What is Tyre Foam Filling?
Tyre foam filling is the process of turning pneumatic air filled tyres into airless solid polyurethane filled alternatives. This make the filled tyre puncture proof and eliminates the cost of repairs, new tyres and machinery downtime that plague work sites across the UK on a daily basis.
What Types of Fill Exist?
Tyres can be filled with either 100% pure fill, which means 100% liquid urethane is pumped into the tyre cavity, or in some cases a cheaper 50%/50% mix of liquid and crumb material can be used if desired, as it helps reduce customer filling costs and protects the environment from excess waste. Tyres used in very heavy mining operations would benefit from pure filling, and tyres that use inner tubes to stay inflated also must use pure fill due to issues inserting the crumb material. Most other tyres can benefit from Nature Fill
How Is Tyre Foam Filling Performed?
The video below shows how a typical tyre is treated during the tyre foam filling process. An air hole is put into the top of the tyre tread and then two liquid compounds are pumped in equal measure through the tyres valve stem. The two foam filling liquids combine and through a chemical reaction they cure over the course of 24-48 hours into a hard resilient polyurethane material.
Its important that the tyre foam filling process is performed by trained individuals who have access to a specialist control pump that carefully measures and balances the two compound mixture that enters the tyre. Older or miss configured machines can result in a poorer quality of fill, and issues such as weak spots or uncured areas can result. That is why we recommend using our services to ensure you get the end result you expect.
What Costs are Involved?
The biggest cost is the that of the liquid fill pumped into the tyre. After that the other costs include pallet rates to collect and deliver your goods, we also charge a small fee for fitting new tyres to your rims (if required), and for demounting and scrapping any old tyres or fill material you send us on your current rims. We are able to quote for tyres if needed but these will need to be ordered in for you so allow a couple of days for us to receive them.
What are the Timeframes?
The time to fill a tyre depends on its size. Large earthmover tyres can take 2-3 hours per tyre to prep and fill. Small lawnmower tyres can be done in 20 minutes. All tyre must then be cured for 24-48 hours. If we are collecting and re delivering your goods then end to end you can expect it to take 4-5 working days (collection on day one, delivery back on day 4 or 5). If you wish to drop your tyres into the depot then we generally need them for 3 working days.