How Much Does a Tyre Baler Cost? Equipment Pricing Breakdown

By:     Conor Murphy

A tyre baler in the UK costs between £40,000 and £60,000 for the main commercial range, with the specific price driven primarily by throughput capacity: the number of bales the machine can produce per hour. A tyre baler producing two to three bales per hour suits a tyre retailer or small recycling operation processing 50 to 100 tyres per day. A baler producing six bales per hour suits a dedicated tyre recycling facility processing 500 or more tyres per day. The jump in throughput from two to six bales per hour is not a marginal specification improvement; it represents a fundamentally different machine size, hydraulic system, and operating cycle design, which is reflected directly in the price.

This article breaks down the UK tyre baler price range by throughput specification, covers the additional factors that influence price within each tier, and provides the financial context that makes a tyre baler purchase a straightforward business case for operations generating sufficient volumes.

Tyre Baler Price by Throughput Specification

Tyre baler throughput is measured in bales per hour, and each bale contains a specific number of tyres depending on tyre size and bale format. A standard car tyre baler producing PAS 108-compliant bales contains 100 to 120 passenger car tyres per bale. At two to three bales per hour, the machine processes 200 to 360 car tyres per hour or roughly 1,600 to 2,880 per day in an eight-hour shift. At six bales per hour, daily processing capacity rises to 4,800 or more.

What Drives Price Within Each Throughput Tier

Within a throughput tier, tyre baler price varies based on three additional factors: bale format and wire specification (whether the baler ties bales with single or double wire, and the wire gauge used), the level of automation in the cycle (manual versus semi-automatic or fully automatic bale ejection and wire tying), and build quality and component specification for the hydraulic system, frame, and pressing plate.

PAS 108 compliance is the most important technical specification for tyre balers intended to produce bales for civil engineering applications, including embankments, retaining structures, and noise barriers. PAS 108 specifies the bale dimensions, wire type, and wire gauge required for tyre bales used in construction. A baler that does not meet these specifications may produce bales that no civil engineering buyer will accept, limiting the bale market to lower-value TDF (tyre-derived fuel) buyers. Confirming PAS 108 capability is therefore a commercial specification requirement, not a technical afterthought.

Gradeall’s MKII tyre baler produces up to six PAS 108-compliant bales per hour from a UK manufacturing facility in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. It is the flagship tyre baler in Gradeall’s range and the standard specification for mid to high-volume tyre recycling operations.

Truck Tyre Baler Pricing: Why Heavy-Duty Specification Costs More

Truck tyres weigh 50 to 80 kg each and have a significantly stronger bead and sidewall structure than car tyres. Compressing truck tyres into a PAS 108-compliant bale format requires substantially higher hydraulic force than car tyre baling, a larger pressing chamber to accommodate the tyre diameter, and a heavier-duty frame and ram specification to handle the sustained forces involved. These requirements add £10,000 to £15,000 to the base price of a truck tyre baler compared to a car tyre baler of similar throughput.

Operations processing a mixed stream of car and truck tyres face the choice of a car tyre baler with sidewall cutting pre-processing for the truck tyres, or a dedicated truck tyre baler that handles both sizes directly. A sidewall cutter fitted before a car tyre baler extends the car tyre baler’s effective range to truck tyres by reducing the tyre to a form compatible with the baler’s pressing chamber. This approach typically costs less than a dedicated truck tyre baler while achieving comparable bale quality for mixed-stream operations.

Gradeall’s truck tyre sidewall cutter is designed to work in-line with the MKII tyre baler, pre-processing truck tyres for baling and extending the baler’s effective range without the capital cost of a separate truck tyre baler. The truck tyre baler is an alternative for operations processing predominantly truck tyres, where sidewall cutting pre-processing does not suit the workflow.

The Portable Tyre Baling System

A portable tyre baling system provides baling capability at multiple sites or in a mobile deployment where a permanent fixed installation is not appropriate. Agricultural tyre collection operations, mobile tyre recycling services, and operations with multiple depot locations where centralised baling is not practical use portable baling systems. The portable format adds to the price relative to a fixed baler of comparable throughput, reflecting the structural and mechanical requirements for a unit that is transported and set up repeatedly.

“The pricing question on tyre balers almost always comes down to throughput honesty,” says Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International. “Buyers often want the cheapest specification that technically meets their current volume. But tyre volumes at recycling facilities grow as the business develops and markets are established. A baler that is at 80% utilisation on day one is at 100% utilisation in 18 months. Specifying one throughput tier above current needs is usually the right commercial decision over a ten-year asset life.”

For operations processing larger OTR (off-the-road) tyres from mining, agriculture, and construction, Gradeall’s OTR tyre cutting equipment range covers the pre-processing equipment needed before OTR tyres can be baled or otherwise processed.

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