Equipment Maintenance

Grain Elevator Equipment Maintenance

Register Now

GEAPS Online Learning courses are available anytime on-demand. Each course takes approximately 10 hours to complete and can be completed at any pace over five weeks. Courses must be completed within a five-week period that begins the day you register. After registering, learners will be sent a confirmation email, then you’re ready to start learning!  

Cost:

$495 for members
$795 for non-members.  

Course Description: This course covers the proper and safe function, monitoring, adjustments, maintenance and repair of equipment used in everyday grain facility operations. It will cover the functions, parts, components and troubleshooting of bucket elevators, drag conveyors, distributors, valving and gates. It will also touch on dust suppression and collection, power drive transmissions, screw conveyors and bin sweeps, and maintenance methodology.

Course Goals: This class aims to teach students different preventive maintenance techniques, how to troubleshoot and where to look for problems in different equipment and how to safely fix equipment used in everyday grain facilities operations.

Target Audience: This course is designed for people with responsibilities relating to maintenance and repair of grain-elevator equipment. It is intended for grain facility operators, people with day-to-day equipment responsibilities, elevator superintendents with physical plant responsibilities, location or regional managers with equipment oversight responsibilities, maintenance personnel or elevator workers with equipment maintenance and repair duties, millwrights, equipment suppliers and salespeople or anyone with a professional need to learn more about elevator equipment operation, maintenance and safety.

The Course of Study

Week 1Details

Maintenance Methodology Introduction and Overview
This course begins with an explanation of maintenance methodology and how it applies in a grain handling facility. The participant will be introduced to the most common pieces of equipment. Participants will identify the importance of preventive maintenance and lubrication. Lastly, the importance of record-keeping processes will be introduced.

Power Transmissions: Design, Maintenance & Troubleshooting
The function of a grain handling facility depends on the design, maintenance and troubleshooting of the power transmission. First, the participant will Identify key safety considerations related to power transmissions. The lesson will review of main components of gear boxes, how they function, design capabilities and limitations. Building from the review, the importance of a defined scheduled inspection and maintenance will be evaluated. The lesson will conclude with insight on post breakdown troubleshooting of drive systems. After looking at those topics, the lesson will focus on key preventive maintenance considerations.

Week 2Details

Bucket Elevators
The beginning of the bucket elevator lesson will identify the key safety considerations for this piece of equipment. The lesson will review the main components of a bucket elevator, their function, and design capabilities and limitations. Due to the various components, it is important to define scheduled inspections and maintenance. At some point, the bucket elevator will breakdown. The lesson will address items to consider when troubleshooting a breakdown.

The lesson will also provide preventive maintenance considerations.

Distributor Basics
When examining distributor basics, key safety considerations will be identified. A review of the main components along with their function will be presented. In addition to the function, the lesson will evaluate the importance of scheduled inspections and maintenance. Distributors will experience breakdowns and the lesson will provide some typical troubleshooting suggestions. The last topic of the lesson will be recognizing key preventive maintenance considerations.

Week 3Details

En-Masse Conveyors
One purpose of this lesson is to identify key safety considerations for en-masse conveyors. The lesson will review the main components and related function along with the design capabilities and/or limitations. To keep the grain handling system functional, a defined scheduled inspection and maintenance are of value. Breakdowns are bound to occur. The lesson will promote various post breakdown troubleshooting and maintenance topics. The lesson is concluded with the topic of preventive maintenance considerations.

Belt Conveyors
As with previous lessons, this lesson will begin by Identifying the key safety considerations for belt conveyors. Before defining the scheduled inspection and maintenance of a belt conveyor, the main components will be reviewed along with how they function and the design capabilities. The lesson will wrap up by suggesting troubleshooting and/or maintenance approach during a breakdown. Lastly, key preventive maintenance considerations will be listed.

Week 4Details

Screw Conveyors and Bin Sweeps
Screw conveyors and bin sweeps have unique key safety considerations in need of identification within this lesson. For both screw conveyors and bin sweeps, the main components and corresponding functions will be identified along with design capabilities plus limitations. The scheduled inspection and maintenance will be defined. During a breakdown, there are specific considerations for troubleshooting and maintenance. These will be described during the lesson in addition to suggested preventive maintenance.

Grain Screening Equipment
The key safety considerations for grain screening equipment will be identified in this lesson. As with the previous lessons, a review of the main components and the function will be reviewed. A defined schedule of inspection and maintenance will be shared. Also, suggestions for typical troubleshooting and maintenance during a breakdown will be proposed. Lastly, the preventive maintenance of grain screening equipment will be evaluated.

Week 5Details

Drying Equipment
This lesson will identify key safety considerations of drying equipment. Once safety has been addressed, then the lesson will review the main components and corresponding function.

To keep the drying equipment safe and functional, an inspection and maintenance schedule is proposed. The lesson will share typical issues within drying equipment and the potential troubleshooting approach. As with the other pieces of equipment, this lesson will list preventive maintenance considerations.

Mineral Oil Dust Suppression Systems/Dust Collection
The dust suppression and dust collection lesson will begin with identifying the key safety considerations regarding grain dust. The components of both the suppression and collection process will be outlined. This lesson will address the inspection and maintenance process of both the suppression and collection systems. Based on common maintenance issues, the lesson will provide troubleshooting and preventive maintenance advice.