The World’s Most Reliable Housed Units—for the World’s Toughest Jobs

Adrian Menzies (right), one of Timken’s housed unit experts, shares why those who install and maintain the world’s most challenging industrial equipment choose highly-engineered housed units for performance they can count on.

Q: What types of industries rely on Timken^® Housed Units?

Menzies: Timken has one of the broadest lines of mounted bearing solutions in the industry, so we supply nearly every application that uses these bearings. Our products run in the most contaminated areas in primary metals, water treatment, cement manufacturing, mining and food and sugar processing facilities. Maintenance is usually a challenge in many of these applications, so they demand solutions with increased performance to keep moisture and contamination out, with the expectation of long-term reliability.

Q: With such an extensive housed unit product line, which do you find most impressive?

Menzies: Our split cylindrical housed units are impressive because all components are split to the shaft, so it’s quick and easy to install and maintain. This is crucial for a site like a water treatment facility, where equipment is running submerged in water. You want to replace those housed units infrequently because they are difficult to get to and you need to avoid downtime. If the equipment stops running, they run the risk of releasing untreated water into the environment, and that’s not acceptable. Our split cylindricals help avoid a situation like this and make these operations more environmentally safe and sustainable.

Q: How do split cylindricals fit into the rest of the Timken housed unit line?

Menzies: Our sales and service engineers have seen it all in the field, and our broad range of housed units reflects that. The split cylindrical design makes installation in difficult positions much easier, while our corrosion-resistant housed units are engineered for specific food-safety requirements such as caustic washdowns. Whether our customers need to manage high axial and radial loads or avoid a specific contamination, we’ve designed Timken housed unit products to accommodate their application requirements.

Q: How does Timken use its collective intelligence to create a successful housed unit design?

Menzies: Behind our split cylindricals and entire housed unit line is a team of excellent application and design engineers and manufacturing professionals. Our knowledge is what differentiates Timken products from those of our competitors. Our experts have created sealing technologies that can accommodate varying challenges of contamination levels. Our manufacturing capabilities add precision and performance, and housing material selection offers greater strength, durability and service life.

Review our complete line of housed units here.

Adrian Menzies has worked in the global bearing industry for 32 years. He is one of the company’s leading experts in housed unit bearings. Over his career, he’s seen bearings perform, and fail, in nearly every type of application from water treatment to mining. He is passionate about advancing bearing technology to deliver high-performance products that keep customers running efficiently.

Last Updated: 2022/11/30

Published: 2021/04/14