Can anyone tell me about these gears? All I know is they are made in Germany and Karl Senner is the local dealer.
Two boats in our fleet have them.
Both are nearly 20 years old.
Never had any problems with them, completely reliable.
Hydraulic clutches.
I’ve had excellent service out of Reintjes and ZF gears.
What about parts availability?
No worries. Karl Senner will support quite well. If you get in a pinch, the office in Belgium is good, and the head office has a 24 hr. service line.
If you have access, check the oil analysis for the past. The thing to look for is the copper. If it’s going up, the clutch plates are the suspect.
Reintjes limits are typically 400 ppm copper, 300 ppm iron and 250ppm lead. If exceeding these, start lookin’. Immediate service at 700 ppm, 500 ppm & 400ppm respectively. Depending on the model, renewing the clutch plates is big work.
Thanks for the heads up and feed back. I have spoke to the parts dept at Karl Senner and they have assured me the parts if needed are available. I’ll have to check into the oil analysis with the former owner and chief. As of now the boat is working daily and all is well.
I have been around Reintjes gears for over 20 years, and have had good luck with every one I have ever been around. Have seen them behind 3512 Cats all the way up to 20-645 EMD’s.
The only issue I ever remember having with any of them was one boat with a bad vibration issue. On top of some of the Reintjes they have 2 small oil cans, I think they call them delay pots. They are to slow the flow of oil to the clutch’s to keep the bridge from speed shifting. This one tug in particular I had to fabricate a brace to help secure the delay pots, because the vibration kept cracking them at the base. I blame that on the vibration of the tug not the gear’s. That is the only issue I ever remember having with any of them.
Karl Senner is usually pretty good about service, have had very little issues with them.
Had them on 2 Turecamo boats I worked on coupled to Alco’s. They had shaft brakes installed as well. Karl Senner came & did an overhaul on each after the hours got up. Didn’t take them but a couple days.
One of our boats just did a clutch pack replacement because we had time and the wear metals were triple the opposite gear.
Behind a 3516, just like Chief Rob noted. Let me see if I can score some photos next week.
It has been a few years, but I ran a couple of boats with Reintjes boxes and they ran extremely well. As stated, Karl Senner does a great job when needed. I didn’t really get to know the folks at Karl Senner until I ran a couple of Lohmann & Stolterfoht boxes. . . Don’t ask about those. . . .
I’ve worked with these gearboxes for 25+ years with no issues.
I have no experience whatsoever with the Reintjes gears. I had never laid eyes on one until two weeks ago when we did the vessel inspection. From what I’ve read so far sounds like they are hard to beat.
I have sailed many old Turdwater boats with these gears. I can tell you in many instances they were original equipment that appeared to have had little or no maintenance in 20 Yrs. Damned things seem virtually indestructible which is good considering the meticulous PM program at Turdwater. The other guys are right Karl Senner is top notch for parts and service.
I’ve worked with them over 20 years on several boats with alco and cats thru 2 companies. Note I worked with them not on them. Extremely reliable never failed. One issue on one boat was promptly fixed by Karl senner. They put a new bull gear in one of the alcos when the engine broke a crank. Chalked that up to a misalignment when the crank gave. A few broke teeth. That one at the time was 25 yrs old
[QUOTE=tugboat95;85029]I’ve worked with them over 20 years on several boats with alco and cats thru 2 companies. Note I worked with them not on them. Extremely reliable never failed. One issue on one boat was promptly fixed by Karl senner. They put a new bull gear in one of the alcos when the engine broke a crank. Chalked that up to a misalignment when the crank gave. A few broke teeth. That one at the time was 25 yrs old[/QUOTE]
Many years ago, I got to know the Karl Senner guys really well. Having a pair of Lohman gear boxes will do that. Sadly, I have forgotten many of their names. Some excellent hands, for both gearboxes and air controls. About the only one I do remember is Darrell, and I don’t know that I ever knew his last name. About the only thing I do remember about him is that he was from the north shore.
[QUOTE=cmakin;85181]Many years ago, I got to know the Karl Senner guys really well. Having a pair of Lohman gear boxes will do that. Sadly, I have forgotten many of their names. Some excellent hands, for both gearboxes and air controls. About the only one I do remember is Darrell, and I don’t know that I ever knew his last name. About the only thing I do remember about him is that he was from the north shore.[/QUOTE]
Was that the gear boxes on the Sea Skimmer? I remember big Terrry having quit a few problems over there. Couldn’t remember the name of the gears though. Were they made in France or something like that?
[QUOTE=ChiefRob;85185]Was that the gear boxes on the Sea Skimmer? I remember big Terrry having quit a few problems over there. Couldn’t remember the name of the gears though. Were they made in France or something like that?[/QUOTE]
Lohman and Stotlerfoht from Germany. From what I understand, Robert Bludworth got them pretty cheaply and the only two copies of that particular model were onboard. I am not sure if they were ever intended to push 3,600 HP through them. They had internal hydraulic clutches but were a real bear. Have you ever heard a gearbox start shedding teeth as you are coming up the Mississippi River? It makes a sound that you will never forget and rips you down to your soul.
They were a constant problem. I had heard that when the SKIMMER first started running, both shafts turned the same direction to go ahead. Prior to my coming onboard, they put a new wheel on (I forget which shaft), and that made them inboard turning shafts. We had real problems when running in the corner. It would generate fine bits of black waste that was too small for the filters to get out. We even went as far as putting a shunt microfilter system on. No help. After going through all of the literature, I figured out that they were running through the “astern” gear train to go ahead. This generated extra heat in the “idling” clutch pack since torque was being transferred insteal of the pinion free wheeling while going ahead. Since I worked for a management company, they were not going to change wheels. We actually ran on one shaft/engine for several months. Once they found out that we could still make decent time without both shafts, repairs to the stripped box were put off. Well, until the starboard box went, in the middle of the Gulf. We were on our way, loaded with gasoline and diesel, bound for Port Everglades. The boxes were rebuilt two more times. That’s how I got to know the Karl Senner guys so well. I have pictures of some of the repairs somewhere.
Fast forward a few years and there I was, the ABS guy working with Terry and Paul on the DIXIE COMMANDER, and wow, they were having gearbox problems. I mentioned that they may want to do a bit of research and look to see what they thought about my discovery some years before that was largely ignored. From what I understand, making the shafts turn outboard cured most of the problems. Changing to another brand of gearbox wasn’t possible because of alignment issues. Yeah. tug boatin’.
Reintjes are top notch. On the older ones its a bitch to order parts, due to the way they are diagrammed in the book, but they are great gears. Never had to use the “come home feature”