To assist farmers to boost productivity and efficiency, leading supplier Bearings International (BI) focuses on providing cost-effective, quality products, BI Business Development Leader – Agriculture Gerhard Pienaar highlights. It is for this reason that BI will again be a proud exhibitor at Grain SA’s NAMPO Harvest Day 2020 at Bothaville in the Free State from 12 to 15 May.

In addition to developing new products and increasing its footprint in the agricultural industry, BI is also ramping up its involvement with leading farming cooperatives with its Agri-Smart complete solutions approach. An example is its recent partnership with certain OVK Mechanisation branches, concluded successfully due to the focused approach, technical expertise, and back-up and customer support offered by BI. 

BI has had an agricultural product focus for 40 years to date, supplying bearings and seals, sprockets and chains, power take-off (PTO) shafts, v-belts and pulleys, electric motors, gearboxes, and couplings. In conjunction with Jonnesway, BI has even developed an agri toolbox.

Designed for farmers by farmers, this all-in-one toolbox fits behind a bakkie seat in a robust cushioned case to protect the tools during transit. It allows for 95% of common problems to be repaired quickly and efficiently in the field, saving on time and costs, and increasing the lifespan of capex-intensive farming equipment.

“We have an in-house brand of PTO shafts that features forged yokes, which are far stronger than cast-iron components,” Pienaar points out. These PTO shafts are popular in the agricultural industry, where many applications require power transmission between two non-aligned shafts.

In terms of future developments, Pienaar reveals that BI will continue to develop its special agri hub units in conjunction with its major OEM customers. These agri hub units feature a tri-ply seal ball bearing arrangement to prevent the ingress of dust and dirt, a major problem due to the arduous operating conditions in the agricultural industry.

BI has five different bearing hub units available for planters that fall under its Agri-Smart banner of value-added products and services for the agricultural sector. All have a fastening kit that can be ordered separately.