Robust plain bearings for heavy duty use in cultivators in agriculture

• What was needed: iglidur ® plain bearing
• Requirements: Lubrication and maintenance-free as well as robust plain bearings that have to withstand high loads during swivelling movements
• Industry: Agriculture, agricultural machinery construction
• Success for the customer: Great time and cost savings, as no lubrication of the iglidur® bearings used is necessary and they are particularly durable

Lemken GmbH und Co KG is a family-run company that specialises in the manufacture of agricultural equipment for soil cultivation, sowing and plant protection. One of the manufacturer's product areas is stubble cultivation equipment, so-called cultivators and short disc harrows. Today, these are primarily used for conservation tillage and stubble cultivation. With the "Karat 9", Lemken offers an intensive cultivator that penetrates between five and 30 centimetres deep into the soil and thus optimally incorporates organic matter. During operation, there may be large stones in the soil in the path of the tractor and its soil tillage implement, which must not hinder the work process. For this reason, the Karat 9 is equipped with overload elements, whereby the tines, which are working in the ground during normal operation, automatically move backwards and upwards and then automatically return to the working position. Depending on the size of the cultivator, the metal bearing solution used to move the tines had to be lubricated for up to 1 hour a day in order for the bearings to do their job properly. If the numerous lubrication points, depending on the working width, were not sufficiently lubricated, the resulting lack of lubrication led to considerable problems with corrosion and greatly increased wear of the bearing point, which ultimately resulted in damage to shafts and housing bore.

Thanks to the use of lubrication-free igus ® plastic plain bearings, the overload element is now maintenance-free. With the iglidur® high-performance materials, subsequent lubrication can be completely dispensed with, as the bearings contain self-lubricating solid lubricants. This saves valuable time for the farmer. In contrast to metal bearings, where the lubricants cannot be distributed evenly and only the same points on the bearing are always subjected to stress, plain bearings made of plastic can utilise their advantages here. The swivelling movements cannot affect them as much and no lubricant can be displaced. Another advantage is the dry operation of the bearing, as no dirt can adhere to it. Together with the high stability of the plain bearings, which can easily withstand the high forces in the overload element of the cultivator, this results in significantly increased reliability. Lemken also saved costs due to the more favourable procurement costs and the increased downtime of the plain bearings.
igus® can fall back on 47 catalogue materials for the most diverse requirements, for example also for high-load applications such as those found in the agricultural sector. In the Karat 9 cultivator, however, plain bearings made from the all-rounder iglidur ® G, which can withstand a compressive strength of 80 MPa, are already proving their worth.