Operating Conditions
Bearing duty in Bucket Elevators
Conveyor bearings here have to survive contamination, shock load and long running hours. Most of their life depends on the seal arrangement, load rating and housing fit you choose.
Bucket elevators carry head and boot shafts on pillow block or flanged units, and the head shaft takes the full chain or belt load plus the drive torque. The boot sits in the material pile, so it sees heavy dust ingress and sometimes moisture, while the head bearings must cope with shaft deflection from heavy loaded buckets. Buyers want reliable sealing at the boot and enough load capacity at the head to avoid unplanned stops.
- Specify heavily sealed units at the boot section, where bearings sit close to the material and dust is constant.
- Use spherical roller bearing units at the head shaft to absorb misalignment from shaft deflection under full bucket load.
- Check whether the head drive puts an axial load on the shaft, and add thrust capacity if it does.
- Make sure bolt spacing and center height match the existing elevator casing before ordering replacements.
