After a particularly difficult time removing a 20+ year old tires from a friends bike, it was suggested to me to try a race tire warmer to make removing old hard rubber easier. 

So I'm going to give this a try:

Hmmm... isn't that like taking a shotgun to a mosquito? Unless you're doing it all the time for that price you can take the wheel to a shop, go home with a new tire mounted and treat yourself to a nice dinner with the leftover money.

With the ridiculous number of tires I do each year, I suspect this will make things significantly easier. I've been toying with the idea for a while.