Tire casing value, drive tires & Smartway Finance

Is anyone buying blown/shredded/worn to the steel tires?

I was working on a small side-business plan that would offer $0.05/lb for tire scrap, but with good casing prices this high, I have to hope there is a void in the market for garbage tires.

 

Are you doing that tire to fuel conversion process? I read about it where guys are basically super heating tire scrap down to base compounds, from which fuel is derived.

 

Yes, the process is generally known as pyrolisis, and retort chamber temperatures usually don't exceede 900F to the best of my knowledge for the process I'm considering, so I wouldn't call it super heated.

Tire scrap typically only yields 6.5 gallons of hydrocarbons per 105lbs of scrap, but they also leave behind about 50lbs of carbon black, which has some commercial value.

Plastics yield about 13 gallons per 105lbs of scrap, and leave behind very little solid residue. The diesel fraction of the distillates are considerably smaller than tire scrap, though.

Only price I've seen on tires in any condition is $5000 (comes out to less than $0.05/lb) for a 40 ft container shipped off to china. Its almost more profitable to sell the container to a neo-hippie as a house, so I can't imagine scrap tire prices are very high.

 

You got the FuelMax technology with those 572s as well! Nice... 8P

 

Some casings have a 2-ply steel belt package under the tread so it will last longer. Others, like Goodyear's 572 LHD with FuelMax technology have 4 steel belts under the tread which strengthen and stabilize the tread during heavy, long-distance hauling. Also, the sidewalls of some tires flex excessively when they're rolled off your delivery truck 2 or 3 feet from the ground, whereas others don't flex very much at all - indicating a good chance that the tire has more rubber and reinforcement in the casing and particularly in this case, the sidewall. A Goodyear 572 casing will feel heavier than that of a comparable LingLong or Double Coin because there's more quality built in to the entire package.

 

You make a good point - if a retread shop retreads everything that comes in the door, those retreads might not be the best out there. The pickier the retreader, the better the product. Sure, casings are repairable, but to start off with a good foundation promotes higher quality in any product.

 

Not sure if this would interest you, but here's some dude with a barn full of tires... for free (barn not included). http://eastidaho.craigslist.org/zip/3048552844.html