In house
Diagnose, cut, and rebuild together
Inspection, gear cutting, bearing replacement, and final assembly all happen here in Houston. Your gearbox is never handed off to a third party shop between steps, so nothing is lost in translation.
Houston, TX ยท Extruder gearbox repair for plastics manufacturing
Extruder Gearbox Repair for Plastics Manufacturing in Houston TX
When an extruder drive starts to whine, run hot, or push the screw back against the thrust bearing, the line is one shift away from a full crash. Solution Gear Co. diagnoses and rebuilds single screw and twin screw extruder gearboxes to OEM spec or better. We replace worn bearings, recut or replace gears, renew seals, and correct alignment with a 7 stage process that includes magnaflux and ultrasonic inspection of every shaft and gear. Free shipping, free inspection, and an up to 24 month warranty on every rebuild.
Solution Gear Co. is a Houston, Texas shop that diagnoses and rebuilds plastics extruder gearboxes to OEM spec or better, family owned and operated for over 20 years. We service single screw extruder drives, twin screw gearboxes, and thrust bearing housings, fixing worn bearings, spalled or pitted gears, leaking seals, and shaft alignment with a 7 stage process that includes magnaflux and ultrasonic inspection. Everything is done under our own roof, with free shipping both ways, free inspection, free pickup and delivery including crating and rigging, savings up to 50 percent versus OEM, and an up to 24 month workmanship warranty.
Built for the plastics floor
The thrust bearing is where most extruder boxes die.
An extruder gearbox does two jobs at once. It steps the motor speed down to screw speed, and it absorbs the full axial back pressure of the melt through a thrust bearing at the screw end. Get the thrust wrong and the screw drifts back, the seal goes, and the gears follow. We rebuild the whole drive as a system, not just the part that failed.
20+ years
Proven on plastics extruders
For over two decades Gulf Coast compounders, film and sheet lines, pipe and profile plants, and pelletizing operations have trusted us to rebuild their single and twin screw drives.
OEM or better
Spec held, weak points fixed
We rebuild to original tolerances on lash, contact pattern, and clearance, and we correct the wear and alignment errors the box picked up in service. You can read more on our main gearbox repair page.
How an extruder gearbox rebuild works
Our 7 stage extruder gearbox process.
This is exactly what happens from the moment a worn drive arrives at the shop to the day it ships back, rebuilt, inspected, and ready to bolt to the screw. Magnaflux and ultrasonic inspection are built in, not an upcharge.
01
Diagnose and disassemble
We log the symptoms with you first. Whine, heat, end play at the screw, metal in the oil, or a leaking output seal each point to a different root cause. The box is then torn down completely, every part is tagged, and the failure mode is documented. The inspection is free and tells you the real condition before any work begins.
02
Clean and measure
Every shaft, housing, gear, and bearing bore is cleaned and measured against the original print. We check bore roundness, shaft journals, gear tooth size over pins, and the thrust face, so we know exactly how far the box has drifted from spec.
03
Magnaflux and ultrasonic inspection
Before anything goes back together, we magnaflux every shaft and gear to surface check for cracks, and we ultrasonically inspect for subsurface flaws and fatigue you cannot see. A cracked pinion that passes a visual check will fail under extruder torque, so this stage is non negotiable on every job.
04
Replace bearings and the thrust pack
Worn radial and thrust bearings are replaced to original specification. On most plastics extruders the thrust bearing carries the screw back pressure and is the part that started the failure, so it gets fresh and set to the correct preload and axial clearance.
05
Recut or replace gears, renew seals
Spalled, pitted, or chipped gears are recut or replaced to the original profile and quality grade. We can cut helical, bevel, and spur gears in house, which you can read about on our gear cutting page. Every shaft seal and gasket is renewed so the rebuilt box runs dry on the outside and keeps its oil.
06
Reassemble, set lash and contact pattern
The box is reassembled with backlash set to OEM spec and the tooth contact pattern blue checked so load spreads across the full face instead of riding on the tip or root. Shaft alignment and bearing preload are dialed in so the output shaft holds the screw position the line depends on.
07
Test, final inspection, and up to a 24 month warranty
The rebuilt drive is checked one last time on every critical dimension and, where the unit allows, run tested for noise, heat, and oil tightness. The completed work carries an up to 24 month workmanship warranty and ships back with free delivery, crating, and rigging.
Four failure modes, one rebuild
What we fix inside an extruder drive.
Bearings, gears, seals, and alignment are the four things that fail in an extruder gearbox. We address all of them in a single rebuild so the box does not come back for the next one.
Bearings
Radial and thrust
We replace worn radial bearings and the thrust pack that carries the melt back pressure, set to the correct preload and axial clearance so the screw holds position. Heavy duty thrust and journal work pairs with our babbitt bearing pouring when a sleeve bearing is involved.
