Eagle International – a renowned manufacturer of tire cutting and tire recycling equipment – has been working with various tire recyclers in the U.S. and Canada to improve the way tires are reduced and recycled. The Nebraska-based manufacturer makes tire shears, derimmers, bead removers, and sidewall cutters to handle small ATV tires up to giant OTR tires. Eagle International has developed a new machine in their portable OTR downsizing equipment line: The Punch Cutter III.

The Eagle Punch Cutter III in action. | Video by Eagle International.

The Eagle International Punch Cutter III is a new product for the off-the-road (OTR) tire recycling market. This third installment in the Punch Cutter line cuts away the sidewalls from OTR tires up to 70/70-57. The scrap tire is loaded onto the machine and lifted into place. Then a ten-inch blade punches through the thick rubber on the outside edge of the tread.

"Removing the sidewalls from OTR tires presented a particular challenge that we were excited to tackle," said Joe Brehmer, president of Brehmer Mfg., Inc., the parent company of Eagle International. "We know that this machine can help recyclers make better use of end-of-life OTR tires and create more sources of revenue."

Tire recyclers can expand their capabilities with the Punch Cutter III when used in conjunction with the OTR Downsizing System from Eagle International. The Punch Cutter III removes the sidewalls and gives access to the tread for reuse. Then the Eagle OTR Debeader pulls the steel bead from the sidewalls for scrap. Finally, the Eagle Titan II or Titan Plus cuts the sidewall into smaller pieces for shredding or pyrolysis.

The Eagle Punch Cutter III starts its punch sequence on the second sidewall of a 59/80/R63 mining tire. | Video by Eagle International.

"There are a lot of materials to extract from an OTR tire," explains John Tejkl, sales representative for Eagle International. "Since the make-up of the rubber is different in OTR sidewalls than in the tread, the tread is much more desirable feedstock for downstream processing. But several different parts of the tire create value once extracted. Now that we've developed an easier way to separate the tread from the sidewall, it opens up even more possibilities."

Eagle International has been building hydraulic-powered tire recycling equipment since 1991. The company is based in Lyons, Nebraska, and their top-of-the-industry capacity allows their equipment to process more significant amounts of feedstock than their competitors.

To learn more about Eagle International equipment and its impact on tire recycling, visit https://eagle-equipment.com/.