Producers realize big ROI benefits from new self-cleaning, abrasion-resistant urethane return rolls.

Comprised of specially-formulated polyurethane material which offers greater wear life and abrasion resistance, Urathon® return rolls are engineered with 90-durometer discs designed with a self-cleaning flat surface to prevent any material buildup between the discs or on the belt. And typically, material buildup is the leading cause of premature belt damage. The result for the producers is a component that essentially extends the life of the entire conveying system while reducing maintenance and operating costs.

Headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, Knife River is one of the top ten U.S. aggregate producers with more than 1.2 billion tons of aggregate reserves in strategic locations in 14 states. Its product lines also include asphalt, ready-mix concrete, building materials and construction services.

Rubber Disc Return Wear
Knife River Superintendent Mike House has installed the new urethane return rolls into each of the three locations he manages, the first being a sand and gravel facility where he says Urathon return rolls are a welcome replacement over “fast-wearing” rubber-disc return rolls which had to be changed out every three to four months. “I have had nothing but good luck with them,” he says, and as a result he next installed them at his barge loading operation, an off-load system which according to House, “contained some components that sailed over with Columbus.” He explains that this old system had a lot of belt tracking issues. “The belt would run at an angle and would eat up a rubber disc roll, until they would flatten and stop. So we put in the Urathon return rolls and even after almost a year, we didn’t notice any significant wear whatsoever,” he says, adding that soon after the new return rolls were removed from the older system and were integrated into a new system erected at the site. Lastly, House recently decided to install Urathon return rolls at his third location, a shot rock pit where the rubber-disc return rolls had also been developing “flat spots” which led to frequent changeouts.

House says he particularly likes the wider disc profile of the new Urathon return rolls, which he feels is a big factor in wear resistance. “The urethane material is wider where it mounts to the shaft and also where it meets the conveyor belt at the ends. This also aids in better belt tracking even through the changing seasons and weather conditions,” he says.

Importantly, House stresses that the Urathon return rolls are easy to retrofit into any of his systems. “There is a little adaptor that we can use so that the return roll will fit in the same hanger. We just take the old return roll out and the new Urathon return roll pops right in. It is simple, and the crew can change them right at the belt,” he says.

Finally, House says that beyond the components themselves, Superior Industries and its local distributor Mill Supply, offer the benefit of looking closely at any operational challenges and providing a variety of solutions. “I don’t want to listen to sales people who just want to tell me how great their equipment is. It is much better when the vendor is willing to dig into a problem and do some thinking for you,” he says.