At the top of the size ladder below the heavy modular range sits the M3PVSF80 vertical industrial gear unit: three helical stages in a foot-mounted vertical housing, a solid keyed output shaft on a vertical axis, and enough bearing envelope to run long overhung process shafts without asking for mercy. Plants that stir, pump or scrape for a living eventually all arrive at this frame - it is the point where a vertical drive stops being a small special case and starts behaving like a real industrial gearbox.
Where This Frame Earns Its Keep
Stirrer drives on large kettles, slurry pumps on tailings duty, rakes on thickeners - these are the jobs where the overhung load, not the torque, dictates the frame. Bending moment in the output bearing grows quickly with the length of the shaft below the unit, and the size 80 casting gives that bearing both room and stiffness. In practice the frame is selected against the moment arm and the axial thrust first; the helical stages then almost always come in with margin to spare, which is exactly how a vertical drive should be sized.
The Designation, Decoded
| M | Three-stage industrial gear unit family |
| P | Parallel-shaft helical gearing; an R here would signal a bevel input stage |
| V | Vertical build, output shaft on a vertical centreline |
| S | Solid keyed output shaft; H in this slot denotes a hollow bore |
| F | Foot or flange mounting for a headplate or structural frame |
| 80 | Frame size in the vertical range |
Because every letter moves a surface on the drawing, quoting the designation verbatim - or the nameplate of an existing unit - lets the works build the same machine twice. This matters on vertical drives more than most: the mounting posture determines where the oil passages run and where the breather sits, so a unit built for one position cannot be casually stood up in another.
Oil Behaviour on a Vertical Centreline
Gravity is the persistent adversary of vertical gearing. The oil that cools the upper bearings must be fed to them rather than simply splashed, and the passages that do the feeding are cast into the housing for the declared mounting position. Three ground helical stages limit the heat to be moved in the first place, but the oil chart is still written per posture - a detail that saves more bearings than any other single line in the documentation. Filling to the correct level in the shipped posture, and never while the unit is stood on end, is the whole discipline in one sentence.
Service profiles this build is regularly chosen for: Slow-speed anchor stirrers on polymer and resin kettles Vertical slurry pumps at mine tailings and dredge sites Top-entering mixers on food syrup and sugar melt tanks Flue-gas desulphurisation agitators on absorber towers Vertical twin-shaft paddle conditioners at fertiliser plants Circulation pumps in hot-dip galvanising and plating lines Vertical froth paddles in flotation and washing circuits Deep shaft aerators in activated sludge treatment trains
What an Enquiry Should Contain
Closing a size 80 selection in one pass needs five declarations: absorbed power or torque at the output, input and output speeds, the radial load in newtons together with its direction, the axial load with its sense, and the mounting face drawing with the shaft key detail. Ambient temperature and altitude complete the picture for the oil grade. Leaving the overhung load out of the enquiry is the classic mistake; the gear stages forgive it, the output bearing does not.
Test, Crate and Handover
Each unit is assembled in its declared posture, run on a test stand and despatched sealed and oil-filled in a braced wooden crate. The nameplate lists ratio, frame size and mounting position, so a repeat order years later is matched against the original drawing set rather than guessed. On site the commissioning list is short - face flat and square, bolts in sequence, breather upright, oil level at standstill - and a drive that passes it goes on to run for decades with nothing more than scheduled oil changes.
Available Frames and Their Typical Duty
| Model | Centre distance | Output | Typical duty |
|---|
| M3PSF50 | size 50 | solid shaft, foot | conveyors, feeders |
| M3PSF60 | size 60 | solid shaft, foot | crushers, mixers |
| M3PSF70 | size 70 | solid shaft, foot | ball mills, shredders |
| M3PSF80 | size 80 | solid shaft, foot | kilns, heavy conveyors |
| M3PSF90 | size 90 | solid shaft, foot | mill and kiln drives |
| M3RSF50 | size 50 | solid shaft, foot, right-angle | inclined conveyors, elevators |
| M3RSF60 | size 60 | solid shaft, foot, right-angle | screw classifiers, feeders |
| M3RHF70 | size 70 | hollow shaft, foot, right-angle | agitators, drum drives |
| M3PHT80 | size 80 | hollow shaft, torque arm, parallel | shaft-mounted conveyors |
| M3RHT90 | size 90 | hollow shaft, torque arm, right-angle | heavy shaft-mounted drives |
Note that PSF and RSF frames of the same size share the mounting footprint; the R build simply inserts a bevel stage, so switching layout rarely forces a foundation change.
Questions and Answers
Do you offer food-grade or washdown versions?
We can supply food-grade lubricant, FKM (Viton) oil seals and stainless fasteners for washdown areas. These units are common in bakeries, dairies and packaging halls where hygiene and moisture are daily concerns.
How do I install the unit on an inclined conveyor?
Mount the unit with the output shaft horizontal or as recommended for your mounting position, and choose the anti-run-back option so the loaded belt cannot drive the gearbox backwards when power is cut. Tell us the incline angle when you order.
What is the difference between a keyed hollow shaft and a shrink-disc connection?
A keyed hollow shaft is the economical choice for normal torque and easy maintenance. A shrink-disc connection transmits higher torque with zero backlash and no keyway wear, and is preferred for reversing or high-torque duties.
Installation Examples
Sugar mill bagasse conveyor
A sugar mill moves wet bagasse on conveyors driven by industrial gear units. High moisture, fibrous material and sticky residue are the daily conditions, and the sealed housings have kept lubricant clean between oil changes.
Slag handling crane
A steelworks drives the long-travel motion of a slag-handling crane with industrial gear units on torque arms. Heat radiation from the slag pot is handled by the increased clearance and standard high-temperature paint.
![gear box application map for industry]()
From quarries to food plants - one right-angle drive concept.
Selection Example: Typical duty point
Take the common case - a machine that must be driven well below motor speed. Motor speed divided by the target output speed gives the ratio, rounded to the nearest available step, and the required torque with the service factor then fixes the frame size. The ratio is the easy part. The service factor for the shock level is what makes the selection safe, and we check that for you at no charge.
![how to choose a speed reducer model]()
Ratio first, then torque, then frame size: the standard selection route.
Duty Data In, Firm Model Out
Three numbers decide it. The WGT Motor & Gearbox Online Selection System covers motor power, ratio and mounting on one screen - enter your numbers and see the model immediately.
Motor power and speed, required output speed and the driven-machine description fix the selection. Send them and the confirmed model, service factor and price come back in writing the same day. Looking for a gearbox for packaging machine? Tell us the duty point and we will confirm the model in writing.
