Tire Changer HEADLAND TC-26 — 26″ Rim Clamp, 110 V

Overview

The HEADLAND TC-26 is a swing-arm tire changer built the same simple way as the TC-24, with a larger body and turntable. It clamps rims from 12″ to 23″ externally and 14″ to 26″ internally, takes a wheel up to 45″ (1,140 mm) in diameter and 14″ (355 mm) wide, and runs on 110 V / 60 Hz single phase from an ordinary outlet. The bead breaker is rated at 2,500 kg (about 5,500 lb). The pedal unit pulls out for service, and a built-in air tank for bead seating is standard.

Every HEADLAND machine carries a unique serial number on its rating plate, recorded against your invoice. We have seen a machine of this class listed at a Canadian auction with the note that no serial number or manufacturer’s identification could be found. Without one there is no warranty claim and no recall.

All safety decals and control markings are in English and French. French markings are a legal requirement for sale in Quebec, and a grey import usually arrives without them.

Why this machine

This is the machine most customers should end up with. The competing import machines sold in Canada stop at 24″ internal clamping and a 41″ wheel. The TC-26 clamps to 26″ and takes a 45″ wheel, for $200 more than the TC-24 on the same channel.

The reason it matters is in the parking lot. Around thirty per cent of new vehicles in North America now leave the factory on 20″ wheels or larger, and 22″ and 24″ wheels are factory fitment on some full-size SUVs. Those wheels come in for their first tire change in a few years. A machine that stops at 24″ sends that customer somewhere else, and the customer does not come back for the smaller wheels either.

What it gives up. The TC-26 does not clamp below 12″ externally or 14″ internally, so very small trailer and garden-tractor wheels belong on the TC-24. It has no help arm; low-profile and run-flat tires can be done, with lubricant and patience, but for daily work of that kind the TC-26 PRO is the right machine.

What’s included

• HEADLAND TC-26 tire changer with swing arm and mounting head
• Enlarged four-jaw self-centring turntable, 12″–23″ external, 14″–26″ internal
• Bead breaker rated at 2,500 kg with blade and rubber pad
• Pull-out pedal unit
• Built-in air tank for inflation-assist bead seating
• Safety decals and control markings in English and French
• Unique serial number on the rating plate
• Canadian field-evaluation label with its own number
• Operator’s manual

What’s not included

• Compressor, air hose, regulator and fittings
• Anchoring to the floor and the hardware for it
• A 110 V outlet near the machine
• Tire lubricant, valve cores, valve stems and hand tools
• Freight to your address
• Installation labour

Compressed air. The working pressure on the spec sheet, 8 to 10 bar (116 to 145 psi), is what the machine needs in order to work. It is not a maximum it tolerates. A 2,500 kg bead breaker takes air to earn that figure, and the clamping jaws and inflation tank draw from the same line. A small hobby compressor will break one bead and then spend minutes recovering. If your compressor cannot hold 8 bar under load, fix that before the machine arrives. We would rather lose the sale than take the machine back.

Key specifications

Electrical approval in Canada

The TC-26 arrives from the factory without a Canadian electrical mark, and VY Build does not sell it that way. Every unit is field-evaluated in Canada, one machine at a time, by a body accredited by the Standards Council of Canada. The evaluator examines that machine, and the machine that passes receives a label carrying its own number before it leaves VY Build.

The distinction is worth knowing. A certification or listing approves a model. A field evaluation approves one machine. VY Build has the second, not the first. The practical result is that the machine on your floor carries a label with its own number on it, which is more than most equipment bought at auction can say.

The two prices

The TC-26 is sold through two channels, and each channel has its own price. The from-stock price is not a regular price, and the Container Run price is not a sale price.

• Container Run, $1,995 CAD. You pre-order a machine from our February 2027 container. A 30% deposit is paid at order and the balance is due before the machine is released from Charlottetown. Delivery is from our February 2027 container.
• From stock, $2,395 CAD. For a machine we are holding in Charlottetown, with its field-evaluation label already on it. We are not holding stock yet; this channel opens after the February 2027 container has landed and been evaluated.

The from-stock price carries the cost of landing and holding a machine in Charlottetown. On the Container Run you carry the wait instead. Choose by when you need the machine.

Delivery and lead time

Container Run. The container is scheduled to land at Halifax in February 2027. Each machine is then field-evaluated in Canada and released from Charlottetown once its label is on it and the balance is paid, in practice from late February. That puts the machine in your shop before the March changeover, which is one of the two weeks in the year when a tire shop cannot afford to be short of equipment.

The order window closes in mid-November 2026. Chinese New Year falls on 6 February 2027 and the factory winds down from late January. Production has to be finished and the container sailing before that, or the next slot lands in April. We would rather say this plainly than take an order we cannot deliver on time.

From stock. Not available yet. We hold no stock of these machines at present, so the from-stock option is shown as unavailable. It opens after the February 2027 container has landed and each machine has been field-evaluated and labelled; a machine bought that way is already labelled and ships from Charlottetown on receipt of payment.

The machine ships crated on a pallet. Pickup in Charlottetown is available. Freight to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ontario is quoted by destination and is not included in either price. You need a forklift or a pallet jack and a level floor to receive it, or ask for lift-gate delivery.

Before you decide

• Tire changer comparison for Canada — thirteen machines side by side on the figures the sellers publish.
• Why 26 inches — what the clamping range means, and what has happened to wheel sizes.
• Buying a tire changer at auction — the buyer’s fee, the tax and the transport, worked through.
• Electrical approval in Canada — what the provincial rules require, and what a field evaluation is.