Attaching rubber belting to steel wheels

Tom in Iowa City · Nov 17, 2010

My 22-36 wheels are waiting for their rubber.
I got some Bandag truck retread material.
The material for the front wheels is 6/10 inch thick and that for the rear wheels 7/10.
I am wondering if anyone has drilled the holes with either Forstner bits or brad point bits (see attached images for those who are not familiar with these).

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PAKEHA · Nov 17, 2010

My limited experience in drilling rubber - with both forstner, tipped and 'regular' drill bits - I found the best solution was to punch the holes.

Cutting with a VERY sharp blade can work better than drilling, but takes time.

Craig Thoricht · Nov 17, 2010

This may not be the best way,but it worked for me-I jacked the wheel up and clamped the rubber in place,then used a regular high speed bit from underneath up through the rubber. I used carriage bolts and bolted the first ones in tight,then worked my way around the wheel doing my best to keep the rubber pulled as tight as possible.

I didn"t cut the ends square but cut them roughly on a 45 degree bias and didn"t worry too much if there was a gap. With the bias you won"t feel a bump at every wheel revolution.
That"s how the Amish do it around here and it worked well for me.

Good luck. That"s a fine looking tractor there.

Janicholson · Nov 17, 2010

The drills shown will be OK, but they can heat up pretty easily and when hot they melt into the rubber and suffer to make a clean hole. I drill non metallic materials often, be have had luck with small hole saws from machine tool vendors, and rotozip bits. Forstner and brad point bits are usually not very hard material and can be sharpened with a file. Thus they will dull easily and if heated nuch will loose all temper. Good luck Jim

rustred · Nov 17, 2010

just use the ordinary hole saw. they seem to work ok in rubber and make a nice clean cut.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 18, 2010

Tom-We used a regular wood bit to counterbore the rubber, then drilled down through the center of the counterbore, with regular steel bits. Used carriage bolts. Cutting the rubber at a 45 degree angle sounds like a good idea. It is a good idea to keep the rubber pulled fairly tight, as you go around the wheel. Buy an extra pack of cigsrettes, as the process takes some time, but will look nice, when you are done.

bc · Nov 18, 2010

If you cut it at a 45, I would think that the points would come loose unless glued real good. I'd probably cut the points off at a 90 leaving about an inch or so for a bolt right there.

Change out the bolts and you have some lugs for snow tires.

Attaching rubber belting to steel wheels

Tom in Iowa City

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PAKEHA

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Craig Thoricht

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Janicholson

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rustred

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Anonymous-0

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bc

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