https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUt2-FTyo5Y
Who knew recycling earth-shaking, massive truck tires could be addictive to watch?
With brand new tires being expensive, many truck drivers hire retread companies to recycle damaged tires.
Watch the operation start with a forklift operation moving large tires weighing up to 800 pounds to a large facility, which processes repairs for more than 200 tire dealers.
From there, the host walks us through a typical inspection, which looks for cuts and other imperfections, circled with chalk. Next steps include running it through a large buffing machine which slices through the rubber to leave all but up to 3 millimeters off, a process which takes up to 45 minutes.
Once large strips of cured, hot rubber are milled, it is applied to the tire using a building machine, taking upwards of 3 more hours to form before it is "cooked" in a separate dome-like chamber to completion.
Each tire can be treaded for 60 percent of the cost of a new tire, resulting in significant savings to tire dealers.