Sioux Rubber & Urethane Blog

Recover, Don’t Replace, Clamp Pads

Posted by Sioux Rubber & Urethane Team on Jul 27, 2018 2:50:04 PM

Clamp Pads Sioux Rubber

Clamp pads are an integral part of warehouse, distribution and material handling processes. These forklift attachments are made of steel or aluminum and coated with a rib-designed rubber that allows for easier handling of rolls, barrels, boxes and much more.

Did you know that once the rubber wears out on these clamp pads, Sioux Rubber & Urethane can recover them back to original condition with a higher quality rubber for the application? There is no need to buy a completely new set. Having clamp pads recovered by Sioux Rubber & Urethane saves money, downtime and makes them last more than twice as long.

“The substrate will always outlast the rubber,” explained Jordan Langley, Sales Manager. “Some companies will throw out the entire clamp pad, substrate and all, when the rubber wears out. They either don’t care or don’t know the pads can be recovered. We can strip the old rubber off and put brand new on. It’s essentially a brand-new clamp pad for a full third of the price what it costs new.”

Here’s a great example to showcase this type of savings: a customer wanted to know what it would cost to buy a brand-new clamp pad versus what it would cost to recover existing pads. It cost $200 less to recover FOUR clamp pads than to buy TWO new complete pads, said Derek DeGroot, Sales Manager. And the process is simple to do.

“Any company can send us their used clamp pads and we can burn the rubber off. We heat the existing rubber up to a certain temperature so it melts away, leaving the substrate in-tact,” he explained. “We then prep the substrate, as if it was a new part, with our bonding primers. The part gets molded with new rubber, by hand, we add the rib design and then put it in the autoclave to cure. The recovered clamp pads are then trimmed and shipped back to the customer. Each liner is done to the customer’s specification, or by our recommendation, add the rib design and ship them back.”

Turnaround time is two to three days, compared to weeks if a new part must be made.

“The price is huge, but what’s also huge is, because we’re a small shop, is lead-time,” Jordan added. “Our lead time is definitely better than of a larger OEM. We see a lot of customers who wait to replace their clamp pads until they literally can’t pick anything up anymore, the rib design is completely gone. We can get those pads back to you very quickly, minimizing your downtime.”

Clamps are recovered, by hand, with a 3/8-inch, 60-durometer, SPR (styrene-butadiene rubber). This rubber is a much higher-quality than anything the OEM will use, making the recover last longer, about twice as long. “The OEMs are basically selling that clamp pad to wear out,” said Derek. “Our product is a much higher-quality rubber.”

Sioux Rubber & Urethane ships nationwide and to Canada. If you’re interested in seeing how much money you can save by recovering clamp pads, contact Derek or Jordan directly.

Derek DeGroot
Sales Manager
Derek@siouxrubber.com
712-252-3257

Jordan Langley
Sales Manager
Jordan@siouxrubber.com
712-252-3257

Topics: Clamp Pads, Rubber Products, Sioux Rubber & Urethane