Hi All,

A friend mentioned how good the old 'sawdust' tires were. I have never heard of such a thing. Is this a gag? Would someone take a few seconds. How were such tires made and why were they so good? And more to the point, are they still available?

thanx
hj the Hat

 

Welcome to FTE!

Is that anything like walnut shell tires? They used to put walnut shells in the rubber to make a low tech studded tire for snow and ice. This might be what your friend is talking about.

They would throw walnut shells in the tread rubber during manufactoring. It was semi-abrasive and dug in fairly well, but didn't hum as bad as studded tires do - and it didn't tear up the roads.

 

I get that every time i pull into the mill yard where I work!
Welcome to FTE!

 

I think that's the same process. Sawdust/woodchips incorporated into the tread design.

Never saw one though.

 

I've never heard of sawdust tires

 

My father nused to put winter tires on our old cars in the 50's and early 60's. The traction on ice was better than the standard nylon winter tread, but not by more than10 or 15%. The biggest problem was they wore out very quickl, especially if you ran on bare pavement. I believe he bought them at Simpson Sears for about $12.00 Canadian. The sawdest was embedded into the last 1/2 inch at the face of the tire.

Ron Crockett

 

I have seen a few sets of those tires here, you can tell them by all the little pits in the treads. FWIW, they weren't originally made that way, but they were actually retreads.