Gears for Recycling and Wastewater Treatment
Shredders take brutal shock loads; clarifiers and screens run slowly for decades in wet, corrosive conditions. We manufacture gears and shafts for both – to drawing or from worn samples.

From Brutal Shock to Slow, Wet, Endless Duty
Recycling and wastewater sit at opposite ends of gear duty. Shredders and crushers for scrap, wood and waste see shock loads that can break teeth; clarifier, thickener and screen drives turn very slowly but continuously, in damp and corrosive air, for decades.
Nika Gears manufactures gears for both: tough, high-strength shredder gears and shafts, and robust slow-speed drive components – including worm gears and large ring gears – for water treatment equipment.
Typical requirements
- Shreddershigh shock, reversing
- Clarifiersvery slow, continuous
- Environmentwet, corrosive, dirty
- Typical gearsspur, worm, planetary, ring
- Materials18CrNiMo7-6, 42CrMo4, bronze
- SupplyOEM and spares
Where Do Our Gears Run in Recycling and Water Plants?
Shredder and Crusher Drives
Spur and planetary gears, splined shafts and gear couplings for single- and twin-shaft shredders.
- High-toughness steels
- Splined cutter shafts
Clarifier and Thickener Drives
Worm gear stages and large slewing ring gears that turn clarifier bridges and thickener rakes.
- Slow, continuous duty
- Worm and ring gears
Screens, Screws and Conveyors
Gears and drive shafts for band screens, screw conveyors, sludge pumps and aerators.
- Series spare parts
- Drive shafts
Which Materials for Recycling and Water Gears?
| Application | Typical choice |
|---|---|
| Shredder gears | 18CrNiMo7-6 case hardened, or 34CrNiMo6 Q+T for very high shock |
| Shredder shafts | 34CrNiMo6 or 42CrMo4 forged, Q+T, splined |
| Clarifier worm drives | case-hardened ground worm, CuSn12 bronze wheel |
| Large slewing ring gears | 42CrMo4 Q+T or induction hardened |
Final material and heat treatment follow your drawing. We advise when the specification is open.
Which Gear Types for Recycling and Wastewater?
Related industries: mining · plastic and rubber · construction machinery · all industries
Recycling and Wastewater Gear Questions
Can you make gears for twin-shaft shredders?
Yes – timing gears, drive gears, planetary components and splined cutter shafts, made to drawing or from samples.
Do you supply clarifier drive gears?
Yes, including worm gear sets and large ring gears for clarifier and thickener drives.
Can you help with obsolete equipment?
Yes. We reverse-engineer worn gears, prepare drawings for approval and manufacture replacements.
Gears for Shredders, Clarifiers and Screens
Recycling plants and wastewater treatment works both depend on gear drives, but the demands could hardly be more different.
Shredders: built for shock
A shredder rotor meeting a block of steel or a tree root stops almost instantly. The drive takes the full impact, often several times a day. Gears for shredders need tough cores – 34CrNiMo6 or case-hardened 18CrNiMo7-6 – with strong tooth roots. Cutter shafts carry the knives on splines and must resist both torque and bending. Twin-shaft shredders also use timing gears to keep the rotors in phase.
Clarifiers: built for decades
A clarifier bridge or thickener rake turns perhaps once an hour, for years without stopping. The drive usually combines a worm gear stage with a large slewing ring gear. Wear is slow, but the environment is wet and corrosive, and access for maintenance is limited – so robust materials and correct lubrication matter.
Screens, screws and pumps
Band screens, screw conveyors, sludge pumps and aerators run on standard industrial gearboxes. We manufacture their spur and helical gears, shafts and hubs as spare parts or OEM series.
Spares for older plants
Many water treatment works operate equipment installed decades ago. Where original spares are no longer available, we measure worn parts and manufacture replacements with EN 10204 3.1 documentation. Send your drawing or sample details to Nika Gears in Türkiye.
Send a gear drawing. Get an answer within 24 hours.
Include the PDF or STEP file, module or DP, number of teeth, material, heat treatment, accuracy grade and quantity. We reply with questions or a quotation.