The MK3 Tire Baler from Gradeall International represents a targeted engineering response to a real operational problem: the inefficiency of loading standard tire bales into shipping containers. While conventional tire balers produce bales that comply with civil engineering standards, Gradeall’s engineering team identified that bale geometry was creating unnecessary handling time and container space waste for recycling operations moving material across borders. The MK3 addresses this directly, producing bales dimensioned to fit the internal width of a standard shipping container without manual reorientation during loading.
Gradeall International is a specialist manufacturer of waste management and tire recycling equipment based in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. The company has been designing and building recycling machinery for nearly 40 years and exports equipment to over 100 countries. The MK3 Tire Baler was developed from direct customer feedback and extensive real-world testing, with multiple units operating at customer sites for over a year before commercial release.
Understanding why the MK3 exists requires understanding how standard tire bales behave in a container loading context.
With a conventional PAS 108-compliant bale produced by a standard tire baler, loading a 40-foot shipping container requires stacking three bales on top of each other and loading them horizontally, then turning a fourth bale vertically to fill the remaining space. It is that reorientation step, turning the fourth bale 90 degrees in a tight container space, that adds significant time to every loading cycle. For operations moving dozens of containers per month, this adds up to meaningful labor cost and throughput loss.
The MK3 eliminates this problem entirely. Its bale dimensions are set to match the internal width of a standard 40-foot container, with clearance built in to make removal straightforward. Every bale goes in the same way, with no reorientation required.
Gradeall’s design team made a deliberate choice when developing the MK3: prioritize logistics efficiency over civil engineering compliance. PAS 108 bales are the required format for tire bales used in construction and civil engineering applications, including embankments, drainage systems, and ground reinforcement. But for tire recycling plants processing material into crumb rubber, tire-derived fuel, or other outputs, the bale’s compliance with PAS 108 is irrelevant. What matters is how efficiently material can be shipped from collection point to processing facility.
By relaxing the PAS 108 bale geometry requirement and designing the bale around container dimensions instead, the MK3 cuts loading time for a full 40-foot container from around one hour to approximately 20 minutes, a reduction of up to 60%. For high-volume recycling operations, this is a substantial operational gain.
The MK3 Tire Baler is built to handle the physical demands of continuous tire processing. Each bale produced by the MK3 contains between 130 and 140 car tires and typically weighs around 1,200 kg. The machine applies 75 tons of compaction force, and its frame and chamber have been extensively reinforced to manage the additional stress that this output level creates compared to standard tire baling equipment.
A full 40-foot container holds 20 to 22 MK3 bales. For comparison, the same container holds 33 MK2 bales, which are smaller. The MK3 packs fewer, denser bales that load faster, and for operations where container loading labor is a real cost, this trade-off is favorable.
The baling chamber is designed for straightforward loading. Tires go in without the need for pre-sorting or complex positioning, and the bale ejection process is built to keep cycle times consistent. The machine can be operated by a single person.
Gradeall manufactures three tire baling machines, each suited to different operational profiles. Choosing the right one depends on the type of tires being processed, the intended end use of the bales, and whether container logistics efficiency is a priority.
The MKII Tire Baler is the company’s flagship product and has been in production for over a decade. It produces PAS 108-compliant bales containing up to 110 car tires, with output of four to six bales per hour and a volume reduction of up to 80%. It reduces tire volume significantly and is the right choice for operations supplying tire bales for civil engineering applications or where PAS 108 compliance is a customer or regulatory requirement. The MK2 also features a remote monitoring system for proactive maintenance and can be adjusted to bale other materials including plastic, carpet, and wool.
The MK3 Tire Baler is designed specifically for operations shipping processed tires to recycling plants via container. It sacrifices PAS 108 compliance for container-optimized bale geometry, cutting loading times by up to 60% and making it the more efficient choice for export-focused recycling operations.
The Truck Tire Baler handles large commercial vehicle tires that are too big for standard car tire balers. It produces bales of up to 12 truck tires per bale, fits 40 to 44 completed bales into a 40-foot container or trailer, reduces truck tire volume by up to 60%, and operates with a chain bale ejection system and 45-tonne compaction force. Semi-automatic operation keeps labor requirements low.
