Beltless Drives

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool chooses new technology for "Project Horizon"

09/01/98 -- One of the largest construction projects the North American grain industsry has ever seen is underway across the prairies of Western Canada under the code name Project Horizon.

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP), Regina, SK (306.569.4328), is in the process of building 22 new high-throughput grain handling and farm supply marketing centers -- 14 in Saskatchewan, 6 in Alberta and 2 in Manitoba -- a C$275 million effort. These elevators will be located on main rail lines and will have unit-train loading capabilities. In the process, SWP is consolidating 170 other locations, many of them outdated wood elevators. When Project Horizon is complete in 2000, SWP will be operating approximately 200 locations across Western Canada.

It takes a lot of gear drives to build that many elevators. And for Project Horizon, SWP has chosen to go with state-of-the-art beltless technology for most of the drives in the new facilities. The units are TR/TL Series shaft-mounted and screw conveyor gear drives supply by Dorris Company, Inc., St. Louis, MO (800.325.2520).

Price and Performance

This isn't the first time SWP has utilitzed beltless gear drives, says Senior Project Manager Rob Schappert. "Our previous supplier was located in Europe, with service in Eastern Canada, however," he says. "The selection came down to price, performance, and the location of service. Dorris Company is based in North America, and they were willing to have stock in Canada. That's important to us"

Beyond the choice of suppliers, he notes, there are the advantages of the elimination of belts through the use of direct coupling between the drive and the motor shaft. This results in a smaller, simpler drive that requires less maintenance than belt drives. It eliminates the potential hazard of a misaligned belt.

And the Dorris design offers higher gear ratios than conventional drives, up to 40:1 on Models 107 through 407 and up to 250:1 on Models 415 through 700. A higher gear ratio allows for direct coupling and still achieving the desired conveying speeds, with the economics and proven reliability of a shaft-mounted gear drive.

SWP is ordering drives with two difference types of mounts. The C-frame design, generally used with motors up to 50-hp in size, is mounted to a flange around the circumference of the motor shaft and remains suspended in air. For larger motors, ranging in size from 60- to 250-hp, SWP is utilizing the Dorris scoop mount design, which still offers a direct coupling and is supported through a flexible mount to the head of the bucket elevator.
Ed Zdrojewski, editor

Reprinted from the September/October 1998 GRAIN JOURNAL

For More Information Contact:

Dorris Company, Inc.
Tel: 586.293.5260 or 800.325.2520
FAX: 586.293.5290

Beltless Drives

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool chooses new technology for "Project Horizon"

Last modified: February 02, 2007