Every time a giant earthmover tire is retreaded an enormous amount of rubber is saved and the tire can then be put back into full service, saving thousands of dollars for the end user. 
Thanks to new technology including very sophisticated non-destructive testing methods to ensure the tire is suitable for another full useful life, and computerized building machinery, all size earthmover tires – including the largest giant earthmover tires with 63-inch wheel diameters and weighing approximately 10,000 pounds each – are now being successfully retreaded.
Since new large earthmover tires can cost many tens of thousands of dollars, every time one can be successfully retreaded the cost of doing business by the company using the retreaded tire goes down, and this translates into savings for the consumer, because in the final analysis we all pay for the cost of manufacturing any product, even if the cost is indirect.
A forward-thinking giant earthmover tire retreader in North Carolina has formed a new company, RDH Environmental Services, to process those giant tires no longer suitable for retreading and to recover their component parts, including carbon black, oil and steel, which can then be recycled. The new company is an offshoot of RDH Tire and Retread Co. of Cleveland, N.C., one of the largest giant tire retreaders in the U.S.
Harvey Buhr, the inventor of the reclaim process and a partner in the new company, states that it is an environmentally friendly way to turn scrap giant tires into usable materials.
In addition, every time one of the scrap giant tires is able to have its raw materials reclaimed and then recycled, there is one less tire to have to be disposed of by shredding it or placing it in a landfill. Since both shredding and landfilling are expensive – and in the case of landfilling, not even legal in many states – the processing of the scrap giant tires is truly a very environmentally friendly breakthrough.
The retreading of giant earthmover tires is a great example that retreading is recycling, and in a huge way. The processing of the scrap giant tires is the icing on the cake.
For more information about giant tire retreading contact the Retread Tire Association toll free at 888-810-8861 or by e-mail at [email protected].
