Tire manufacturing and rubber processing place enormous mechanical demands on industrial equipment. Internal mixers, rubber mills, extruders and calenders all rely on heavy-duty gearboxes to deliver the high torque required to process rubber compounds.

When a gearbox fails, production can stop immediately. Mixing operations halt, extrusion lines shut down, and in-process material may be lost.

The consequences of gearbox failure in tire and rubber manufacturing can be severe:

• Immediate production stoppage of mixing operations, extrusion lines, calendering lines and tire assembly processes
• Financial loss due to increased material scrap because of unusable rubber compound, defective extruded product
• Damage to mixer rotors, extruder screws, calender rollers. motors and couplings
• Long costly repair lead repair times because many rubber processing gearboxes are large, complex and custom-built

In addition, gearboxes not yet in failure mode but in need of maintenance can cause tire performance defects and rejected products due to inconsistent mixing, poor dispersion of additives, variations in extrusion pressure and thickness variations in calendered sheets

Why tire and rubber gearboxes fail:

• Extreme torque loads of mixers and extruders cause gear tooth fatigue, shaft stress damage and bearing failures
• Lubrication breakdown caused by heat and heavy loads leads to accelerated gear wear
• Contamination by carbon black dust, rubber particles, process oils and moisture causes abrasive wear and lubrication failure when they enter a gearbox
• Misalignment between motors, couplings and gearboxes creates uneven gear loading that leads to excessive vibration, premature bearing wear and gear tooth cracking

We repair, rebuild and troubleshoot any and all brands of mixing, extrusion and other process-critical gearboxes used in the tire-and-rubber-making process. Our years of experience in tire and rubber enable us to quickly assess equipment for potential problems and repair or rebuild as necessary, reverse-engineering all components to equal or better quality than original.

Our Field Machining and Services crews can perform in place any number of process-critical services, from gearbox inspections and rebuilds to line boring, journal turning, flange facing and base milling. Our high-precision gear hobbers and grinders can produce gears up through AGMA Q15, the industry’s highest standard.