The MH - 400 material handler is a crucial piece of equipment that helps with efficiency when hauling various bulk materials around the golf course. We use this particular machine for hauling sand while topdressing greens, tees, and appraoches. This unit also has an attachment for allowing the user to topdress fairways and other large areas needing sand.
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| A view of the snapped belt from underneath the MH - 400 |
During our first aerification this past May, our MH - 400 decided it had enough and snapped the conveyor belt. This was a blow to our overall efficiency during the aerification process and it was not going to be an easy fix. The conveyor belt is the single most important aspect of the machine other than the tractor you need to haul it with. Since the belt broke the MH - 400 was not able to move the sand out of the machine into the topdresser.
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| Rear view look at the machine midway through stripping it apart. Notice all the rust. |
Once we determined the belt broke the next plan of attack was to strip the machine of all parts and assess the damage. Since the belt requires so many pieces of the MH - 400 to come off, more often than not the MH - 400 needs a complete makeover. Due to the age of the machine, this was going to be the case with our MH - 400.
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| Completely stripped machine ready for some body work. |
Once we stripped the machine of all necessary pieces we began to assess our situation and created an action plan for replacement parts. Since our particular machine is nearing the 14 year old stage, we felt it was necessary to rebuild as it would be a cost effective way to save us from not buying a new MH - 400.
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| Floor of the MH - 400 that houses the belt rollers waiting to be sanded, primed, and painted. |
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| Roller assembly with primer |
To the left is the floor of the MH - 400 after it was sanded and primed. We determined that the best way to prolong this unit was to give it a couple coats of primer and seal the exposed metal with a product similar to Rhino Liner or Line X. The reason for the decision was to give our MH - 400 the best possible scenario to survive another 5 years. Below is a picture of the finished product before being installed back into the body of the MH - 400. This will protect the main roller assembly from sand and water corrosion which could potentially cause severe rust damage.
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| Roller assembly with a Rhino Lining type material. |
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| Up close picture of the Rhino Lining material used to prevent damage to the metal frame. |
Here is our finished product after many man hours and countless cans of paint. All that is left is a test run so we can adjust the tension on the belt and get the unit dialed in so we can put it back in service.
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| Finished product |
