A rubber bucket cup in a grain-handling complex wears out in one season and requires a complete set replacement. A polyurethane cup under the same conditions loses far less material and lasts through multiple harvest seasons. This is the practical solution that TIMOL factory presented at the International Agroindustrial Exhibition AGRO 2017 in Kyiv, demonstrating its full range of polyurethane products for grain transportation, grain cleaning machinery, and processing equipment.
What TIMOL Showed at AGRO 2017
At the TIMOL booth, exhibition visitors could see and handle an entire product line of cast polyurethane for the agricultural sector. The centrepiece was a range of bucket elevator cups in various sizes, including non-standard equipment sizes, together with screens for grain cleaning and sorting machines. Adjacent to these were belt conveyor scrapers, rollers, bushings, and lining plates for grain duct systems.
Each TIMOL product was displayed alongside a worn rubber equivalent after comparable service. The difference in wear was visible: a rubber cup with cracks and rounded edges, versus a polyurethane one that retained its geometry and needed several more seasons of work. Engineers from several agricultural enterprises immediately requested calculations for complete sets matching their equipment.
TIMOL specialists consulted visitors on selecting polyurethane hardness by assembly type. Bucket elevator cups have one optimal hardness range, screens and scrapers have another, and vibration-damping pads yet another. The hardness range from 50 Shore A to 70 Shore D covers virtually all typical tasks in agricultural production.
Which Parts Wear Fastest in Agricultural Machinery
The greatest abrasive wear in grain transportation falls on four types of assemblies. First, bucket elevator cups: grain combined with sand and mineral dirt continuously strikes the inner surface of the cup and the elevator casing. Second, conveyor roller batteries: rubber roller covering wears under the belt loaded with abrasive grain and dust. Third, screens in grain cleaning machines: round or square apertures are battered by vibration and abrasives, aperture geometry shifts and cleaning quality drops. Fourth, belt conveyor scrapers: continuous friction against the belt surface wears a rubber scraper through a single harvest campaign.
NBR or SBR rubber loses 80-200 mm³ of material per DIN 53516 standard abrasion test, whereas TIMOL polyurethane loses only 38-39 mm³. This directly translates to service life: polyurethane cups and screens last several times longer than standard rubber.
Comparison Table: Polyurethane vs Rubber for Agricultural Assemblies
| Parameter | TIMOL Polyurethane | Rubber NBR | Rubber SBR | Natural Rubber |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abrasion DIN 53516, mm³ | 38-39 | 80-150 | 100-200 | 60-130 |
| Working temperature, °C | -60…+100 | -30…+100 | -40…+80 | -50…+70 |
| Tensile strength, MPa | 39-87 | 10-25 | 8-20 | 20-30 |
| Shore hardness | 85A-95A | 40A-90A | 40A-80A | 30A-80A |
| Rebound elasticity, % | 34-61 | 20-45 | 30-55 | 40-75 |
| Oil resistance | excellent | good | poor | poor |
Natural rubber (NR), widely used in agricultural machinery, shows abrasion of 60-130 mm³, which is 3-4 times worse than polyurethane. SBR rubber, often used for pads and screens, produces 100-200 mm³, losing 2-5 times more material than polyurethane under equal loading.
Engineering tip: For bucket elevator cups and scrapers in grain transportation, the optimal polyurethane hardness is 65-80 Shore A: the material is stiff enough to maintain geometry yet elastic enough to absorb grain impacts. For screens in grain cleaning machines, select hardness from 70 Shore A and above to preserve aperture accuracy for as long as possible.
Applications of TIMOL Polyurethane Products in Agricultural Production
Polyurethane covers all key assemblies in grain transportation and processing. Bucket elevator cups made of polyurethane mount on the same fasteners as rubber ones and require no modification to the elevator belt. Conveyor rollers with polyurethane coating damage the belt less and substantially reduce noise levels in grain storage facilities. Grain cleaning machine screens in polyurethane withstand vibration mode without aperture geometry change: polyurethane springs and dampens the impulse, while rigid materials crack under cyclic vibration.
For lining grain ducts and transport pipes, TIMOL manufactures inserts and sheets bonded or bolted to the inner surface. These elements protect the metal structure from abrasive grain and significantly reduce noise during loading. The temperature range from -60 to +100 °C keeps them operational year-round, from frosty winter to the hot preparatory season.
TIMOL supplies polyurethane products to 12 industries, and the agricultural sector holds a leading position: here, wear is the primary factor driving operational costs.
Manufacturing Parts for Specific Machines: Advantages of Free-Pouring Casting
Free-pouring casting technology enables TIMOL to manufacture parts for any make and model of agricultural equipment, from domestic grain complexes to imported combines and separators. If the producer does not have a standard cup in the required size, providing the old worn part or a drawing is sufficient — technologists will prepare tooling and manufacture an exact polyurethane replica.
The advantage of free-pouring is the relatively low tooling cost compared with rubber press moulds. This allows manufacturing unique or small-batch parts without large capital investment in production preparation. The minimum batch is a single piece, critical for farms where a broken unique part stops an entire assembly.
Parts can incorporate metal inserts, flanges, or bolt holes to simplify installation and allow the polyurethane element to be replaced without dismantling the metal base.
Conclusion: What Changes After Switching to Polyurethane in Agricultural Production
AGRO 2017 was further evidence that switching from rubber to polyurethane in agricultural machinery is not merely a technical decision but a genuine saving in service costs. Replacing rubber bucket elevator cups with polyurethane ones reduces the frequency of service stops and cuts the number of replacements per season. The same applies to rollers, screens, scrapers, and grain duct lining.
TIMOL is ready to manufacture any part for your specific equipment: simply provide a sample or drawing and contact us through the factory contacts. Typical products for agricultural production are available in the polyurethane product catalogue. More on material properties in the information section.