The MK3 Tire Baler sits at the end of a broader tire processing workflow, not in isolation. For operations handling mixed tire streams, the efficiency of the baling stage depends on preparation steps upstream.
Removing the sidewall from a tire before baling it increases the number of tires that fit in each bale and improves bale density and consistency. Gradeall manufactures several sidewall cutting machines designed to work alongside balers. The Truck Tire Sidewall Cutter handles commercial vehicle tires, while the Car Tire Sidewall Cutter is suited to passenger vehicle tires. For very large off-road and mining tires, the OTR Tire Sidewall Cutter handles sizes that standard equipment cannot manage.
Stripping sidewalls before baling is not always necessary, but for operations focused on maximizing bale density and container fill efficiency, it is a worthwhile step. Gradeall’s application engineers can advise on whether pre-processing pays off for a specific operational volume and tire mix.
Tires arriving at a recycling operation often still have steel rims attached. Baling tires with rims attached is possible but wastes compaction capacity on steel that could be separated and sold independently. The Tire Rim Separator and Truck Tire Rim Separator allow rims to be removed efficiently before tires enter the baling stage, improving bale density and creating a separate steel stream.
For operations handling high volumes of tires with rims, rim separation typically pays for itself through the value of the recovered steel and the improved bale output from the baler.
At higher throughput levels, manually feeding tires into the baling chamber becomes a labor bottleneck. Gradeall’s Inclined Tire Baler Conveyor feeds tires into the baler automatically, reducing manual handling and maintaining consistent feed rates. Integrated conveyor systems are particularly valuable in continuous-operation facilities where downtime from manual reloading reduces overall daily output.
Tire recycling operations run on margins that are sensitive to transport cost. The MK3’s value proposition centers on reducing the cost per ton of tire material shipped to processing facilities.
Loading a 40-foot container manually with standard PAS 108 bales takes around one hour with an experienced team. The same container loaded with MK3 bales takes approximately 20 minutes. Over a month of daily container loading, that difference compounds. For operations running multiple containers per week, the labor saving alone justifies examining whether the MK3’s bale format is a better fit than a standard baler.
Container fill efficiency is a related factor. While the MK3 puts fewer bales into a container (20 to 22 versus 33 for the MK2), each MK3 bale contains more tires. A full 40-foot container holds 20 to 22 MK3 bales, each containing 130 to 140 tires, which is a total of roughly 2,600 to 3,080 tires per container. The MK3 also reduces the risk of loading injuries. Reorienting heavy bales in a confined container space is physically demanding work. Eliminating that step makes loading safer and reduces the risk of handling-related injuries and delays.
Before selecting a tire baler, it’s worth quantifying the costs that baler choice actually affects. Transport cost per tire processed is the primary metric for export-focused operations. If tires are being shipped to a processing facility rather than used on-site in civil engineering applications, the MK3’s container efficiency advantage is directly relevant. Labor cost per container loaded should also be tracked. Twenty minutes versus one hour per container is a substantial difference at any realistic hourly labor rate.
Maintenance and downtime costs are harder to predict but worth planning for. Gradeall supports its equipment globally with OEM spare parts and a network of service engineers. The company’s customer visit program allows buyers to see equipment in operation at the Dungannon manufacturing facility before committing to a purchase, which is useful for verifying that a specific machine fits the intended application.
The scale of the global tire waste problem gives context to the equipment category. Approximately 1.5 billion tires are discarded each year worldwide. Improperly managed tire waste creates several distinct environmental problems. Tires take up disproportionate space in landfills relative to their weight, and their shape means they trap air and resist compaction, causing them to rise through landfill layers over time. Accumulated tire stockpiles carry serious fire risk; tire fires are difficult to extinguish and release toxic smoke. Standing water in discarded tires provides breeding habitat for disease-carrying mosquitoes, a public health issue in warmer climates. Chemicals leaching from tire material into soil and groundwater create long-term contamination risks.
