For recyclers, processing larger truck and OTR tires can present a significant challenge, even for operations that already have shredding equipment.
OTR, or off-the-road, tires are the much larger, heavier tires used on construction, mining, earthmoving, and agricultural equipment. The tires are large, heavy, and may have internal reinforcing components such as bead wire, which can slow processing, create unnecessary shredder wear, and introduce safety issues. Even recyclers that already own smaller or midsize shredders can run into problems with larger truck and OTR tires.
“The issue is not whether a sufficiently large shredder can cut it – it can. The question is whether it makes economic sense to repeatedly force shredder knives through that material when the bead can be removed first,” says John Neuens of BCA Industries, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of industrial shredding and recycling equipment.
That is the basic idea behind BCA Industries’ SWC100 Sidewall Remover. The machine cuts both sidewalls, including the bead area, from the tire before the remaining tread reaches the shredder. A newly introduced tread cutter attachment then allows operators to take what is left and cut the remaining tread into smaller sections for shredding, transportation, or disposal.
The SWC100 is an all-hydraulic machine with an automatic tire lift. Instead of manually wrestling a large tire into position, the lift raises it into the machine, where both sidewalls are cut during the same loading cycle. This eliminates the need to cut one sidewall, flip the tire, and then cut the other.
BCA estimates the SWC100 can process approximately one tire every 35 seconds, with an operating range from passenger tires as small as 17 inches to semi-truck tires up to 44 inches. After removing the sidewalls, the operator moves the remaining tread to the cutter.
If the tread is being transported elsewhere for final processing, a single cut opens the donut so it can lie flatter and stack more efficiently. Or it can be cut multiple times to the desired final size.
For more information, call: 414-353-1002; fax 414-353-1003; email john@bca-industries.com; visit www.bca-industries.com or write to BCA Industries, 7036 N. Teutonia Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53209.