A breaker building method and apparatus in which a continuous strip of breaker material, coming from a single source, is severed into strip portions on a main drum. Alternate ones of these strip portions are transferred directly from the main drum to a breaker building drum while the remaining ones of the strip portions are transferred first to an intermediate member and from there to the breaker building drum in such a manner that the cords of successive breaker plies on the breaker building drum form a crossing angle with each other.