Wagon tire shrinker

Wagon tire shrinker

Sometimes, because of things like the tire stretching or the wood parts shrinking, the iron wagon tire would become loose on the wheel. In particular, in dry weather the wheel might dry out and shrink enough for the tire to come off. The cure was to have a blacksmith shrink the tire, using either a tire shrinker or a tire upsetter to compress a section of the tire and thus shorten the tire circumference.