Superior Gearbox Company is a leading manufacturer of high-performance gearboxes to support a range of agricultural applications. If a standard or existing design does not suit your application, Superior’s engineering team can reverse engineer an existing design or assist you in designing a custom gearbox.
Agricultural gearboxes optimize machine performance for farmers, enabling them to maximize productivity. These gearboxes consist of shafts and gears enclosed in a housing, transmitting power from an input shaft to one or more output shafts in order to facilitate a change in the direction, speed, and/or rotation between the input and output shaft.
Agricultural gearboxes are suitable for a broad range of applications that maintain efficient farming operations. These applications rely on gearboxes to hold up to the many harsh environmental conditions, including inclement weather, continuous operation, and dry environments. At the same time, they can meet various safety and hygiene requirements. Some common applications for gearboxes in this industry include:
- Mills
- Farm waste pumping
- Processing equipment
- Feedlot grain handling systems
- Leaf vac systems
- Agitators
- Other agricultural implements and equipment
Which Superior Gearbox is Best for Your Application?
There are several factors to consider when selecting your gearbox including shaft orientation, speed ratio, design type, the nature of the load, mounting position, and the environment of the application itself. However, this process begins with identifying the type of gearbox that best fits your application. The below table illustrates the main distinguishing differences of each type of gearbox Superior has to offer.
Once a suitable gearbox has been identified, additional factors are then considered to ensure the selection of the appropriate subtype, configuration, and size. Superior Gearbox can modify any standard configurations to tailor each unit to your specific application.
Types of Agricultural Gearboxes
Depending on application requirements, Superior Gearbox Company offers several gearboxes for agricultural applications:
Bevel Gearboxes
Bevel gearboxes contain enclosed spiral or straight bevel gears that have a conical form and are used to transmit rotational power through shafts that are typically at a 90° angle. Right-angle bevel gear drives can be employed in various agricultural machinery applications and have a wide range of horsepower capacities, ratios, and shaft configurations. Although bevel gearboxes are typically configured at a 90° angle, they can be configured at a variety of angles. Superior Gearbox offers a 68° bevel gear drive designed and developed for portable grain auger and elevator applications; however, these units are also ideal for applications such as mowers, conveyers, and seeders as well. For grain cart applications, we recommend the H130 series 50° bevel gearbox.
Worm Gear Speed Reducers
Worm Gear Speed Reducers consist of a worm input and an output worm gear that facilitate a perpendicular shaft. This results in a greater torque value as the gearbox reduces the speed of the transmission system. Worm gear speed reducers are capable of higher ratios in smaller packages compared to bevels and parallel shafts which require several reductions and take up more space. Worm speed reducers can be used with electric motors or driven by an input shaft to reduce the output speed, increase torque, change the driving direction, or to run two loads from a single power source.
Superior Gearbox Company offers a comprehensive selection of worm gear drives well suited for a wide array of applications. These units are offered in ratios ranging from 5:1 up to 100:1 and can be configured with either a solid shaft or hydraulic motor input, in addition to, hollow or solid output shafts in both left- and right-hand or double output shaft options are available.
Parallel Gearboxes
The high and low speed shafts parallel gearboxes are positioned on the same horizontal plane and feature spur gearing. Superior Gearbox Company offers a rugged parallel gear reducer that comes standard in a 6.09:1 ratio and features a two-piece housing, exact gear mesh, and is offered in either single or double hydraulic motor inputs.
Helical Gearmotors
The obvious distinguishing factor of a helical gearmotor is that it comes standard as a gear drive and electric motor combination in a single unit. Like any other gear drive, these units are primarily used to reduce speed and increase torque between turning shafts. Generally, they can be classified into two types: those that transmit energy between parallel parts and those that transfer power between non-parallel parts, typically introduced as cross-axis gears.
Based on the application requirements, there are different modifications of a Helical Gearbox. Superior Gearbox offers 4 types of helical gearmotors:
Helical Inline Gearmotor
The helical inline gearmotor has input and output shafts of the same orientation, even though they may or may not offset each other. Inline gearmotors are characterized as parallel or coaxial and transmit power in the same direction as the motor.
Helical Parallel Shaft Gearmotor
The helical parallel shaft gearmotor has input and output shafts that are also oriented in the same direction but are offset by a distance causing the shaft axis to be parallel to each other.
Helical Bevel Gearmotor
The helical bevel gearmotors has input and output shafts at a 90° angle. These units can be configured with either a solid or hollow output shaft.
Helical Worm Gearmotor
The helical worm gearmotor are worm gear drives complemented by a helical pre-stage reduction and driven by an integrated electric motor. The reduced input speed of the electric motor to the worm gears increases the torque capacity and provides higher efficiency.
The Importance of Quality Gearboxes for Agriculture
Gearboxes are critical in agricultural equipment throughout the food cycle, from soil preparation to the sowing, harvesting, and preparation of various goods. Because of the heightened demand for food as populations grow and subsequent increased equipment wear and tear, farmers will need high-quality components in the machinery they rely so heavily on. Otherwise, costly downtime could severely hinder production and lead to failure to meet the increased demand. Agricultural applications require high-quality gearboxes. Worn out gears result in significant losses for farmers, who are the primary users of this equipment.
High Quality Gearboxes from Superior Gearbox
Superior Gearbox Company provides customers in the agricultural sector with reliable gearbox solutions for nearly every application. Since 1975, we have manufactured top-quality gear drives for power transmission systems of all kinds. The broad selection of gear drives includes bevel, worm, parallel shaft, and helical gearboxes for agricultural applications and many others. The experienced engineers at Superior Gearbox can design custom gear drives to meet your application’s unique specifications, covering every aspect of production from prototyping to final testing.
For more information about these gearboxes and other products, contact Superior Gearbox Company today for assistance to determine the right solution for your application.