Thordon Bearings - Pollution-Free Stern-Tube and Rudder Bearings for Today’s Ship Owners

Thordon Bearings is a leading designer and manufacturer of pollution-free propeller shafts, rudders, and deck equipment bearings and bushings. Thordon products are found on tankers, bulkers, and dry cargo, dredge, container, cruise, yacht, offshore, ferry, naval and coast guard vessels. With 30 years of experience, Thordon offers worldwide technical support through an extensive sales, distribution and service network.

PROPELLER SHAFT / STERN-TUBE BEARINGS

Thordon Bearings offers several proven propeller shaft and stern-tube bearing system options, each offering specific advantages in different water environments and operating conditions. Over 700 water-lubricated propeller-shaft bearing installations and comprehensive bearing wear data recorded continue to prove that Thordon bearings provide the lowest overall life-cycle operating costs and increased propulsion system reliability.

Ship owner benefits of Thordon prop shaft bearings include:

• Excellent operational and wear performance
• Zero pollution risk
• Reduced shaft-seal maintenance costs (no AFT seal)
• Ease of maintenance
• Survivability (non-catastrophic failure mode)

COMPAC PROPELLER-SHAFT BEARING SYSTEM

With over 25 years of experience using the proven principles of water lubrication, Thordon’s COMPAC propeller-shaft bearing system is a simple, reliable and oil-free system primarily for blue-water operating conditions. Specially formulated with a low coefficient of friction to reduce startup friction and eliminate stick-slip, COMPAC’s unique configuration promotes early formation of a hydrodynamic film at lower propeller shaft RPM. Thordon’s split COMPAC single-tapered keyset allows for easy removal, inspection and re-install of the bearings in a matter of hours without shaft withdrawal.

SXL

Thordon SXL is designed to offer increased resistance to third-particle abrasive wear and improved wear-life in operating conditions that have slightly more abrasives than blue-water operation. SXL offers a low coefficient of friction for reduced break-away torque and smoother operation at lower shaft RPM.

COMPOSITE BEARINGS

Providing superior wear-life in very abrasive water conditions such as inland river systems, Thordon composite bearings, operating in combination with hard-coated nickel-chrome-boron sleeves, routinely outlast rubber propeller-shaft bearings by a factor of two or more. Over fifteen years’ experience on hundreds of pushboats operating on America’s muddy Mississippi river system confirm real-life bearing wear at between 0.25mm and 0.38mm per year.

RUDDER BEARINGS

Reliability, proven performance and superior customer service have made Thordon the logical choice in pollution-free rudder bearings for over 30 years. With over 4,000 rudder bearings installed, Thordon self-lubricating SXL pintle, stock and carrier disc bearings offer a low coefficient of friction providing total freedom from grease for all rudder-bearing applications above and below the waterline.

Ship owner benefits of Thordon SXL rudder bearings include:

• Industry-leading wear-life guarantee: newbuild: 15 years, conversion: twice the life of replaced bearing (max. 10 years)
• Dry or water-lubrication eliminates greasing systems
• Ability to withstand shock-loading and vibration

ThorPlas®, a new, engineered grease-free thermoplastic bearing, is recommended for the more highly-loaded bushings in rudder steering linkage applications such as tiller arm and jockey-bar linkages.

Thordon also offers durable Thorseal rudder-stock seals, designed to provide exceptional wear-life and positive sealing, and to accommodate the larger bearing clearances and movements associated with rudder stocks.

SHAFT COATING

Thor-Coat was specifically developed to complement Thordon’s water-lubricated propeller shaft bearings with the objective of providing corrosion protection for a minimum ten-year period in service. Thor-Coat addresses the issue of current shaft-coating systems not being sufficiently reliable to allow extension of shaft withdrawal periods beyond five years. Thordon is also working closely with the Classification Societies to develop approval for other techniques such as borescoping that facilitate inspection of the bearings and coating without withdrawing the shaft.