are $50, so you cannot expect too much. 

A friend of mine operates a tire shop and has a contract with the local junkyard for removing tires from rims. They bring trailers full and he separates. Fills his downtime and it's cheaper for that yard to pay 3 bucks each then it is for them to have an employee do it.

Just bumping this up because I'm curious if the OP found a solution. 

Well here is the update.

I tried using the one of the semi truck tire tools but it didnt go well but I have another I will borrow and try.

I bought a HF tire changer when it went on sale/coupon and its going to work with me when I go back after my time off.  Ill pallet mount it and see how it goes.  I seem to read that some people thing they are cheap and break easy and others say they are fine as long as you use enough lube.  So ill be ginger and use lube and hope for the best. (you cant write this without jokes  )

Update to follow

(For what its worth, I have scrap material laying around that i could use to build a 3X beefier version of this HF tire chagner.  However, I hope this ones olds up)

93gsxturbo said:

Coats 4040 tire changers are under $500 these days used on FB Marketplace or Craigs.  Yeah they scratch the hell out of the rims but I am guessing you don't care.  $500 is a whole lot less than any homebrew solution and actually safe-ish, able to get parts, and guaranteed to work.  

And the old 4040 is FAST once you get the rhythm down.  I mounted and balanced four tires in five minutes once, with a 4040.

I'm amused by the idea of beating the center out of an aluminum wheel with a sledgehammer.  Wheels are made out of some really impact-tolerant stuff and will bend before it breaks.  Wheels broken by a single impact and not fatigue damage tend to be of the sliding into a curb at 100mph variety.  (Normal speeds just bend them if they affect them at all)  So you'd need a 4000lb sledgehammer.