Abstract: A tire separation method employs a cutting head and a press for separating treads from rims of solid rubber tires. The cutting head has an annular blade with a blunt edge for tearing the rubber from the rim of the tire. Three spoke blades are spaced apart around the annular blade for cutting the diameter of the tread into sections. The rim drops through the annular blade to a conveyor, while the tread sections fall away to tread conveyors. The tires are brought from storage on a tire conveyor. The press has a hydraulic cylinder driving a piston with a jaw-type clamping mechanism for picking up tires. The cylinder is on a carriage that is movable from over the cutting head to over the tire conveyor for picking up tires to bring them over the cutting head for separating.