Existing 25kip aluminum shoring system with washer and wing nut screw jack was “virtually impossible to adjust by hand under load”. “In most cases a hammer was used to turn the nut.”The Ellis MFG Co.’s patented Thrust Bearing Screw Jack Assembly was applied and is estimated to save 5 minutes per shore during the stripping process.
The Challenges
The typical washer and wing nut screw jack presented challenges that limited the performance of the aluminum shoring system in three different areas; inventory management, lifting capacity, and speed of operation. The most concerning challenge was the speed of operation during stripping.
The original screw jack comprised of a screw, a wing nut, and a washer to reduce friction between the aluminum post and the wing nut. The washer created challenges when assembling, disassembly, and inventorying the shores. In many cases the washer would not make it onto the shore or back in to the inventory bin when finished. If, and when, the washer did not make it onto the shore during setup, the little reduction in friction it provided was gone.
The lifting capacity of the shores was minimal at best and characterized by operators as “virtually impossible (to turn) by hand”. A hammer was used in most cases to adjust the nut up of down and over time caused the nuts to be damaged and need replacement.
The biggest challenge to the original screw jack was the speed at which it could be setup, adjusted to correct height, and stripped. The operating time was a major problem and slowed jobs down significantly. Broken handles on the wingnut, characterized as “non-existent in most cases”, paired with a high amount of friction between the wingnut and aluminum post, slowed the adjustment process heavily and made stripping a very difficult and time consuming task.
All of these challenges combined to cost the contractor money in labor and in material for replacing broken wingnuts and washers.
The Solution
The Ellis Manufacturing Company Thrust Bearing Nut Assembly improves the performance of the aluminum shoring system in three areas, inventory management, lifting capacity, and speed of operation. The most notable improvement is in the speed of operation and time saved.
Inventory management has improved due to the reduction of parts required to operate efficiently. The Ellis MFG Thrust Bearing Nut Assembly fully encapsulates the washers and bearing into one unit reducing the overall number of parts needed to operate an efficient shoring system.
The lifting capacity has greatly increased because of two factors. First, the patented Thrust Bearing technology provided by Ellis MFG, adds roller bearings sandwiched between two washers incased in the heavy-duty nut and connection sleeve. The Ellis MFG Roller Bearings eliminate the normal grinding caused by the direct contact of the shores pipe edge and wing nut and greatly reduce the friction that grinding caused. Second, the Ellis MFG HD nut provides the ability for the operator to turn the nut with a 12”-60” long steel rod. These two features render an increase in lifting capacity of more than 10x.
The overall speed of operation was by far the biggest benefit of using the Ellis MFG Thrust Bearing Nut Assembly. The massive reduction in friction and the additional leverage provided by the Ellis Thrust Bearing Nut renders, on average, a savings of 5 minutes of labor per shore. The newly found ease of stripping the shores and formwork has lead the contractor to estimate the Ellis MFG Thrust Bearing Nuts will “pay for themselves in the first or second job they are used on”.
For more information about how the Ellis MFG Thrust Bearing Nut can help you save time and money contact us. store@ellismfg.com or 800.654.8311