Motorized Torque-Arm units used on concrete batch plants

Concrete Equipment Company (CON-E-CO) is the first OEM to standardise on the new Baldor-Dodge Motorized Torque-Arm II (MTA) shaft-mounted speed reducer, receiving the first units as they came off the assembly line.

CON-E-CO, a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation, engineers, manufactures and supports portable and stationary concrete batch plants. The company has used Baldor-Dodge bearings and Torque-Arm reducers for many years, and was very comfortable adopting the new MTA. Don Hansen, CON-E-CO engineering manager, states: "Because of my experience with the original Torque-Arm product, I understood the level of engineering that went into the new MTA. When we saw the capabilities of the MTA, we knew this was the right product for us."

The new design has no exposed sheaves or V-belts, which adds an additional level of safety to the product. Hansen explains: "Our company is proactive on safety issues, and this product fits into our efforts to provide a safer product."

Because batch plants are highly mobile, space is a prime commodity, which makes the compact MTA particularly attractive, according to Hansen: "It is powerful, but it takes up less space. It fits into some of our smaller spots on the batch conveyor, and this works so much better for us."

Recently an international customer purchased eight CON-E-CO plants and requested the new MTA be used on the equipment. Hansen says European customers are used to seeing this style of unit: "When they realised that we were using MTA on other systems, they made the request that we include them on their plants. I was not surprised because this style of product is readily acceptable. Plus, we all feel comfortable because this is a Baldor-Dodge brand product."

About the MTA speed reducer

The Baldor-Dodge MTA shaft-mounted speed reducer is a right-angle gearbox with a flanged motor interface, specified for use with two-pole or four-pole motors. A choice of 12 gear reduction ratios and three case sizes enables the unit to deliver a wide range of speed reductions from 18:1 to 75:1 for class 2 applications from 3-55kW, with very high efficiencies up to around 95 per cent.

MTA units are optimised for robustness - and they are claimed to offer considerable advantages over comparable gearboxes designed in accordance with European design practices. The reducer is rated to meet the 6010 AGMA (American Gear Manufacturers Association) standard; this specifies a Class 1, 5000 hour L-10 bearing life, which is approximately twice as long as comparable DIN design practices.

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