Replacement Broom Wafer: 5 Details to Gather Before You Order

Here’s the most common way a wafer order goes unsmoothly. A client emails: “I need replacement broom wafers for my street sweeper.”

We ask: what model? What’s the ID and OD? What’s on it now?

The answer: “Not sure — just send the standard ones.”

There is no standard. Wafer brushes are machine-specific. The ID that fits a Bobcat skid steer attachment doesn’t fit a municipal road sweeper. Ordering on assumption is how you end up with pallets of brushes that don’t mount.

The fix takes 20 minutes. Before you order, gather these five details.

1. Your Sweeper Model — Brand and Model Number

Start with the machine itself. Not the brush — the machine.

What to record:

Equipment brand (Bobcat, Caterpillar, John Deere, Kubota, Sweepster, New Holland, Paladin, Laymor, Dulevo, Elgin, Schwarze, TYMCO…)

Model number

Attachment type, if it’s a skid steer or tractor attachment

Why it matters: the model tells us the mounting configuration, the core bar diameter, and the standard broom width. Two sweepers from the same brand can use completely different wafer stacks.

Where to find it: machine plate, operator manual, or the attachment’s own label. A photo of the machine and the brush assembly is even better.

2. The ID — Inner Diameter of the Core Ring

The ID determines whether the wafer mounts on your core bar. Get this wrong by a few millimeters and the wafer won’t slide on.

How to measure: measure the inside hole of an existing wafer — or the outside diameter of the core bar it mounts on.

Common IDs: 6 3/8″, 7″, 8″, and 10″. We produce from 78 mm to 495 mm.

Measure with calipers, not a tape. A 2 mm error is the difference between a fit and a wobble.

3. The OD — Outer Diameter of the Wafer

OD sets the sweeping width and the bristle contact zone.

How to measure: the full outside diameter of the wafer, bristle tip to bristle tip.

Common ODs: 21″, 24″, 26″, 32″, 36″. Our production range runs 400 mm to 1160 mm.

One caution: measure a new wafer if possible. A worn wafer has lost bristle length, so its OD is smaller than the specification. Measure a worn one and you’ll order a brush that’s too small.

4. Current Bristle Material and Density

Now we get to performance. What’s on the machine now — and is it doing the job?

Material options:

Poly (polypropylene) — general-purpose sweeping, snow, loose debris

Wire (steel) — caked mud, compacted soil, ice

Poly/wire combo — mixed debris profiles

Density matters as much as material. A denser wafer puts more bristles per unit area against the road. More bristles mean better debris pickup per pass and more even wear.

This is where the term matters in practice: if your routes need maximum pickup and you’re running poly, you want a high density poly replacement broom wafer — not a standard-density poly wafer that leaves fines behind. Denser poly wafers cost more per unit and deliver more per pass. For municipal and contractor operations where passes are expensive, the trade is usually worth it.

Tell the supplier your routes and debris type. They’ll spec the density.

5. Shape and Pin Configuration

Two final details that decide installation:

Shape — flat or convoluted.

Flat wafers need spacers between segments to keep bristles evenly distributed

Convoluted (wavy/zigzag) wafers need no spacers — the wave nests and self-spaces

Confirm what your core bar is set up for. Mixing shapes on the same bar doesn’t work.

Pin quantity — 1 or 2. The number of mounting pins in the wafer. Count them on your current wafers.

The Prep Checklist

Before you contact a supplier, better have these ready:

Seven items. Twenty minutes of measuring. And an order that arrives ready to install.

Our broom wafer products covers poly, wire, and combo in flat and convoluted styles. Full specifications and ordering details are on the broom wafer product page.