re-rubbering British wheels

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - as you are aware I re-rubber Oz Carrier wheels. My latest batch of sixteen will land in Corowa next month.

I have had several enquiries about re-rubbering British wheels but have done nothing about it as I don't believe there is a strong market. However I was thinking that the mold I use could be converted/adapted. Therefore I need a British wheel to go through the conversion exercise.

If I could obtain one by begging, borrowing, stealing or as a last resort buying, with pickup at Corowa, it would be appreciated.

And as a heads up, if anyone needs wheels re-rubbered bring them to Corowa. If interested PM me for details.

Salesman Bob

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - just a reminder, I am still looking for a British wheel.

Bob

[Ben]

Bob

If you've got a carrier pigeon strong enough I've got plenty you can play with. Assuming there's no pigeon shipping may be an issue from the UK!

It's a shame as they look the part for sure

Happy hunting

Ben

[Lynn Eades]

The profile height and side angles will be the same. If you want a carefully measured wheel width, I can do that for you.
Do you have a packer for your mould, to do the bogie adjuster wheels,or do you turn them down?

[Luke R]

Bob, Ive got a couple here if you cant find some closer.
I couldn't tell you if there the adjuster or main road wheel though?

Luke

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Lynn - I believe the rubber is narrower than the Oz wheels.

Luke - PM me with address details and I will see if I can pick up or arrange to get to Corowa.

Bob

[Lynn Eades]

Yes they are narrower. I imagine you could do them with a single packer in your mould

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - once again, due to the underwhelming response to re-rubbering British wheels, I will can the project.

Bob

[Jim Burrill]

Is anyone doing a similar service in North America?

[roy206]

here in holland i,ve done 2 sets and they look great

[Jim Burrill]

Bravo! Very good lookign wheels!

But I shudder at the cost to send dead wheels over and redone wheels back across the ocean....

Did you do the re-rubber, or did you take them to a shop?

I have ehard a shop that re-rubber's wheels for forklifts could do this.

CHeers,
Jim

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - it is quite simple. Firstly identify an industrial rubber facility and get a mold made using a wheel as a template. My mold cost about $3000 to make and what happens is that the stripped rim is placed in the mold and then rubber is molded to it under a 600 ton press. My rubber has a Duro rating of about 75 which is more than adequate.

Bob

[roy206]

the rim was stripped and they moulded polyurethane on it,after that it was machined to make it round.
the normal rubber is about 85 shore,the polyurethane is 80,that is similar too 85 shore rubber,so they told me.

[RichardT10829]

Roy how many miles have you had out of the polyurethane ? I can get them done here fairly cheap but was unsure of the lifespan of the rubber.

[roy206]

richard

with our carrier not many miles,but the guy who did it for us told me he made lots of wheels for old tractor,s and he never had problems with it , also the ones he made 15 years ago look at this time very nice.
the compound is the same as they use on forklifts

[listerdiesel]

Roy:

What is the likely cost to have, say, 4 wheels or eight wheels done?

I'm over in Nuenen in May, would be interested to see what the costs are.

My wheels are carrier type, but Ford Canada, if that makes any difference.

They are not for a carrier, we use the wheels for our show engines:



Generally we can use wheels that are too far gone on the tyres or the bearings for further service on a carrier vehicle.

Kind regards,

Peter

[Jon Bradshaw]

Does anyone know of anyone doing this same type of re-rubbering in Canada? I'm sure we could get a few together for a run of wheels if it was feasible. I live in Edmonton and there is plenty of manufacturing here so I'm sure there is someone who could do it. Before I start calling around has anyone else had it done here?

Jon

[Hans Mulder]

Here in BC you can have it done in polyurethane:

Redwood Plastics Corp.
26688-56th. Ave.
Langley, B.C.
Canada
Ph: 604-607-6000
Fax: 604-607-6010
http://www.redwoodplastics.com/
mhanna@redwoodplastics.com

[Jon Bradshaw]

Was there a price quote? How did it work out?

[Michael R.]

A Service Information Bulletin from September, 1942 regarding the use of TL94 wheels.

[Hans Mulder]

Sorry, I haven't actually used them yet because I located some wheels with good rubber on them, so no quote, but they did indicate they could do the work fairly easily. I still have the stripped wheels kicking around and will take them in one of these days, but now there is no rush.

[Jon Bradshaw]

I think you are the closest to me with a place for wheels to be done.

When you do get something please let us all know.

Thanks

[Hans Mulder]

When I have made the frankencarrier somewhat more presentable, I'd like to make one of the tracked trailers seen with the early scout carriers, and I'll have the wheels done for that project...give me two years...

[listerdiesel]

We have had four wheels from Roy, and although they won't be used on a carrier, just our engine trolley, they look like a good quality job.

We shipped four wheels out to him via a friend in Holland who bought an engine from us, and then the friend bought the replacements over in June.

Price per wheel was Euro 125.

That is a good price as long as the carriage costs are kept within reason.

We have four more wheels to go over soon, we have a second Ruston & Hornsby dynamometer engine set that we bought in February that is going onto a trolley.

Pictures below show the wheels as received, painted and mounted, and the whole engine trolley.







Note that we use 2" axles on the trolley, the bearings are about £7 each (6310 2RS) a lot cheaper than the 'proper' 1-1/4" size bearing.

Peter

[roy206]

looks great peter

[Stew Robertson]

Roy; I don't turn mine
they come right out of the mold like the pictures



but I sure do not know how you can do them so cheap my material cost more than125.00 cnd. $ the best I can do is 200.00 without the time to strip and time removing grease sand blasting so mine work out to250.00 each if they are not clean and ready to do
The ones I redo are done with the same polyurethane that is used in stamping dies that will take approximately 1 to 1 1/2 million hits before destructing under full compression

[roy206]

good to hear stew,i will make them more expensive

maybee in canada the prices for pollyurethane are higher?
customers bringing over clear wheels without bearings and grease.
we strip them down remove all the rubber by turn it
after that complete sandblasting and the moulding get on,after that again turn for the exact dimensions and they are ready.

[listerdiesel]

Yes, I can confirm that we stripped our four wheels of bearings and fittings before sending them over to Roy.

The second set are easier as we use sealed bearings with no grease on 2" axle stubs, and turned dural end caps.

Peter

[Paul Schipper]

Wanted to bump this I have a few wheels that need rerubbered. Paul

[listerdiesel]

Paul:

The costs are high, wherever you go to have it done.

We sent the first set (4 wheels) over in exchange for another set, and through a friend in Holland they came over to the UK, transport free.

The second set were our first set re-rubbered and we bought them outright from Roy with transport via a friend again.

Even so, we have been very pleased with the quality of Roy's wheels, and if you could find a way to ship to him by sea freight, that is probably the cheapest option.

We were quoted frighteningly high prices for these in the UK, something like $US 450.00 per wheel, although that probably included an element of "We don't really want to do it, but if you're daft enough to pay, we may as well make some good money out of it while we are at it" mentality.

I won't quote Roy's figures but I'm sure he will pop up with a quote, suffice it to say that had we not found Roy through the Forum, we wouldn't have used the carrier wheels.

Might be worth a post on HMVF Forum to see if anyone there has any contacts as well.

Peter