Gears
Recut or replaced
Spalled, pitted, and chipped helical, bevel, and spur gears are recut or made new to the original profile and quality grade, then blue checked for contact pattern.
Seals
Renewed and leak free
Every input, output, and shaft seal plus the gaskets are renewed, so the rebuilt box keeps its oil and runs clean against the screw end where plastics contamination starts.
Alignment
Shafts set true
Shaft alignment, parallelism, and bearing preload are corrected so the gears mesh on the full face and the output shaft runs true to the screw. This is where a rebuild beats a worn original.
Where extruder gearboxes run
Built for the plastics line that cannot stop.
Plastics is our vertical. We rebuild the drives behind every common extrusion process on the Gulf Coast, single screw and twin screw, and we handle the related rotating equipment around them.
Single Screw Drives
Film, sheet, pipe, and profile extruders running single screw drives with a step down train and a thrust bearing carrying the melt back pressure, rebuilt to OEM spec or better.
Twin Screw & Compounding
Co rotating and counter rotating twin screw compounding gearboxes with their close center distance pinion trains and torque splitting layout, set to exact lash and parallelism.
Pelletizing & Recycling
Underwater and strand pelletizer drives and recycling extruder gearboxes that take heavy contamination loads, magnaflux and ultrasonically inspected before they go back into service.
An extruder rebuild often pairs with our screw and barrel repair and, on twin screw and planetary roller drives, our planetary gearbox repair. When the worn part is a sleeve bearing rather than a rolling element, our gearbox repair team pours and machines it to size in the same shop.
Straight from the floor
Inspected, rebuilt, and ready to run.
Not stock photos. These are drive components we inspected, cut, and rebuilt to size in our Houston shop, the same quality that goes back into your extruder.
No risk to you
Why there is no reason to scrap an extruder gearbox.
Save 50%
Rebuild, do not replace
A rebuilt extruder gearbox comes back to OEM spec or better for up to 50 percent less than a new unit, often with a shorter lead time than a factory replacement.
Free
Shipping, inspection, and rigging
Free shipping both ways, free inspection, and free pickup and delivery including crating and rigging. You see the real condition of the gears and bearings before you commit.
Backed
up to a 24 month warranty
An up to 24 month workmanship warranty on the rebuild. Built to carry the torque and back pressure the way the original did, or better.
24/7
Emergency turnaround
Extruder down at 2am? Our 24 hour emergency line answers at 832 270 2009. Rush rebuilds in days, not weeks, with free pickup arranged the same day.
Questions, answered
What plants ask before they ship us a drive.
What goes wrong inside a plastics extruder gearbox?
Extruder gearboxes fail in a few predictable ways. The thrust bearing carries the full back pressure of the melt and is usually the first to wear, which lets the screw drift back and chews the output shaft seal. Loss of lube, contamination, or a failed cooler then cooks the helical and bevel gears, leaving spalling and pitting on the tooth flanks. We diagnose the root cause first, then replace the bearings, recut or replace the gears, renew the seals, and correct shaft alignment so the rebuilt drive holds the screw position and oil film the way the original did. See our full gearbox repair process for the complete picture.
Do you rebuild twin screw extruder gearboxes as well as single screw drives?
Yes. We rebuild single screw extruder drive gearboxes, twin screw gearboxes with their close center distance pinion trains and torque splitting layout, and standalone thrust bearing housings. Twin screw boxes are tight and demand exact gear lash and shaft parallelism, so we magnaflux and ultrasonically inspect every gear and shaft, set backlash to OEM spec, and blue check the contact pattern before the box ships. Twin screw and roller drives often pair with our planetary gearbox repair.
How fast can you turn around an extruder gearbox when the line is down?
A line down plastics extruder is an emergency and we treat it that way. Our 24 hour emergency line answers at 832 270 2009, we arrange free pickup including crating and rigging, and we run rush rebuilds in days rather than weeks. If your gears are intact and only the bearings and seals are gone, the turnaround is shorter. If teeth are damaged we may cut new gears in house, which we plan around your schedule.
Is a rebuilt extruder gearbox really as good as a new one from the OEM?
A properly rebuilt gearbox comes back to OEM spec or better and saves you up to 50 percent versus a new unit. We use bearings and seals to original specification, we cut or source gears to the original profile and quality grade, and we correct the wear and alignment errors the box accumulated in service. Every rebuild carries an up to 24 month workmanship warranty, free shipping both ways, and a free inspection so you see the real condition before you commit. If the screw and barrel are worn too, ask about our screw and barrel repair.
Get a fast quote on your extruder gearbox.
Free shipping, free inspection, free pickup and delivery, and an up to 24 month warranty on every rebuild. Tell us about your drive and we will reply fast, often the same day.