Having a part which wears exceptionally well, is a major aim for us.
Downtime is expensive, and it always seems to come when the pressure is on, ie a weather window is looming, or progress in front of the next field operation has slowed. Often when we analyse an original product, believe it or not, they aren’t as good as they could be, even in terms of the grade of metal used, or the hardness of the part. Corners are often cut. Or the shape and angles of the part are poorly designed, leading to quicker than necessary wear rates.
We at Maxipart® don’t just follow what everyone else is doing, here’s what we do:
- We use the highest grade of metal, and harden the part to be as hard as possible, without making it brittle. The balance between hardness and flexibility with each specific part is essential.
- Look at the design of the product, can this be improved? Is the angle of approach into the soil having a negative impact with regards to wear, draft and performance? Can any or all of these be improved upon? What is essential throughout this process is ensuring that the performance of the machine is not compromised and that wear is not transferred elsewhere.
- Can we add extra metal or hard-wearing products such as tungsten carbide tiles or hardfacing, to further reduce wear? Consideration is given to the value of the product, and how much hardwearing material will be needed to revolutionise the part, as it may not always be viable to do so. Also, the position of the hard-wearing material needs careful thought; a badly placed tungsten carbide tile can actually cause the part to wear in a different area, thus leading to earlier than necessary change or wear and damage to a more expensive component.