hagan machinery Tumbler Upgrade

CASE STUDY - Tumbler Upgrade (value $10,000)

SITUATION

  1. Sandstone quarry at Helidon grades stones according to size in a large rotating tumbler.
  2. Due to failing components the downtime was causing unacceptable lost production

TASK

  1. The drive system was under rated by the original manufacturer
  2. Repair the tumbler to minimise lost production

ACTIONS

  1. Analyse the system and upgrade in the most cost effective way
  2. Details were taken and drawn for analysis
  3. Consulting mechanical engineer determined sizes and manufacturing techniques to use to ensure components meets the needs of the tumbler
  4. Determine cost effective way to repair failed drive. That is repair or replace
  5. Repair to drive was carried out and still in operation years later
  6. It was apparent the original design and manufacture by others was inadequate
  7. The customer was happy with the job and did not question the price
  8. This is one of those jobs where a fabricator just built a tumbler from what he thought should work and unfortunately got himself into a lot of trouble having to repair and replace parts until eventually he told the customer that he would not repair for free anymore. Before we did any work I looked at the job and determined it was time to analyse the loads on components and strengths these components could take. Once the analysis was done it was a relatively simple matter to repair.

RESULT

  • ✓  Downtime all but eliminated
  • ✓  Customer can produce more product in the same time
  • ✓  Customer happy that problem fixed at reasonable price compared to replacement