Titan to equip giant OTR tyres with sensors

ERJ staff report (TB)

Quincy, Illinois -- Titan International Inc., responding to reports of premature failures affecting its 63-inch radial OTR tyres operating in severe conditions in Canada, will start equipping these tyres with pressure and temperature sensors.

These sensors will allow mine operators to monitor tyre pressures and temperatures in real time, according to Titan Chairman and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr., who issued a statement today to respond to a Bloomberg News report that Titan's 63-inch OTR radials were failing prematurely in oil sands mining operations in Calgary.

In his statement, Mr. Taylor acknowledged some failures - in particular in cases where they were being run at high speed over long distances and with heavy loads - but disputed the impression that his company's were failing on a widespread basis.

“This scenario is beyond the rated conditions of any tyre this size,” Mr. Taylor said. “Our competitors' tyres don't hold up to these excessive conditions, either. In these tests, Titan's tyres were getting too hot in the steel belt, which was melting the rubber, resulting in a failure.”

Mr. Taylor lamented the fact the Bloomberg report didn't mention that the “other hundred” Titan OTR tyres in use haven't failed.

“The average life of a 63-inch tyre in the oil sands is around 5,000 hours, not 10,000,” Mr. Taylor said, noting that the Bloomberg reporter's story started with a celebration held for a Titan tyre that ran 10,600 hours.

“It is noteworthy that one of the mines scraps all of its wheels after 10,000 hours of use, which generally equates to the life of two tyres,” Mr. Taylor said.

Mr. Taylor also sought to defuse the impression that Titan had scaled back production of the giant tyres at its Bryan, Ohio, plant.

“Titan has the capacity to produce over 20 super giant radial tyres a day. The current market does not require that capacity at this time,” he said.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

press release from Titan