The innovative crew at LiftWerx recently utilized new state-of-the-art technology to remove and replace a GETS gearbox on a General Electric 1.5MW wind turbine. This is the first time that a GETS gearbox has been replaced in Canada without the use of a large mobile crane. The replacement was performed with specialized new rigging devices, including a carbon-fibre up-tower crane and a Liftra self-hoisting crane. The project employed a newly developed jacking system which enables the main shaft, main bearing, and gearbox to be hydraulically raised within the nacelle, allowing the gearbox to be safely removed from the main shaft without having to remove the rotor or the shaft from the nacelle. The job was completed during unseasonably mild winter temperatures in soft and muddy ground conditions which would have normally prevented large mobile cranes from performing such an operation.
Stay tuned for more innovative LiftWerx projects in 2017!