OTR Tyre Splitting for Heavy Industry: Processing Loader and Dumper Tyres

By:     Kieran Donnelly

Expert review by:     Conor Murphy

Off-the-road tyres from quarrying, civil construction, and mining operations are a fundamentally different waste challenge from car or truck tyres. A single wheel loader tyre can weigh 400 to 600 kg and stand nearly two metres tall. A haul truck tyre at the larger end of the mining scale tops 5,000 kg and exceeds three and a half metres in diameter. Whole, these tyres cannot fit in standard baling equipment, cannot be efficiently loaded into containers or skips, and require lifting gear rather than manual handling to move around site. Splitting them on-site changes the economics of the whole operation.

This guide explains how OTR tyre splitting works in practice, which tyre categories benefit most, how the process integrates with downstream baling and transport, and what site requirements a splitting operation needs.

Why Standard Processing Equipment Cannot Handle OTR Tyres Whole

Standard tyre balers, including those designed for car and truck tyres, have defined feed opening dimensions and chamber geometries. A wheel loader tyre at 1,900 to 2,400 mm outer diameter simply will not enter the feed opening of a conventional baler. Forcing an oversized tyre into equipment designed for smaller categories causes machine damage, produces unusable output, and creates safety risks.

Beyond equipment compatibility, the handling problem alone is significant. Whole OTR tyres from articulated dump trucks and large loaders require crane assistance or a wheel loader to lift and position. They cannot be rolled and manoeuvred by operators the way truck tyres can. Storage of whole large OTR tyres consumes disproportionate space relative to the recoverable material they contain, and transport to off-site facilities is expensive because the tyres occupy far more volume than their mass justifies.

Splitting resolves all of these problems in a single step. Once halved, the tyre sections can be handled with a telehandler rather than a crane, stacked in skips or containers far more efficiently, and fed into downstream processing equipment that could not accept the whole tyre.

How the OTR Tyre Splitter Works

The Gradeall OTR tyre splitter uses a hydraulic blade assembly to cut a whole oversized tyre cleanly around its circumference, producing two roughly equal crescent-shaped halves. The whole tyre is positioned on the machine using a wheel loader or telehandler, the hydraulic system engages, and the blade completes the cut in a single controlled stroke.

The resulting halves are substantially smaller in every dimension than the original tyre. A tyre that stood 2,200 mm tall now produces two halves with a maximum height of around 600 to 700 mm. This transformation in handleability is the core value of the splitting step, and it is achieved without requiring the tyre to be deflated or disassembled in any other way first.

Power supply for the OTR splitter is three-phase. At remote quarry and mine sites, this typically means a generator rather than a grid connection, so generator capacity should be confirmed when planning an installation. The machine is designed for outdoor and semi-covered working environments, reflecting the conditions typical of quarrying and civil construction sites.

OTR Tyre Categories That Benefit Most from Splitting

Wheel loader and articulated dump truck tyres represent the most common use case at UK quarrying and civil construction sites. These tyres are generated in consistent numbers as part of normal plant maintenance cycles, and without on-site processing capability they create a storage and logistics problem that grows over time. The full OTR tyre cutting equipment range covers the equipment options across this size spectrum.

Integrating Splitting with Downstream Processing

Splitting is the first step, not the final one. Once halved, each tyre section moves into one of several downstream routes depending on the operation’s equipment and markets.

For operations with sidewall cutting capability, the halves go to the OTR tyre sidewall cutter, which removes the sidewall from each half. The resulting tread and belt sections compress far more effectively in a baler than a whole or halved tyre with intact sidewalls. The truck tyre baler handles sections from larger OTR tyres once they have been through both the splitting and sidewall cutting stages.

For operations without downstream baling capacity, split halves represent a major improvement in transport efficiency over whole tyres. A flatbed or walking floor trailer that could carry perhaps four to six whole large OTR tyres can carry significantly more split halves, reducing the number of haulage runs required to clear the site.

Energy recovery is the primary end market for most OTR tyre sections. Cement kilns accept tyre-derived fuel in section or chip form, and the high rubber mass of OTR tyres gives them a strong calorific value for this application. The tyre recycling equipment category covers the full range of processing options available.

Site Setup and Operational Requirements

A splitting operation requires a defined working area around the machine that accommodates wheel loader access for bringing whole tyres to the machine and removing split halves. The machine’s operational footprint should be marked clearly, and the operator position should be segregated from the loader’s working zone.

Whole OTR tyres should be checked for residual inflation pressure before splitting. While it is standard practice to deflate tyres before removal from plant equipment, some site tyres arrive at the processing area with residual pressure, particularly if the tyre was removed following a puncture rather than a planned change. Any tyre showing signs of inflation should be deflated at the valve before processing.

Split half storage needs to be planned before the operation starts. Halves can be stacked but require a stable surface and appropriate stacking limits to prevent pile instability. Position the split half storage area adjacent to the machine’s ejection side to minimise the handling distance.

Environmental Compliance for On-Site OTR Tyre Processing

Processing waste tyres on-site is subject to environmental regulation. In England, the Environment Agency’s U16 exemption permits storage of waste tyres at the site of production up to defined quantity limits. Operations processing tyres on-site may require an environmental permit rather than an exemption, depending on the volume and processing activities involved. Confirm the applicable requirements with the Environment Agency or the relevant regulator in your nation before starting on-site splitting operations.

All waste tyre movements off-site require a waste transfer note and a registered waste carrier. These requirements apply regardless of whether the tyres have been split or processed, as they remain waste tyres under the applicable regulations.

Cost and Logistics Benefits of On-Site Splitting

Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International

“At quarry and mining operations, the single biggest constraint on OTR tyre management has always been the sheer physical scale of the material. Once you can split a 1,500 kg loader tyre into two manageable halves on-site, the whole waste management picture changes. You can handle it with equipment you already have, transport it more efficiently, and open up downstream processing routes that were not viable with whole tyres.”

Frequently Asked Questions

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