Stay ahead of repairs and maintenance on your Tub or Horizontal Grinder!  Repairs are expensive, but downtime and can be extremely costly; especially when the material starts to pile up and your grinder is still down.   Our advice is to keep an inventory of common wear parts that will keep you running.  Here is a brief list of the most common items we recommend you keep on hand to help minimize downtime. 

1. Have a set of wear parts for your grinder in.  If you purchase a wear parts package, you can often get a discount and have them ready when needed.  Too often we find operators that wait until they have to replace common wear parts before looking for them.  Many vendors do not keep stock of wear parts for all makes and models all the time; especially older models.  This can lead to long wait times and cause additional damage to equipment as operators are forced to run them while waiting for overdue parts.  Plus if you purchase parts in advance you will have time to shop around get the best price.
2. Weld and hardface your wear parts; especially on your hammers, or holders, and mill plates (in a pin & plate style mill).  Check your grinding chamber for cracks at the end of every day to help catch them early as early as possible.  Good maintenance will greatly extend the life of your expensive weat parts as well as your machine.
3. Have an extra set of drive belts.  We typically recommend powerbands for most grinder applications. They extend belt life and assure equal load distribution in drives where high shock or pulsating loads cause belts to whip, flip over or jump out of the sheave grooves.  Earthsaver Equipment is a dealer for Bando drivebelots and can provide you with premium drive belts to limit downtime.   www.earthsaverequipment.com/parts
4. If you have a dry clutch, such as a Twin Disc 318, either have a clutch package handy for quick repair, or at least locate a vendor that can provide parts and service quickly. Hydraulic clutches are typically too expensive for most operators to just have an extra one sittingIf you have a hydraulic clutch call your clutch dealer for advice on checking clutch wear and see about getting a courtesy visit to help you get the most life out of your clutch.  Your local dealer might be able to make you aware of any special offers or keep an eye out for any parts that will fit your machine.  Contact us for a quote.
5. Plane to perform engine and hydraulic service on a regular schedule.  If you are close to your scheduled service and have some down time go ahead and service the machine early rather than in the middle of your next job.
6. The best way to avoid downtime is to set up measures to avoid contaminants and limit how much dirt is fed into your grinder. For more information and advice on what kind of contaminants to expect and how to avoid them, see  "Contaminants, Expect Them"

If you have any questions regarding any of these money saving tips, or are looking for any quality used parts for your machine please contact EarthSaver Equipment.  If you have any additional money saving ideas we would love to hear them, please give us a call at