Baling is one of the most established methods for preparing waste tires for onward processing. Baled tires are stable, stackable, and transport-efficient. They can be processed into crumb rubber for surfaces and products, converted to tire-derived fuel, used in civil engineering applications as PAS 108-compliant bales, or exported to specialist recycling plants for material recovery. The baler type chosen determines which of these downstream uses is accessible.
Gradeall has been developing and refining tire processing equipment from its manufacturing base in Dungannon, Northern Ireland for nearly four decades. The MK3 Tire Baler reflects the company’s standard development process: identifying a real operational inefficiency from customer feedback, engineering a solution, and testing it thoroughly at working sites before commercial release. Multiple MK3 units operated at customer facilities for over a year before the machine was made available for sale.
The company’s tire recycling equipment category covers the full processing chain, from rim separation and sidewall cutting through to baling and conveyor systems. Gradeall designs and manufactures all equipment at its 5-acre facility in Northern Ireland, with an in-house design team using Finite Element Analysis to validate structural design. The engineering team brings over 200 years of combined experience, and the sales team has over 100 years of combined experience in the recycling industry.
Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International, describes the development philosophy this way: “We take into account the whole tire disposal process. It’s not enough to build a machine that bales tires efficiently in isolation; the bale has to work for whatever comes next, whether that’s a construction site, a container ship, or a recycling plant.”
Equipment is exported to customers in over 100 countries, and Gradeall maintains a global service engineer network to support installations after delivery. For international customers, the company’s container-optimized shipping approach applies to equipment delivery as well as the baled tire output that equipment produces.
The MK3 Tire Baler is a tire baling machine designed specifically to produce bales that fit the internal width of a standard 40-foot shipping container without reorientation during loading. The MK2 Tire Baler produces PAS 108-compliant bales, which is the British standard required for tire bales used in civil engineering applications. The MK3 prioritizes container logistics efficiency over PAS 108 compliance, making it the better choice for operations shipping tires to recycling plants rather than supplying civil engineering projects. Both machines are manufactured by Gradeall International in Northern Ireland.
Each MK3 bale contains between 130 and 140 car tires and typically weighs around 1,200 kg. This is higher than a standard MK2 bale, which contains up to 110 tires. The increased density per bale is achieved through the MK3’s 75-tonne compaction force and its bale geometry, which is shaped to maximize fill within container dimensions.
A standard 40-foot shipping container holds 20 to 22 MK3 bales. For comparison, the same container holds 33 MK2 bales. The MK3 bales are larger in individual size, so fewer bales fit, but each contains more tires. The key advantage is loading time: a container of MK3 bales loads in approximately 20 minutes versus around one hour for standard PAS 108 bales.
The MK3 is designed for car and light vehicle tires. For truck and commercial vehicle tires, Gradeall manufactures the Truck Tire Baler, which applies 45 tons of compaction force and produces bales of up to 12 truck tires. Operating on tires significantly outside the MK3’s designed size range would affect bale density and could affect equipment longevity, so matching the machine to the tire type being processed is important.
No. The MK3 does not produce PAS 108-compliant bales. Its bale geometry is optimized for container loading, not for the dimensional and structural specifications required by the PAS 108 standard. If PAS 108 compliance is required for your application, the MKII Tire Baler is the appropriate machine.
Tires can be fed into the MK3 without pre-processing, but removing sidewalls and rims before baling increases bale density and improves container fill efficiency. Gradeall manufactures sidewall cutters and rim separators that integrate with its baling equipment. For operations handling high daily volumes, pre-processing typically pays off through improved bale output and cleaner material streams. Gradeall’s application engineers can advise on whether pre-processing is cost-effective for a specific operation.
Loading a 40-foot container with MK3 bales takes approximately 20 minutes. Loading the same container with standard PAS 108 bales takes around one hour. The time difference comes from the MK3’s container-matched bale dimensions, which eliminate the step of reorienting bales during loading. Over a month of daily container loading operations, this difference represents significant labor savings.
Gradeall runs a customer visit program at its manufacturing facility in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, where buyers can see equipment demonstrated before committing to a purchase. The company also has installed MK3 units at customer sites that have been operating for over a year. For inquiries about visiting the facility or speaking with a tire recycling specialist, contact the Gradeall sales team directly.
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