THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



505 



THE SALVAGING OF TRUCK TIRES BY THE ARMY. 



To EFFICIENCY EXPERTS ill the United States Army service, few 

 things had been more distressing than the practice 

 among soldiers of removing solid motor truck tires by direct 

 application of heat. For a long while oflicers charged with 

 the correction of wasteful methods vainly experimented in 

 the hope of finding a better method. The difliculty lay. of 

 course, in the adhesion of the hard rubber layer to the metal- 

 lic wheel-bands. The soldiers removed the tires from the 

 wheels easily enough but much rubber was ruined by lieat 

 and lessened in value as scrap, and generally the hard rublnr 

 b;ise remained with the rubber. 



The heat process was a makeshift at best, for often spoil- 

 age quite equalled salvage. Usually a dozen tires were piled 

 on top of one another, being raised from the ground by 

 bricks or stones, and the cracks between the rims were plas- 

 tered with mud. A wood fire was built in the stack thus 

 created, and in about five minutes the tires would fall off, 

 provided they had been notched all the way through at one 

 point before heating. The mud was used to keep the flames 

 iH'm coming through the cracks and burning the rubber, I)Ut too 

 ntten it failed in its purpose. 



■■"inally an improvement on the heat method was evolved at 

 Lamp Logan, Texas, and the process proved so satisfactory that 

 a general order was issued by the United States Army Director 

 III Purchase and Storage in Washington to all depot, camp and 

 post supply officers to discard all other methods of removing 

 rubber from steel bands and employ that devised at Camp Logan. 

 Tlie instructions were as follows : provide two posts or trees 

 about 10 feet apart; a double and a single -^^-inch block; 30 feet 

 of J^'-inch rope; two 

 heavy steel knives 14 

 by 2 inches : two car- 

 p e n t e r s' 2^-inch 

 w o o d c h i s e Is ; a 

 pricker to remove 

 stones from rubber ; 

 one steel ring or a 

 half dozen 6-inch 

 rings of hay wire, 

 doubled. 



The tire is placed 

 against the post, rest- 

 ing on the ground in 

 an upright position 

 and the rope wrapped 

 once around the tire, 

 then around the post 

 and tied so that the 

 tire may be shifted 

 easily. On the other 

 post the rope is 

 wrapped twice and 

 tied permanently 

 about three feet from 

 the g r o u n d. The 

 double block is 

 hooked on the post 

 with a permanent tie 

 and the single block 

 played out to the 



carefully lo start the rubber; a second operative helps to handle 

 the tackle and steady the tire, and a third, using the wood 

 chisel, cuts in at the edges where the rubber hangs. 



As the blocks are steadily pulled, the rubber peels down to 

 the cement, leaving the fabric and cement on the iron band. 



^T.\TES 



Tires 



.\rmv Method of Stripping Solid Truck 

 He.\t Process Shown in Insert. 



When the tire is peeled to the ground, it is shifted upward, the 

 rubber again nicked at each side, the hay wire ring loosened 

 from the peeled section and placed in newly cut nicks. The 

 blocks are again attached and the peeling finished. 



Unsuccessful Tire Rep.mr Pictured. Upper Lekt— Ckuss Section Five-Plv Tire 



before Rep.mring. Upper Right— after Repairing. Thirteen Plies Instead of 



Five. Center Picture— Blow-Out Occurred at Merging Point of Five and 



Thirteen Plies. Lower— Correct Method of Fabric Prep.\ration. 



With the knife cut across the top of the tire at a 45-degree 

 angle, down to the iron rim and nick each side of the tire at the 

 base of the cut. Slip one of the hay wire rings into the cut and 

 pull tight to catch in the nicks at the sides of the rubber, hooking 

 the single block in the wire ring. 



One operative, handling the tackle, tightens up on the tire 



THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF A BLOW-OUT REPAIR. 



The most frequent mistake made by repair men in repairing 

 a blow-out is failure to remo\ e tlie worn fabric from the injured 

 . portion of the tire, 

 the tendency being to 

 add rather than re- 

 |)lace layers of fabric. 

 Here are shown three 

 views of a four-inch, 

 live-ply fabric tire 

 \vliich was repaired 

 liy adding eight plies 

 if new fabric to the 

 live plies of worn 

 fabric in the tire. 

 \fter running a few 

 lundred miles the tire 

 blew- out again. It 

 was found on exami- 

 lation that eight plies 

 of extra fabric ex- 

 tended to the point 

 of the blow-out. In 

 running, a "hinge" 

 had formed at the 

 merging point of the 

 dve- and the thirteen- 

 ply sections that 

 worked backward and 

 forward, thus weak- 

 ening the structure 

 and causing the blow- 

 out. 



The lower picture 

 shows a tire stripped 

 back in the approved method of repairing a blow-out. All the 

 fabric, except just enough for a foundation, has been removed in 

 steps to avoid sharp breaks between the old and the new fabric. 

 The repair man then begins the process of building up, carefully 

 following the standard of practice and using .mly the best mate- 

 rials available. 



