A moment of tyre history resurfaced recently on LinkedIn, where Vaculug Chairman Haarjeev Singh shared an archival image from 1980 showing the company repairing what was then the largest tyre in use in the UK. Singh's caption, "This is so cool! And our OTR boys roxk even today!!" reflects both pride and continuity in the company’s off-the-road servicing legacy.
The photo in question is a newspaper clipping from the Grantham Journal, dated 22 February 1980. It depicts a Vaculug technician standing beside the colossal Toyo tyre, captioned as "The Greatest!". The article highlights Vaculug's unique ability at the time to repair tyres of such size, describing the unit as a "mammoth 58-ply Toyo tyre" and "the largest tyre in use in the United Kingdom".
The tyre measured 10ft 8½in (3.26m) in diameter and weighed over 2.75 tonnes. It carried a retail value of £9,000, a substantial investment in 1980. The unit was one of a set fitted to Wabco 170-ton electric dump trucks used by Northern Strip Mining Ltd at an open-cast coal site in Derbyshire.
Vaculug's Grantham facility was, according to the newspaper, "probably the only company in the British Isles capable of carrying out repairs on a tyre of this size." This milestone underscored the firm's leadership in the off-the-road and industrial tyre sectors.
The resurfaced article and image offer more than just visual impact; they serve as a historical reference point for the evolution of tyre service capability. At a time when electronic diagnostics and predictive maintenance were decades away, Vaculug was already tackling large-scale commercial tyre challenges.
The resurfacing of this image is more than just nostalgia. It highlights the enduring relevance of domestic heavy-duty servicing capacity as the UK transitions to cleaner industries. With OTR tyres still central to mining, construction, and renewables infrastructure, the challenges of cost, waste, and performance remain key. Retreading as practiced by Vaculug then and now, continues to be a vital part of the sustainable tyre equation.
Tagged with: Vaculug, OTR tyres, tyre history, mining, Toyo tyres, tyre repair, heavy-duty tyres, retreading, 1980 archive, tyre servicing UK
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