An aircraft maintenance remanufacturing plant in Canada needed a safer, more productive process for disassembling and reassembling turbine engine reduction gear boxes without product damage.
The operation utilized a motorized Ibeam crane with an electric hoist to lift shafts from gear boxes. It took one person to work the motorized crane controls and another person
to position the shafts through the bearing housings. The motorized crane did not allow for precise positioning of the required load, therefore, two operators were absolutely necessary. Damaged parts and back injuries resulted from employees trying to manually position the 600 lb. loads the last ½ in. or so to achieve the exact position required.
To resolve the problem of product damage and employee safety, the company chose three 1,000 lb. free standing work station bridge cranes, all with aluminum bridges on steel enclosed track runways. The aluminum bridge is 40% lighter than a comparable enclosed track steel bridge and is 300% lighter than an I-beam crane system. Less than 5 lbs. of force is necessary to position the loads. An electric chain hoist is used for lifting.