As an effective and practical product line for promoting corporate stewardship of the environment, rubber cutting edges exceed expectations and increase the life of your tipping floors.
Cristine Peters
A recent article in Waste Advantage Magazine, “Transfer Station Maintenance to Defer Costly Repairs,” (April 2015) called into question the necessity of equipping loaders with rubber cutting edges. The article implied that proper operator training eliminates all risk of damage from steel to concrete contact. While I agree that proper training is paramount, we must point out that outfitting loaders with rubber cutting edges is beneficial for a number of reasons. Below are a few of the main benefits of rubber cutting edges and how they can keep your operation running efficiently.
Increasing Life Expectancy
First, using a rubber edge directly increases the life of concrete tipping floors in transfer stations, recycling facilities and MRFs. The life of a tipping floor can be quite variable from facility to facility. Factors include hourly usage, environmental factors and overall floor quality. The cost of using rubber edges easily offsets when compared to the cost of repairing or replacing the tipping floor, especially when the operational downtime associated with the repairs is considered.
Durability
A second benefit is durability. Rubber edges are built to last. Depending on how long and how often, the wheel loader is run, rubber edges can last between 300 to more than 1,000 hours.
Recycled Material
An added benefit in using a rubber edge is that they are built using recycling rubber materials (versus a virgin or molded rubber edge). This is sustainability by its very definition. By opting for a rubber edge, on average, customers can divert 16 truck tires from the landfill, saving 220 gallons of imported oil, and keeping 5,250 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Cleaning Tool
Finally, a rubber edge can also be used as a cleaning device and/or squeegee for the tipping room floor. Many operations managers that have used a rubber edge at their facilities have indicated that this is an important value-added benefit.
As an effective and practical product line for promoting corporate stewardship of the environment, rubber cutting edges exceed expectations and increase the life of your tipping floors.
Cristine Peters is an Inside Sales Manager for Schuyler Rubber Co. (Woodinville, WA), a company that has manufactured recycled rubber products for more than 60 years for a wide range of industries. Schuyler Rubber believes in the protection, durability and sustainability of all of our products, including our more demanded—our recycled rubber cutting edges. For more information, call (800) 426-3917, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.schuylerrubber.com.