Thousands of Vesconite bushes have been successfully used since 1973 in underground battery locos in South African mines.

Vesconite is the premium non-metallic material which successfully replaces bronze in heavy duty and precision engineering applications.

As well as generally lower cost, Vesconite bushes offer

• Longer life, even with faulty lubrication
• Do not cause seizures
• Ideal for ultra deep mines
• Much less wear in very wet conditions
• Lower friction and reduced power losses
• Less wear of steel axle
• Easier fitting
• Large stocks for immediate deliveries

Vesconite bushes for battery locomotives give the longest life of any bearing material. When first tested in the early 1970's, Vesconite was quickly recognised as a major technical improvement, giving over twice the life of the traditional gunmetal bronze bushes.

Vesconite survives if greasing is not carried out regularly, a major advantage when low maintenance standards prevail.

A motor axle bush is a precision engineered part which operates in the wet and highly abrasive conditions found underground. Since it is a time consuming operation to replace a worn motor axle bush, the bush should be able to operate for as long as possible with a minimum amount of wear.

• Unlike bronze, irregular greasing of Vesconite bushes does not lead to seizure or damage to the motor axle shaft.
• In addition, axle wear is significantly reduced when using Vesconite bushes.

• Very wet conditions, like those found in ultra deep mines, cause problems for bronze bushes.
• When locomotives operate in excess water and mud, good lubrication is not easily maintained and bronze wears quickly and can fail within weeks. In contrast, Vesconite bushes survive wet conditions.

• It is seldom realised that excessive bush wear can cause accelerated wear of the axle, motor pinion and drive gear.
• If misalignment results, this can lead to failure of the electric motor bearings and costly damage to the motor.
• By using low wear Vesconite bushes, motor pinion and drive gear wear is reduced, and the risk of motor damage is greatly decreased. These hidden savings are the least obvious but most important advantage of using Vesconite.

A further advantage of Vesconite is its low friction compared to bronze. This results in power savings.

Using Vesconite bushes is highly cost effective because better performance and longer life is obtained at a lower cost. Vesconite loco bushes cost one third less than bronze bushes. Vesconite bushes have been tested and approved by major mining buying organisations for many years and are today used throughout South Africa.