SKF’s maintenance-free Y Bearing Unit has significantly extended equipment uptime for key customer Gibela, a leading level 5CE CIBD-rated civils company with more than ten years of experience in the field. The environment in which Gibela operates its machines and equipment can be extremely taxing. Key accounts manager, Charl Engelbrecht explains that Gibela’s Vermeer RT650 Trencher was experiencing bearing failures and housing breakages every 150 metres of trenching. “Having established our customer’s specific needs, we recommended our maintenance-free Y Bearing Unit as the best solution to mitigate downtime and costs,” he notes.
The unit consists of an insert bearing that contains a 5-lip Mudblock seal, which is paired with the SKF cast iron housing with solid base feet. The Trencher, fitted with the SKF Y Bearing solution, completed 1,2 km of uninterrupted trench work, enabling Gibela to complete the project ahead of schedule. Moreover, the customer benefited from immediate savings due to no further repair costs being incurred.
“It was an eye opener to experience the quality and technology of this premium product first-hand,” says Gibela owner, Zander Swanepoel. “The solution has contributed value and savings to my business by enabling us to meet our project deadlines.” He adds that SKF also carried good stock levels and had the necessary product knowledge, supported with a friendly, professional and prompt service. “The SKF Y Bearing Unit delivers a rugged and reliable solution that is more than a match for the punishing conditions in the extremely challenging trenching application,” concludes Engelbrecht.
For more information contact Samantha Joubert, SKF South Africa, +27 11 821 3500, [email protected], www.skf.com
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