What to Do With Old Tires in Polk County, FL

Tires pile up behind the shed because nobody knows where they go. The garbage truck won't take them. The tire shop kept the old set when you bought new ones, but not the four that were already in the garage. Here's what I charge, what every county site around Davenport charges, and why the answer is never the trash cart.

What does Big Rob's charge for tires?

$10 per tire, $20 if it's still on the wheel. That's an add-on to any load, or its own trip if there are enough of them. Four bare tires on a garage cleanout adds $40. A stack of twenty on rims from a lot cleanup is $400, and I'll tell you that before we load. Car, truck and trailer tires all count the same. Tractor and equipment tires I quote after a photo, because the county charges me on a different line for those.

Why can't tires go in the household cart?

Because a tire isn't garbage at the gate. Look at any fee schedule in the area: garbage has one rate, tires have another, and tires cost more per ton than almost anything else on the list. Whole tires don't stay buried, and they hold water that breeds mosquitoes, which is why every county handles them apart from the rest and prices them that way. A load with tires mixed in can get charged at a higher rate when it's weighed. So I sort them out of every load before I dump, and you shouldn't expect a collection truck to quietly take them from the cart.

Where can I take tires myself around Davenport?

Every county in my area takes them from residents, and every one has a limit or a price. This is what the county pages say; check the links before you drive.

A couple of things to know. The Haines City center is a flat $10 to get in with a pickup, so four tires there is $10 plus $20. Bass Road doesn't take cash. Hillsborough's free dozen needs a photo ID with a county address and a copy of the tax assessment, which usually leaves a renter out. The Lake County drop-off centers take five tires a year per resident, and more than that goes to the Central Facility in Tavares for a fee. Full hours and the rest of each site's rules are in the county disposal guides.

What about the tire shop?

When you buy tires, the shop keeps the old ones. That's the cleanest route for the set that's on the car. The trouble is the ones that aren't: the spare from a car you sold, the trailer tires in the weeds, the set the last owner left in the shed. Some shops will take loose tires for a fee; ask before you load them.

When is a hauler the right call for tires?

When the tires are part of a bigger pile, or when there are more of them than a trunk holds. The usual calls:

• A garage or shed cleanout with six tires in the back corner. They go on the trailer with everything else, $10 each on top of the load price.
• A property in Poinciana or Lake Wales where the last owner dumped a trailer's worth. I count them from the photo and give you one number.
• A landlord whose tenant left a set on rims in the carport. The job minimum plus $20 a tire.

If it's four bare tires and nothing else, honestly, the Haines City center is cheaper if you have a truck and a weekday. I'll say so on the phone.

What happens to the tires?

They go to the county at the tire rate, sorted out of the load. That's where the $10 comes from: the per-ton price at the gate, the sorting, and the drive. I don't burn them, bury them or leave them behind a fence. Rims come off and go as scrap metal where the yard takes them.

5.0 · 119 Google reviews · Davenport & Polk County

What Big Rob's does here

Tires ride along on junk removal loads and garage cleanouts, and a stack on its own is a single item pickup plus the per-tire add-on. The pricing page has the add-on listed. Same day most days in Davenport, Haines City and Kissimmee, and on scheduled runs to Lakeland and Plant City.

Count them, text the photo to (863) 225-2147, and I'll give you the number tire by tire.