Timken Bearings Available


The after hours call from Scott White, Branch Manager of Statewide Bearings Mackay to Timken’s Regional Sales Manager in Queensland, David Whiffin, was patched through to a rostered company mobile phone late on Saturday night.

Replacement bearings were urgently required for a stricken dragline operating at Rolleston coal mine in the Bowen Basin, SE Queensland.

Production was being lost in the 24/7 open cut operation, 300km west of Gladstone and more than 2500 km north of Timken headquarters at Ballarat, Victoria.

Timken distributor Statewide Bearings in Mackay quickly identified the problem but the critical question came down the line from David : urgently check stock of 2 pieces of Timken 200TS718 tapered bearing assemblies.Fortunately, due to good forward planning by Statewide Queensland Manager, Nick Breyder, Timken had 6 assemblies in stock for Statewide dragline shutdowns and emergency stock ­ exactly the situation they now faced.

But now, racing against the clock, all attention turned to the logistics of getting the 700kg assemblies on site as soon as possible ­ if not sooner.

Ballarat-based Timken Associate Danny Ryan was able to provide Scott with the good news and he now took over the logistics of getting two of these heavy assemblies (2 x 346 kg crates) by charter aircraft from Ballarat to Rolleston , a distance of more than 2500km.

Danny worked closely with Terry Sharp, Timken’s customs broker from Begley, Hobba and Manton, all day Sunday to get the bearings from stock and out to the Ballarat airport.

Just loading the plane itself took more than four hours given the aircraft type and the weight of the bearings.

Terry Sharp says, “ We only had about 3 cm clearance on each side of the crate to get them through the cargo door and we couldn't get the forklift too close and risk touching the plane.Once through the door we had the added problem of trying to slide the crates forward to achieve a centre of gravity over the wings”.Finally it was done. With the bearings strapped down, extra weight then had to be added to the nose of the aircraft to balance the load.

In driving rain and gathering darkness, the load team worked on with the invaluable help of pilot Geoff Foster, Bob from Ballarat Mobile Fork Lifts and a couple of willing volunteers, Jason and Mitch from the Ballarat Aero Club.

Barely 24 hours after receiving the after-hours emergency call the 2 X 200TS718 assemblies ­ all 700 kg of them ­ were cleared for take-off to get the sheaves on the massive 2570 Rolleston dragline rolling again.For the Rolleston Coal Mine, it proved the Timken tagline ŒWhere You Turn is apt indeed.

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