As conveyor systems lengthen, it’s necessary to maintain stable tension to prevent belt slippage. Installing take-up units at strategic locations along the conveyor belt provides several key advantages:
Helps prevent excess belt sag
Assists in smoother start-ups by decreasing slippage
Allows for more slack during installation and splicing
West River builds a wide variety of custom take-up units that will assist in keeping your conveyor belts running smoothly. Our 20/40 hydraulic take-up is the most common style. However, we can offer different lengths and configurations based on your individual needs.
Benefits of West River Take-Up Units
Take-up units offer a wide range of benefits for conveyor operators:
Extends the life of conveyor belts
Helps ensure proper belt tension and loading.
Prevents slippage between the belt and drive pulley.
Useful belt storage feature allows for ease of belt splicing (if needed).
Compensates for changes in belt length due to elongation.
Types of Take Up Units
The two main types of take-ups are the automatic gravity take-up (GTU) and manual screw take-up (STU).
Screw take-ups are the most common and work via a rotating pulley inside two bearing blocks. Two screws help create tension and allow the bearing blocks to slide on stationery guideways. They’re ideal for short runs under 50m (165 ft) in length. Electric winches offer additional advantages over traditionally hydraulic take up units.
Gravity take-ups have the pulley mounted on a trolley that is pulled backward by deflecting pulleys and a steel rope. The carriage travels parallel to the conveyor—that is, at an incline on inclined conveyors and horizontally on horizontal conveyors. A GTU setup is ideal for runs over 50m (165 ft) and helps ensure constant belt tension.
As an alternative to the cylinder-designed take-ups, some conveyor belt operators use constant tension winches that provide a much quicker response and longer take-up travel.
Take Up Unit Design
West River builds our take-ups with several useful options that include travel length/belt storage and cylinder selections. We use heavy-duty shafts, pulleys, and split-house bearings to ensure long-lasting performance. The durable rigid frames can withstand the most challenging of applications and environments. West River’s competitively-priced take-up units are available in any desired belt width to work with your application. Please contact us below to learn how West River can help with your take-up needs.
48BW 20-40 Hydraulic Take-Up Unit
48BW 20-40 Hydraulic Take-Up Unit
Explore how hydraulic take-up units automatically maintain optimal belt tension to increase system reliability, extend belt life, and enhance safety in demanding conveyor applications.
Help prevent excess belt sag while extending the life of your conveyor belt with a custom take-up unit from West River. Our in-house engineers will work closely with you to help solve your toughest of mining conveyor challenges.
“I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude for the exceptional support provided by Russ during a recent troubleshooting effort. His availability, technical expertise, and proactive approach were instrumental in resolving the issues efficiently and effectively. Russ’s dedication to fostering and maintaining strong, long lasting professional relationships surpasses the typical sales mentality I have grown used to dealing with elsewhere. His commitment to his customers and consistent follow through has built a foundation of trust that I professionally continue to rely on. Having someone so dependable and relationship focused adds tremendous value, and it speaks volumes about the culture and professionalism of West River as a whole. Please extend my appreciation to Russ for his outstanding work and continued partnership.”
– Regina Tuberville, Sr. Mine Engineer
“I have had excellent success with everything I have purchased from West River. The service is great! I have called after hours and received the same top-notch service. The pulleys that I bought have been top-quality and are doing very well. I recently had some alignment work done on our slope belt, with the same high quality workmanship. I would recommend West River to anyone needing gearboxes, pulleys, alignment, or other conveyor components.”
– Steve Bjork, Preparation Plant Maintenance Chief
“West River is a friend to the mining industry, supplying quality components at a competitive price!”
– Barry Tackett, Operations Manager, Mountain Aggregates
“From the beginning, we wanted to standardize our conveyor equipment. We knew we wanted to minimize the number of spare parts and pulleys. This has been the only time in my career I’ve been able to accomplish this task. The good relationship that we’ve developed with West River is attributed to the genuinely good people that run the company. In my experience, many vendors are primarily interested in maximizing their profit margin but I truly believe the team at West River has the best interest of the customer at heart.”
– Brad Rigsby, General Manager, Black Panther Mining
“West River’s conveyor systems have given us a great level of reliability. In the years that we have been using them as our supplier, we have not had a single breakdown, no quality issues, and no under-design problems. West River’s dedication to excellence in customer service is exceptional. All phone calls and emails are replied to in a timely manner and deadlines are always met even when they may seem unachievable.”
– Coley Burgess, Mine Engineer, Mosaic Company
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