That $220 weld positioner from auction ran for 11 minutes before the gearbox seized

Snagged it at a local Ritchie Bros auction in Tulsa thinking I scored big for the shop's pipe jobs. Got it home, hooked up a test piece of 2 inch sch 40, and the motor started grinding like it was full of gravel after 11 minutes. Any tips for rebuilding these old gearboxes or did I just buy myself a boat anchor?

1 comments

1 Comment

sandra69324d ago

Remember seeing a guy at a swap meet sell a whole pallet of those gearboxes for scrap price, he said they all came from a factory that ran them nonstop for decades. Took one apart and it was just packed with old grease that had turned into hard tar, so it might be worth pulling the cover and cleaning it out before you call it dead. Even if it's toast, you can usually find a replacement motor on eBay for less than the auction cost you.