Benefits of reduced radial loads include extended bearing life, a critical component of machinery reliability. Reduced radial loads within the gearbox also permit it to tolerate higher radial loads from the equipment it is driving. Suitability for shaft mounting. Benefits of shaft mounting, as discussed previously, include elimination of the cost and complexity of couplings and elimination of the time and labour involved in ensuring correct alignment of the gearbox and the plant it is driving. Direct drive through shaft mounting also avoids radial loads imposed by chaindrives.
Planetary gearboxes are available in a wide range of sizes and can be modular in construction.
Heavy duty industrial uses include water treatment agitators, crane slew drives, winches, conveyors, and equipment for the mining, quarrying and steel industries. Planetary drives are particularly well suited to applications involving high torque and high reduction ratios. On the other hand, their compact size gives rise to reduced surface area. This can result in limitations due to the need for heat dissipation for applications involving high kW continuous operation. Such applications may, for example, require auxiliary cooling arrangements.