paul ridley

William Bronson wrote:Hey Paul, welcome to Permies!
I am very impressed, it's as if you plucked this strait out of my head and made it real!
I think you could create a huge mat by weaving  these strips together, side by side.
My own use would be as a driveway alternative.
If fasteners are needed, maybe rivets would make sense.

Hi William :  update: Q. to Chatgpt - 'show a repeated matrix of the hoop shape sidewalls of scrap tyres cut away from the tread laid flat and threaded with the rectangular shaped flat tread tyre part threaded in and out through the tyre hoops in a triaxial weave'

Perhaps this could be used to strengthen shelter walls / roofs

William Bronson wrote:Hey Paul, welcome to Permies!
I am very impressed, it's as if you plucked this strait out of my head and made it real!
I think you could create a huge mat by weaving  these strips together, side by side.
My own use would be as a driveway alternative.
If fasteners are needed, maybe rivets would make sense.

Thanks for that William. We thought about rivets, but are maybe a bit too small in diameter, unless I can get thicker ones. Best coach bolts with big washers?
Yes Driveway sounds interesting

Could the sidewalls be woven with the rectangular tyre (tire) treads to be used as upstream permeable anti flood barriers like leaky dams bolted together with stainless steel bolts?

I run a small community group in the Uk that promotes the reuse of material . We have been donating aid and researching designs for stronger window and door shutters in warzones like Ukraine.

Perhaps the tyre walls could be woven with the rectangular tyre treads sandwiched between a wood or metal frame and plywood sheets to strengthen storm shutters in hurricane zones or protect agains blast force or shrapnel for windows and doors in a war zone like Ukraine.

I assume the side walls would be a tripping hazard if used as a woven walking path over muddy ground. Perhaps if the rectangular tyre tread was coach bolted on top (with long coach bolt threaded end sinking into the mud to stabilise it)

I cannot see how to add a picture, so have added a link to my blog https://cabinznet.blogspot.com/2025/07/ideas-for-products-made-by-reusing-used.html
showing a pic of my first attempt at cutting and weaving these tyre parts. I will update the blog with further pics as research on tyre weaving variations as uses develop .

I had some similar thoughts & pics with reused tyres and storm shutters 8 years ago : .. see Idea for Reinforcing Window Storm Plywood Shutters on a Budget with Cut Up Used Tyres https://cabinznet.blogspot.com/2017/09/idea-for-reinforcing-window-storm.html

Rob Schwartz wrote:I am in the planning stage of building a permanent road on my homestead. Because of the slope of the land, washout is an issue and geo grid seemed like the solution, unfortunately the price of the grid made that untenable.  I recently stumbled upon someone using old tires with the sidewalls cut off as the grid base for a road. This seems like a perfect solution for my situation but it will leave me with hundreds of rubber circles to deal with.

Does anyone have any ideas for reusing the sidewall pieces for anything useful? I would prefer not to just throw them back in the garbage to end up in a landfill.

Yes, essential to seal the cardboard from the risk of condensation, unless you have a ventilation gap etc.

On a related note, A few years ago, I was interested in making insulated panels to build metal frame & mgo board Hexayurts from 'Ecobricks'  so experimented with 'Making an Insulated Eco Brick by Filling Empty Plastic Bottles with Rolled Cardboard or Plastic & Evacuating Air (VIB))' which was tough as I could not make a strong enough matrix out of the cardboard filler to resist the outside air pressure.

I then moved onto helping the bricks with filling bottles with smaller bottles / cardboard & with expanding foam - Pics at my blog link)    https://cabinznet.blogspot.com/2018/09/making-better-insulated-eco-brick-by.html

THis lead later to a more adventurous bottles and cardboard insulated panels in  a 3d Weave fabric   https://cabinznet.blogspot.com/2022/07/more-thoughts-on-reusing-plastic.html