Send casings clean enough to inspect
Every casing that reaches a retread plant is inspected before anything else happens to it. The inspection decides whether the structure can carry new tread, and it can only judge what it can see.
Tires from site and equipment work rarely arrive looking like highway tires. The tread is packed with mud, clay or rock. Stones sit wedged in the grooves. Dried material covers the shoulders and the sidewalls. Underneath all of it may be a cut, a bruise or a small separation that decides the casing's future, and a casing covered in dirt is a casing whose inspection starts with cleaning.
A little effort before collection helps the casing get a fair look.
Knock out the stones. Rock wedged in the tread is the commonest problem, and it can hide damage at the base of the groove.
Rinse off the worst of it. Not a full clean. Enough that the sidewalls and shoulders can be seen.
Mark anything you already know about. A repair, a known cut, a puncture that was plugged on site. Chalk or a tag on the tire saves the inspector looking for it.
Note where it came from. The machine and position help explain any damage that turns up.
How the program works from here
This store works with Purcell's retreading program. Casings are collected here in Viburnum, retreaded at the Purcell plant in Potosi, and returned ready to run. Potosi is one of the shorter trips any Purcell store makes to a plant.
Casings pulled during OTR services work, and the rims under them through wheel refurbishing, can be handled at the same visit.
Collecting stores nearby
De Soto and Washington also collect casings for the program.
About this store
The Viburnum store is open Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, and is managed by Justin Turnbough.
See the national retreading page for how the program works and for all 54 collecting locations.