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Did you ever start work on your car only to find a simple part that requires routine maintenance needs special tools, major disassembly, and a degree in physics to replace?

Recently I needed to change a headlight and found you need a one-of-a-kind tool and remove half the grill to change it. A headlight isn't exactly a part you would expect to last forever. It made me wonder if the engineer who designed the vehicle ever had to work on it. Probably not.

Maintenance Friendly Design
I know from my experience at Gundlach that even a big, heavy roll crusher can be designed to be maintenance friendly. We've been designing-in easy maintenance ever since T.J. Gundlach built his first crusher. We knew we better make it easy to maintain because T.J. himself might be the one who went into the field to work on it.

Roll Crusher Wear Items
From day one of a new crusher design concept, our engineers look out for the items that will wear, that will need routine maintenance, and that may be compromised during other than normal use. In the case of roll crushers these items include rolls, bearings, shafts and the connection of the unit to feed chutes and discharge chutes.

Rolls that can be removed via a coupling mounted design without disturbing bearings and drives, is a major savings design (and a Gundlach exclusive). Older and harder-to-operate-on designs use thru shafts or rolls that are integral to the shafts.

When the rolls wear they should be able to be changed out quickly.

Segmented rolls tried to overcome this shortcoming, but the cost makes them a questionable alternative to a good removal design.

The Easy Way to Change Crusher Rolls
The simpler and less costly way is to allow for the housing to be split so that the sections that need to be removed can be moved without disturbing the feed or discharge chute connections.

Then, using a coupling mounted roll design (remember Mr. Gundlach on a cold, wet, night), where the shaft couples to the roll, these connections can be easily unbolted and the rolls removed.

We Even Supply the Removal Rail
Gundlach also supplies the roll removal rail to roll out crusher rolls. This is all done without the need to disturb the main bearings or drives.

A normal roll change out can be done in 4-8 hours depending on operator experience and size of unit.

Maintenance-friendly design sounds so straight forward and obvious. Sadly, as many maintenance people can tell you, maintainability too often seems to be the forgotten end of the equation. You purchase a unit one time, but you have to maintain it for the lifetime of the machine.

Maintenance an Important Part of the Cost Calculation
Calculating your equipment cost naturally starts with capital cost. But the equation isn't complete until you considered its ability to do the job for the next 30 years and the cost and aggravation to maintain it. It's not all that hard to design maintenance friendly equipment, but it does take a level of awareness and commitment that seems to be missing with some manufacturers. Are you listening, Detroit?
 
Mike Hamby
Vice President Sales & Service – NAFTA
Gundlach Equipment Corporation
www.gundlachcrushers.com

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