I hear ya on the cost of tire work. There came a time for me when I felt like I was taking a tire in to town once or twice a week and thought I was having horrible tire luck. But then I realized (and counted) how many actual tires I had between all the tractors, equipment, vehicles of every sort, etc and it was well over hundred. At that moment I knew if I didn't start doing some of my own work, I'd go broke just fixing tires. I began patching/repairing all my own tires using an ultra cheap harbor freight manual changer and it works great (slightly hard on a bad back). Typical with harbor freight steel, the bead breaker portion bent on it a bit but I was able to bend it back (I found soapy water to be one of the most important parts to these manual changers, everything is much easier to mount/dismount if it's hit w/soapy water.) I've been wanting to purchase an older coats or similar machine as they regularly pop up on cl but haven't yet - it's on the list though. I recommend trying one of the cheapo manual changers first - you can order patches and vulcanizing cement on eBay or Amazon along with heavy duty stems of all sizes. I use my cordless drill with a wire wheel to lightly rough the patch area and I have yet to have a single issue with patches of all types. More than the cost, it's really a time saver and convenience when you have a specialty farm tire (which some shops throw their nose up at)...Wouldn't ever be without one again. There's a bunch of YouTube vids that can give you the basics (as brainless as it sounds, there really is a few things that will save a whole lot of heartache and backbreak if you learn how to mount and dismount them right)
