Custom Gearboxes for Drilling Rig Drawworks

A leading manufacturer of drawworks used on land-based and offshore oil and gas drilling rigs required rugged gearboxes that could perform reliably in tough environments. The drawworks gearbox drives a winch drum which raises and lowers the drill head during exploratory hole drilling.

Based on their reputation for high-quality, heavy-duty gearing solutions, Nuttall Gear was selected to manufacture the custom reducers. Nuttall’s engineering team made significant refinements and enhancements to the original customer-supplied gearbox design.

One of the engineering challenges was to develop oil seals that would perform at the high input shaft speeds up to 3000 RPM. The gearboxes have an input horsepower range from 1000 to 3000 HP. Units are shaft-mounted to the winch drum which provides support.

The Nuttall enclosed reducers have an input rating of 1500 HP @ 800/3000 RPM, a reduction ratio of 10:1 and dual or single input shafts. Units feature a fabricated steel housing, pressure lubricated bearings and an oil heating/cooling system depending on environmental conditions.

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