Question on Cleaning Rubber off drag strip

[mikekonnie]

We have a local drag strip owner that needs to take about 1/2 inch to 1 inch of rubber off both lanes for about 150' each side. The drag strip is cement and not in the best of shape. It has been ground in the past and has little groves. He just took over the drag strip and doesn't have the money to resurface before the start of the season.

Is there any chemical out that can disolve the rubber? I tried my hot water unit 3500 psi at 5.5 gpm and some acid without hardly fasing it. Somebody told him it would take a 10000 psi unit to get it off. The nearest one is over 200 miles away.

Is there anybody on this forum that has delt with this sort of problem? Is there anybody in Sacramento, California or the Bay area that has a big enough unit to do this sort of job?

If you do have any suggestions please e-mail me at mikekonnie@sbcglobal.net or call (530) 247-6927

[Tmrrptr]

I see a drum of Glycol Ether EB in your future!
..a surfactant of choice, and probably a mechanical scrubber..
Make provisions for transport of the goo before starting the project.
Maybe an oilfield company could transport it?

I like drag strips!
..There should be more advice coming along...

[Doug T]

There is chemical out there that is used for rubber removal from airports. However, I do not recall where I read about it. Try a search on Google

[Jeff]

Do a search for JBS Industries, Theres one in SC & I think OH, they sell the stuff for Runways and have other hightech cleaners

[mikekonnie]

I called JBS Industries and they do have a runway cleaner that completely melts the rubber where it can be blown off with a pressure washer.

It's pretty expensive but the tech says it will work without any scrubbing or scrapping. It costs $504.20 for 30 gallons plus a $152 to ship to northern California but it sure beats any alternative I have heard that the track owner was told.

Thankyou all again.

[One Tough Pressure]

Scarifier

[Christopher]

Here is another option, contact a large parking lot striping company and see if they have the "Stripe Hog" stripe remover. This is a very high pressure vacuum surface cleaner running at 40,000psi and can clean 6" stripes very fast, like 6000 linear feet of stripe in only 20 minutes

[Christopher]

Forgot to add their website: Waterblasting Technologies - Manufacturer of the Stripe Hog Stripe™Removal System

Some companies have these machines and they are self contained trucks with their own water and waste water tanks.

Their surface cleaners come in all sizes and thy are so good at what they do, they don't damage asphalt streets when removing stripes or thermoplast.

I remember that they use this on some airport runways to remove the tire rubber every so often. They have some cool videos.

[Ron Musgraves]

YouTube - Eurogrip Track-Wash, Surface Cleaning

[dragula]

Sorry to gravedigg, but...

If you use anything ethylene based on a dragstrip you will be very poor in the near future.

The ONLY way to do that is a big scraper and a torch...Sounds like this dragstrip owner is whack...

Trust me, I was totally responsible for prepping the FASTEST track in the country.

Just remember always though, Trust != Truth