How To Make a TOPLESS Tire in 30 Seconds or Less
From one of my favorite books; 'Tire Recycling is Fun' by Paul Farber
Available used at http://www.abebooks.com
Any saber, jig, orbital jig, or reciprocating jig saw that will accept a 1/4"
shank blade will work. However, the better the quality and the more powerful the
motor, the better the performance [I burned a Sears
cheapy jig saw cutting
three tires, so now I use a Bosch 1582VS reciprocating jig saw].
On to how to modify the blade [the real trick]; start with any new or used wood
cutting blade [~16tpi]. Using a grinder or by installing the blade in the saw
and hand-holding a rough sharpening stone to the running blade, cut the
characteristic "wood blade" alternating "rip" shape off the blade. In
other words, as if you were sharpening a knife blade at 30º off the flat of the
blade, at each side. Now, instead of the
teeth alternating side to side, they all converge sharply at a single
line in the center of the blade.
This blade will cut a sidewall like a hot knife thru warm butter (see Note:), merely
tip the saw forward, secure the front bottom edge of the saw against the tire,
rotate the saw on the front edge and "drop"
the blade thru the tire while the saw is running. Then, cut the circle, as
shown below. Reverse the cut-out sidewall and place it back into the tire.
Note: Published recently, a test result/study by Swarthmore College, PA,
Engineering Dept., substantiates the usage of topless tire walls as a
residential building material. You can download it
HERE (7.3mb .PDF file).
To make the half tire, as seen in the pic below, click Making Half Tires as seen in below picture.
Note: This blade won't cut thru the tread of a steel-belted tire, or the bead of any tire. The bead is the thick steel wire within the thick rubber running around the wheel holes of the tire. I use a standard hacksaw blade in a "Sawzall" for the tread, and either that or a large bolt cutter to cut the bead wires.
A double thickness of cardboard is then placed over the wheel hole and earth is packed into the tire vertically. A sledge-hammer and standard tamper will complete the compaction. The shed below took 80 tires, each tire took roughly 5 minutes to be cut, placed, filled and compacted.
How I Used TOPLESS Tires
on our GOATS' shed Construction
I built this "earth-cliff" topless tire-wall by myself in two days. The "framing" took a little longer. Hand-hewn logs & rough-cut pine boards.
A view of the topless tire-wall.
The goats love it. It won't be
bad, once I get the parapets and stucco on there ":^).
My lot is pretty much constantly 2-in-12 pitch to the south, so I just marked the site, rented a skid-steer and did the excavation in about 6 hours. I piled the soil around the hole for convenient tire loading and berm building.