Unique retread process was ‘born’ in desert war

Press, 12 October 1979, Page 11

Unique retread process was ‘born’ in desert war

Yesterday, Bandag Tyre Services (Southern), Ltd. opened a new factory and retail tyre centre in Treffers Road. Sockburn.

The Bandag process is a way of bonding precured treads to tyre casings without using great heat. At present, the process caters only for commercial users, such as coachlines and truck firms.

The process was first developed during World War II by the Germans. Field Marshal Rommel used a technique developed by one of his men of recycling his truck's tyres by bonding fresh treads using no more heat than was provided by the desert sand. Outside of Germany the process was largely

ignored until 1957, when an American discovered the remarkable qualities of the “cool” retreads. The American talked to the German who had devised the process, a Mr Bernard A. Nowak, who explained that the tread had to be cured first, using a lot of heat and pressure to toughen the tread. Then the tread had to be bonded to the tyre casing at a much lower temperature to avoid causing any damage to the tyre plies. The American bargained for the North American rights to the precured cold process system and named the tyres “Bandag” after its inventor (the initials 8.A.N.), the home town of its inventor (the initial D

for Darmstadt), and the German equivalent for company (Ag). After a few trials, and errors, the American company got underway and quickly established the name Bandag as a reliable retread for trucks.

Because the Bandag process does not use excessive heat to bond the tread to the casing, the life of the tyre is extended. This helps to reduce New Zealand’s need to import costly new tyres, and saves overseas funds.

Punctures are reduced because, with the Bandag process, the barest minimum of rubber is- removed from the tyre case before the tread is applied. Because the tread is supplied

as a roll, there is no need to “grind” the tyre down to fit a mould, as a conventional retread system does. The new factory at Sockburn is an indication of the rapid expansion of Bandag in Christchurch. The company has been retreading tyres in Waltham for three years, and business has trebled in the last 18 months. Similar factories can be found in Nelson. Palmerston North, Auckland, and Hamilton. A factory is expected to be opened in Dunedin early next year.

The new Christchurch factory employs a staff of about 10 and is aimed solely at the commercial market at present.