Goodyear Muswellbrook OTR Repair Centre
New South Wales - Australia
Background
The Goodyear Muswellbrook OTR depot, located in the heart of the NSW Hunter Valley
coalfields, has been providing OTR tyre repair services for over 20 years. Although core
business is new tyre sales, the depot supports these sales by offering giant earthmover
tyre repairs. The OTR tyre repair sizes range from 25” all the way up to 63”. Most tyre
repairs are in the 57” – 63” range, as the Hunter Valley coalfields mines haul
predominantly with 190 to 330 tonne payload dump trucks.
The OTR tyres passing through the repair centre can have a variety of damage: Typically
this damage is:
• Full penetrations – tread, shoulder or sidewall
• Major tread or shoulder cut separations
• Sidewall cuts and cut growth
• Major & minor tread / belt package cuts.
Although the centre specialises in the giant haulage and loader tyres, all OTR tyres sizes
and brands are catered for.
Panoramic view of the repair centre
Processing
The repair process involves gouging and honing out the damaged area with cutters and
buffers. Often this involves very fine tooling to cope with the high tensile steel belts. Once
all separation is removed, a cushion, followed by a cap gum, is extruded into the hole. If
required, a reinforcing patch is also added, and then the area is re-vulcanised, using the
Monarch repair process, where heat and pressure are applied. The “cooking” process can
take up to 14 hours, depending upon the size and depth of the repair. After vulcanising,
the tyre is shaped to match the original tread pattern or shoulder profile.
Certified stands are used to support the tyres; some tyres can weigh up to 6 tonnes
Damaged areas under various stages of preparation
Typical deep tread cut into belt package – before and after preparation
Typical finish on tread repair of haulage radial and loader bias tyre
Contact Details:
Jim Petry - Manager – South East Australia – Goodyear Earthmover
Phone: +61 2 6541 6500
Fax: +61 2 6541 6560
Mobile: +61 428 498953
Email: [email protected]