Thordon Tops 500 RiverTough Installations
Thordon Bearings announced earlier this month that its RiverTough tailshaft bearing solutions have been installed more than 500 times in the workboat sector.
Primarily a retrofit solution but increasingly specified for newbuilds, RiverTough is designed for both inland and coastal waterways, where conditions are typically muddy and abrasive.
The company said that when used in combination with Thordon’s nickel-chrome-boron shaft sleeves, workboat operators serving the Mississippi River have reported wear rates of 0.07 to 0.1 mm over 6,000 to 7,000 hours of annual use, cutting maintenance costs over the life of the vessel.
“Thordon’s RiverTough bearings are extremely abrasive resistant,” said Jason Perry, Thordon’s Regional Manager, North America. “Independent research determined that RiverTough has nearly twice the abrasive resistance than that of rubber bearings. They are also very easy to install and handle, as they are installed on a 3:1 length/diameter ratio as opposed to 4:1 ratio of other tailshaft bearings.”
Customers have been impressed, he said.
“Many customers have told us that RiverTough bearings outlast other tailshaft bearings that were previously used by a factor of two to one,” Perry said. “In the past they were changing their tailshaft bearings every three years when they replaced their NCB shaft sleeves. But with RiverTough bearings, they only changed them one time for every two shaft sleeve changes. They also mention that there is less vibration when the tailshaft starts rotating. This is due to the RiverTough bearing decreasing stick slip when shaft rotation begins.”
Perry said Thordon provides engineered solutions with improved performance and less downtime for vessel operators.
“We have engineered products that compete in a high commodity market,” he said. “We provide the solutions that target efficiency and life-cycle costs. We also have two fully stocked warehouses in the United States, one in Paducah, Ky., and one in New Orleans, La.”
Additionally, Perry said, the company constantly listens to customers and makes improvements to better meet their needs.
“We now have our TG100 mechanical tail shaft seal that will allow shipyards and machine shops to match drill our mounting plate to the bolt hole pattern of the seal that we are replacing,” he said. “Being able to do that decreases the time and money needed to convert to a maintenance-free tail shaft seal.
“We are responding to customer needs, and that has allowed us to continue Thordonizing the workboat fleet, by growing RiverTough and NiCrB Thordon shaft sleeve numbers but also by serving increasing demand for durable TG100 mechanical shaft seals, ThorPlas-Blue and SXL rudder bearings, Thordon pucker seals, and ThorPlas-Blue steering linkage bearings,” Perry added.
For more information, visit thordonbearings.com.
