U&L Engineering’s onsite machining and overlay welding solutions just got bigger

Company invests in two Elsa portable line boring machines.

Onsite machining and repairs to mechanical equipment using portable line boring and rotary welding machines is an essential mechanical procedure to overhaul and repair many components, machinery and equipment in-situ so as not to incur costly down time and without having to disassemble equipment and usually transport it long distances to be fixed, if you are in the mining and construction industries. Both these industries use heavy-duty equipment and machinery that usually operate in harsh conditions so mechanical failure is common.

“U&L Engineering has been repairing, overhauling and remanufacturing equipment in the field for some years now. We’ve made investments and upgrades in our equipment and technology, allowing us to competitively carry out the external work for our clients in the mining, construction, earth-moving and agriculture industries that use our rebuilding and reconditioning services,” explained Ulrich Olivier, U&L Engineering’s owner.

A new portable line boring machine manufactured by Italian company Elsa s.r.l in a service van

“We have been rebuilding equipment since the company was established in 2006. For the equipment owners and operators, rebuilding makes economic sense. Simple economics dictate that there are always going to be customers who are going to be rebuilding machines, especially in this economic climate.”

With a well-equipped machine shop, U&L Engineering offer repairs and manufacture of buckets, H-frames, A-frames, dippers/booms, track tensioners, pins and bushes and any other components that they get requests for. The company also has the ability to repair, overhaul and remanufacture booms, sticks, track frames on dozers, end loaders, scrapper hitches, tractors, excavators and many others.

U&L Engineering also specialises refurbishing hydraulic cylinders.

An Elsa portable line boring machine operating in the field

“Hydraulic cylinders are used in a multitude of applications and come in a number of different sizes. We have been repairing, refurbishing, rebuilding and manufacturing new hydraulic cylinders for several years including hydraulic cylinders for challenging applications in the most difficult of environmental conditions. We rebuild to OEM spec and we can replace the barrel, rod, rod eyes, head/seal areas, hydraulic lines and connections, or custom-fabricate new cylinders to spec,” explained Olivier.

“For some years we have had a Sunnen HTA-4100 horizontal tube hone that is essential for this type of work. Recently we have invested in another Sunnen horizontal tube hone and a horizontal machine that allows us to dismantle and assemble cylinders easily and also acts as a test bed, both supplied by Micron Technologies. We can salvage a cylinder with honing, and the cost and time for the customer is a fraction of replacement.”

Elsa portable line boring machine and rotary welding machines have been designed for use in applications such as re-machining and rotary weld pin-holes, welding and re-facing surfaces, machining of internal and external circlip grooves, with the added feature of tapping and drilling. The light weight and compact design enables the operator to work onsite ensuring that your equipment is back in action in the fastest possible time

What Olivier did realise from the beginning was that there was a need for the refurbishing of wear parts and better still if he could do it ‘on the fly’ or onsite.

“I purchased my first portable line boring and welding equipment in 2007. This gave us the opportunity to do the repairs or refurbishment onsite whereby we would carry out boring, overlay welding on inside and outside surfaces, and drilling and tapping operations. Offering this service eliminated the need to disassemble the equipment, reduced down time and avoided costly transport to a repair shop for customers.”

The new Sunnen tube honing machine

“This side of the business has kept on growing over the years and complements the machine shop in many ways. We now have various sizes and configurations of equipment for different applications.”

Three service vans“More importantly we have purchased three service vans that are permanently on the road servicing clients, both locally and cross border. You will be surprised at the locations that our vans have travelled to and what repair work they have carried out.”

Two new Elsa line boring machines“We have now invested in two line boring machines manufactured by Italian company Elsa s.r.l. They have been manufacturing automatic portable line boring and rotary welding machine tools for many years.”

“The model that we have purchased is the Supercombinata SC2 60/1, which is equipped with an 1 800 watt 4-geared motor and is suitable to perform boring operations from 45mm to 650mm.”

“As we place an emphasis on the fact that we carry out onsite work it is important that our service vans are well-equipped. The new line boring machines are automated units that are capable of driving different cutting heads, depending on the size of the component.”

A Sunnen horizontal tube hone and a horizontal machine that allows U&L Engineering to dismantle and assemble cylinders easily and also acts as a test bed

“Elsa’s portable line boring and rotary welding machines have been designed for use in applications such as re-machining and rotary weld pin-holes, welding and re-facing surfaces, machining of internal and external circlip grooves, with the added feature of tapping and drilling. The light weight and compact design enables the operator to work onsite ensuring that your equipment is back in action in the fastest possible time.”

“Besides onsite repairs and overhauls within the heavy plant industry, we could carry out work in the marine, offshore, petrochemical and other heavy industrial sectors because of the light and compact design of the machine, which was supplied by Talmac Machine Tools.”

For further details contact U&L Engineering on TEL: 011 968 9815 or 084 250 2248 or visit www.ulengineering.co.za