Thordon Bearings has seen its RiverTough tailshaft bearing solution surpass 500 installations in the workboat sector.
Primarily a retrofit solution but also increasingly specified for newbuilds, RiverTough is designed for coastal and inland waterways, where conditions are typically muddy and abrasive. The solution, applied in combination with hard-coated nickel-chrome-boron (NiCrB) Thordon shaft sleeves, has been verified as outlasting rubber bearings by a factor of two or more in the harshest operating environments. Workboat operators serving the Mississippi River, U.S., have reported wear rates of just 0.07–0.1 mm (0.003–0.004 inches) over 6,000–7,000 hours of annual use.
RiverTough’s resilience cuts maintenance and yields significant cost savings over the vessel lifecycle. Uptake has been particularly strong in the U.S., where two strategically located warehouses—in New Orleans (LA) and Paducah (KY)—have facilitated over 400 installations to date. Accounting for over 60 more, South America is another strong market for RiverTough.
As well as long lasting, RiverTough is easy to machine, install, and align than rubber bearings. Its length-to-diameter (L/D) ratio of 3:1 results in superior water flow and reduced edge loading when compared with the 4:1 L/D ratio of rubber bearings.
