A trusted custom gear manufacturer for the world’s hardest-working industries.
From mining and marine, to oil and gas or renewable energy—steel processing or papermaking to heavy construction equipment and moveable bridges. Heavy industry counts on Brad Foote gears and industrial gearboxes for precision and performance, day in and day out. We’re a custom gear manufacturer with a century of innovation, problem-solving and state-of-the-art gearing solutions under our belt. And a team of engineers and skilled craftspeople who bring deep technical expertise to every project. Bring us your toughest gearing challenges. We’ll solve them.
Your single source for precision-manufactured gears and industrial gearbox solutions.
From custom manufacturing to drop-in replacements, we do it all on time, on budget, and to exceptionally tight tolerances. With advanced 5-axis machining, we can create even the most complex gearing geometries and tooth configurations.
Custom Gearbox Design & Manufacturing
We work with OEMs, end users and aftermarket clients to upgrade existing gearboxes, improve on past designs and build from the ground up.
Custom Gearbox Rebuilds & Replacements
We can quickly repair an existing make and model, reverse engineer for a precise match, or improve upon your existing design.
Gearbox Repair & Maintenance
In the field or in our Cicero, IL; Pittsburg, PA; and Sanford, NC, shops, we’ll get your gearbox back into service fast. And we’ll keep it running with inspections, equipment diagnostics, scheduled shutdown maintenance and outages, and other proactive maintenance.
Open Gearing Design & Manufacturing
Ready to tackle a wide range of gear sizes, we can manufacture to your specs, reverse engineer, or build from scratch—including spur, internal spur and helical, herringbone, helical, double helical, Gleason-style straight and spiral bevel, and Klingelberg-style spiral bevel gearing.
In-House Heat Treating
With experienced metallurgical engineers and a chief metallurgist on site, we provide in-house heat treating to AGMA Grade 3, ISO 6636. Our 13 deep-pit carburizing furnaces have a max capacity of 84″ in diameter and 150″ in length.
We work with OEMs, end users and aftermarket clients to upgrade existing gearboxes, improve on past designs and build from the ground up.
We can quickly repair an existing make and model, reverse engineer for a precise match, or improve upon your existing design.
In the field or in our Cicero, IL; Pittsburg, PA; and Sanford, NC, shops, we’ll get your gearbox back into service fast. And we’ll keep it running with inspections, equipment diagnostics, scheduled shutdown maintenance and outages, and other proactive maintenance.
Ready to tackle a wide range of gear sizes, we can manufacture to your specs, reverse engineer, or build from scratch—including spur, internal spur and helical, herringbone, helical, double helical, Gleason-style straight and spiral bevel, and Klingelberg-style spiral bevel gearing.
With experienced metallurgical engineers and a chief metallurgist on site, we provide in-house heat treating to AGMA Grade 3, ISO 6636. Our 13 deep-pit carburizing furnaces have a max capacity of 84″ in diameter and 150″ in length.
Complete industrial gearing expertise. All in-house.
Designers. Engineers. Craftspeople. Our skilled team embraces the biggest challenges and settles for nothing less than precision. And we have the credentials to prove it. Brad Foote is a founding member of the American Gear Manufacturers Association and we were honored to be the first U.S.-based gear manufacturer to be ISO 9001 certified.
- AGMA
- ISO
- DNV
- ABS
- AEM
Capabilities
- AGMA-2000 Q12 class ground and finish machined gearing
- Heavy-duty cast iron or fabricated steel housings
- ISO dimensioned ball, taper roller, or spherical roller bearings
- Bearing-quality Grade 2 steel for all pinions, gears, and shafts
- Plunge ground sealing surfaces
- Case hardened gearing heat treated to the highest AGMA standards
- Optimally designed gear sets to the latest ISO, DIN, and AGMA industry standards
- Several seal options available
- Isotropic superfinishing
- Non-destructive inspection to level 3 – magnetic particle, nital etch, ultrasonic
- One of the largest complements of form tooth grinders in the U.S. with capacity to 4m (157″)
- Shot peening to 80″ OD and 110″ OAL
- Bevel cutting to 2.6m (104″)
- CNC OD and ID grinding to match gearing and shafting capability
- Full inspection services including 2 CMMs to 2.6m (102″)
- Field service personnel with worldwide service available
- Hobbing capacity up to 3.3m (128″) diameter
In-House Testing
- In-house no-load testing and optional full-load testing
- Non-destructive inspection to level 3, including ultrasonic, magnetic particle, and nital etch
- Destructive testing and inspection to level 3
- Portable Barkhausen noise analysis
- Portable SKF vibration analyzer
- Portable thermal imaging
AGMA Grade 3 Heat Treating
- In-house heat treating to AGMA Grade 3, ISO – 6636
- 13 deep-pit carburizing furnaces with a max capacity of 84″ in diameter and 150″ in length
- A 35,000-gallon oil quench tank
- Fully equipped modern metallurgical laboratory and precision measuring
- Experienced metallurgical engineers and chief metallurgist on site
- CNC tooth-to-tooth induction hardening to 120″ OD and .6 DP to match all gear cutting performed, including all bevels
- Techniques including:
- Carburizing
- Carbonitriding
- Quench and tempering
- Tool steel hardening
- Stress relieving and annealing
- Shot blasting
- Normalizing
Notable Equipment
- DMU 210 P 5-Axis machine
- DMU 60F P 5-Axis machine
- Gleason 675 Spiral Bevel Machines – two of four that exist worldwide with capability to machine AGMA 2000 Q10 up to 2.6m (104”)
- Zeiss Prismo 1.8m Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM)
- Wenzel Hybrid 2600 – CMM and GMM
- Climate-controlled finish machining and coordinate measuring machine room to control the highest quality standards