Resole Timberlands ?

[oldbandnerd]

2 years ago I bought a pair of Timberland Flume hiking boots that I have worn the soles out of. They have been the most comfortable pair of waterproof hiking boots I have ever had and really hate to just throw them away. They aren't my everyday shoes and only wear them to walk the dog, go out on the weekends and every time I go camping. The uppers and insole are still in great condition. I attribute the bottoms wearing out so fast to my size . At 300+ pounds all of my shoes take a beating. I buy new work boots every 9 months to a year.
Has any one had their boots like these resoled? What company did you use and how much was it ?

[bort]

In general, I've found that most "normal" shoes/boots cost about as much to have re-soled as they do to just replace them. Only shoes that were really designed to be re-soled (which cost 2x to 3x more) seem to be "worth it" to have re-soled.

Side note -- I gave up on Timberland long ago, comfortable shoes but the soles wore out WAY too fast for me (and I'm about half of your weight). Maybe they have fixed it now, but I wore through Tim's much faster than anything else.

[DHMTuba]

Before trashing them out of hand, you might want to check out places that specialize in repairing hiking boots.
My Vasques needed resoling a few months ago and the local shops told me they couldn't fix them. I searched "hiking boot resole" and found a couple of places. Ended up sending them to Dave Page (davepagecobbler.com), who did an excellent job for about half the price of a new pair.
(I have no affiliation with Page except as a happy customer. And, there are a couple of other places that do this work also.)
I wish I had thought to do this a few years ago when I tossed some Timberlands for the same problem.

[oldbandnerd]

I think I would pay up to at least half the price of what these cost to have them resole . It just seems such a waste because the rest of the shoes are in such good shape . Also, when I started wear these I was having some major issues with pain in my feet and wearing these have corrected whatever was causing the pain.

[Donn]

Hah, Dave Page is about 10 blocks from my house! and there's another cobbler also within walking distance, who resoled my Redwing boots a couple months ago.

I don't know how Vasque boots are made these days, but most boots are made like tennis shoes, and it makes as much sense to resole them as it would with a tennis shoe. I would go so far as to guess that any boot originating in China, Vietnam, etc. would be in that category, and even my kind of expensive, made in Eastern Europe Lowa Zephyrs. The cobbler wouldn't touch them, so they're patched up with "shoe goo." If the sole looks like it's kind of molded on, it's probably not a candidate for a resole.

The other thing that I'm learning to look out for is the sole that's a kind of durable envelope around a foam core. These soles wear OK until you breach the envelope, and then they go bad fast. It's an appealing idea, shock absorption etc., but the new solid rubber Vibram soles on my Redwings are plenty comfortable, and they'll wear a lot better.

My old "tennis shoe" boots are light and comfortable. Almost like they came from the factory ... and they'll never be anything more. Not like my Redwings, on their second soles and now adapted to my feet in a way that no factory could manage.

[Radar]

Typically if these have a rubber sole that is molded to the boot resoling is something that may not be possible, depending on the style. I've been wearing timberlands for years and the soles do go before the uppers, I wear mine for work everyday and typically will get a year out of them, then it's time for a new pair, and I keep the latest old pair as a backup. With my latest pair of Timberlands I don't think they were as good as previous pairs they seem to be going to way of cutting quality to stay at the same price point. Check with a local cobbler to see if your style of boot can be resoled and get an estimate, if it's worth the cost go for it, if it's going to cost more than 1/2 the price of a new boot I'd say get a new pair.