Addressing Alignment and Wear on a Legacy Yoder Mill

Over the years, Roll-Kraft has conducted thousands of mill evaluations on a variety of equipment. We are now sharing these stories in our Tube & Pipe Field Service Report Article Series. We hope you find the information contained in this series helpful. If you have any questions regarding your mill, use our contact form to request more information about our on-site mill evaluation.

Problem: 
A Yoder tube mill was exhibiting significant wear and alignment issues, resulting in deviations during tube production and maintenance inefficiencies. The mill's condition raised concerns about its long-term reliability and performance.

Challenge: 
Upon inspection, the Roll-Kraft technician found that the shaft shoulders were severely worn—especially at the contact faces—leading to protrusions that interfered with tooling spacers and proper alignment. Additionally, the availability of usable shim stock was limited, complicating the alignment process further. Some of the alignment fixtures themselves required modification to seat properly, revealing underlying mechanical inconsistencies.

Solution: 
A bottom-shaft-only alignment approach was used, leveraging laser alignment equipment in the breakdown, fin and sizing sections. Once all the bottom shafts were brought into alignment, a straight edge was used to transfer the alignment from the bottom driven shafts to the top driven shafts. All side roll stands were also centered based on this newly established centerline. Due to wear-related misalignments, internal shims were used temporarily to adjust shaft positioning, although this was noted as a suboptimal workaround. The technician made several key recommendations for sustainable mill performance: discontinuing shaft reconditioning in favor of new replacements, implementing a numbering system to track spindle wear and history, and integrating alignment spacers into the shoulder setup. These alignment spacers would simplify future adjustments by allowing direct modification without requiring full disassembly. The technician also advised replenishing shim stock and routinely inspecting internal gear components to prevent future breakdowns. These forward-looking steps are aimed at extending the mill's useful life while reducing maintenance time and improving production accuracy.

Contact Roll-Kraft for a Tube & Pipe Mill Evaluation
Do you have issues you would like a second opinion on regarding your mill? Roll-Kraft on-site evaluations really make an impression with your staff, confirming you are serious about producing quality tube, pipe, and roll form products. Our technicians will tell you exactly where you are currently doing a great job, in addition to pointing out any areas that could be improved. We have been doing training and evaluations for over 30 years and understand the sensitive nature of bringing someone in to talk about improvements. Your staff will be in good hands with Roll-Kraft. Click here to learn more about our tube & pipe evaluation service.