Machine quality and customer satisfaction begins at the most basic level of components – if a machine’s gears are not up to standard, the transmission could fail. However, while gears that are of poor-quality may not always result in catastrophic failure, they will almost always cause a noisy transmission, have excessive vibration, produce more heat than normal, or be difficult to shift. In short, sub-par gears result in a number of issues – all of which will significantly detract from a customer’s satisfaction.
“The satisfaction of our customers is of paramount importance – it can make or break a brand’s reputation,” said David Beatenbough, Chairman of Dressta. “Here at Dressta, we manufacture machines built for use all day, every day, in the most demanding and extreme conditions – whether in construction, quarrying, mining, recycling or farming. Machines carrying the Dressta brand have a long-established reputation for reliability, powerful performance and long-life, and this is largely because we have always ensured that only the highest-quality components are used in every part of their assembly, and gears are no exception,” he added.
The gears used in Dressta’s machines are supplied exclusively by ZZN. ZZN’s factory is located in Stalowa Wola, Poland, and was originally part of Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), one of Central Europe’s major producers of construction equipment. Many changes have happened since the factory was built in 1937 – in 1995 ZZN separated from HSW, and has since been offering gear production services to third parties – but the company’s history of commitment to producing best-in-class gears for powerful machinery has remained the same.
“The fact that ZZN has over 75 years of precision machining and gear production expertise is very reassuring,” said Beatenbough. “While our machines are based on acclaimed, heritage US designs, they are European-built to the highest of standards. ZZN gears are always manufactured consistent to the engineering drawings, reliable, even when performing in the toughest of environments – the perfect fit for Dressta.”
ZZN provides the complete transmission, final drives and steering drives for all Dressta bulldozers and pipelayers. Additionally, for wheel loaders, ZZN provides the transmission and axles for all models.
Further to their significant experience, ZZN’s large-gear capabilities separate it from most other gear producers on the market. ZZN is not only able to produce gears up to 900 mm in diameter but can produce these gears up to DIN Class 7 – meaning the total composite error tolerance must be less than 0.0007 inches for most gears. This is notoriously hard to achieve, especially for large gears.
In order to produce DIN Class 7 parts, all aspects of a factory must be working at the highest level. ZZN’s machine tools must be both high quality, and well maintained. Their heat treat facilities must be monitored with great precision, and required times, temperatures and cooling rates controlled very precisely. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, producing DIN Class 7 parts is always testament to factory workers and staff completely understanding their processes, knowing and understanding the machine tools they are using fully, and having a desire to produce high quality parts – each and every time.
For Dressta, ensuring that every part of their machines is superior is vital. “We have always been aware that the whole is a sum of its parts,” said Beatenbough. “ZZN’s ability to produce the highest-quality large gears is why we have had such a long-standing partnership with them, and why we are sure this partnership will continue in the future. Producing gears of such a high level helps ensure that our customers can consistently depend upon our machines, and will continue to choose Dressta,” he concluded.