Three Ways an Industrial Puller Can Boost ProductivityMcKenzie Fritch, Industrial Pulley Puller
How much downtime does the equipment in your plant cost per hour as maintenance technicians work to remove frozen, rusted, or stuck pulleys, bearings, and sprockets from shafts? From the shipyard to the paper mill to the mines, removing frozen objects from shafts can be one of the biggest — and most unnecessary — time wasters that maintenance teams face. Small-scale, hand tool-based removal methods such as torches and crowbars are unsafe and time consuming, and often require the efforts of multiple maintenance workers to get the job done.
An industrial puller, rugged-built for years of service in the plant and providing literally tons of force, solves this problem by allowing the same job to be done by just one person in much less time, saving you hours, labor, and ultimately cost.
How It Works
Industrial pullers come in a variety of sizes, from small, handheld manual models ranging from 1 to 30 ton capacities to larger, incredibly durable wheel- or forklift-mounted pullers capable of upwards of 100 tons in force. The key to nearly all of the bigger models is a hydraulic pump, which may be operated manually or by electricity or gas. The pump powers 2 to 3 metal arms, often arranged in a clawlike formation, that reach behind and wrap around the frozen object to pull it forward, as well as a central screw that simultaneously pushes back against the shaft, holding it in place as the object is being removed.
The strength of the machine means that the pulley, bearing, or sprocket comes off the way it went on — without heating, cutting, or physical strain on the maintenance person. Time savings, equipment and employee safety, and labor savings are three big benefits that a puller delivers.
1. Time Savings: Pullers save time by getting the same job done faster. Industrial Pulley Puller, a company that has been producing pullers since 1940, has a firsthand view of the productivity gains pullers routinely provide for plants. But time savings are also hidden in setup and tear-down. With an industrial puller, there is no hunting around for additional tools or personnel, and less to put away when the job is done.
The quick availability of parts is another indirect time-saver that should not be underestimated. Industrial Pulley Puller keeps all puller parts in-stock and ready to ship, so that the customer is never kept waiting.
2. Employee and Equipment Safety: The best tool for the job is usually the one that is made for it. Maintenance workers attempting to remove frozen objects from shafts may resort to torches, sledges, or cutters to loosen the stuck coupling or pulley. This not only puts the worker at elevated injury risk (flying shards when the object receives the impact of the sledge, burn risk, physical strain, etc.) but also poses a danger to the equipment itself. Torches and cutters can distort or crack the frozen object, requiring more time to repair or replace it, or may even damage the shaft itself.
Unlike sledges or torches, pullers are specifically designed for the job of quickly and securely removing objects from shafts, and should not cause damage to parts when correctly used. They eliminate the trial and error approach of hand tools, delivering consistent, reliable results. And, the hydraulic pump takes manpower out of the equation, minimizing room for user error and strain.
For added security, the best puller models are rigorously tested for dependability. All puller arms leaving Industrial Pulley Puller, for example, are load tested at 140% of the maximum rated force. When shopping for a puller, make sure to investigate the manufacturer's quality standards and equipment testing procedures.
3. Labor Savings: Perhaps the best and most familiar payoff of pullers is their ability to reduce the maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) workforce required for a given job down to just one person. The best pullers are easy to transport, whether via attached casters, skyhook, or forklift, and easy to operate. Using hand tools, the job of removing a frozen object from a shaft is frustrating and physically taxing, but using a puller completely changes the job description: the task is no more strenuous than transporting the puller, aligning it with the workpiece, and (depending on the model) perhaps operating a hand pump. Industrial pullers make removal a one-person task, saving labor and time so that both the maintenance person and the machine he or she is working on can get back to their real jobs.
Conclusion
Time and labor savings, along with improved equipment and worker safety, are a few of the greatest cost-savers and productivity boosters offered by industrial pullers. If you find your plant productivity is being limited by time-consuming and inefficient MRO tasks, it might be time to invest and see how an industrial puller could pull for you.
