Industrial and vehicle
What does a gearbox repair cost?
Nobody can price a gearbox properly until it is stripped. Before that you are getting an estimate based on symptoms, and the difference between the estimate and the invoice is whatever the strip finds. What we can tell you is what moves the price: the route you take (repair, recondition or exchange unit), whether the casing and shafts are sound, parts availability, and how much machining the gears and bearing housings need. Tell us what you have got and gearbox specialists will quote you directly.
3 routes
repair, recondition or exchange unit: the choice sets both the price and the downtime
Strip first
any figure quoted before strip-down is an estimate, not a quote; get the strip fee and the report in writing
PUWER 1998
industrial gearboxes are work equipment: HSE says PUWER requires it maintained in an efficient state and in good repair
What happens next
- Tell us what the gearbox is in, what it is doing and how fast you need it back. Two minutes, no account.
- We pass it to gearbox specialists who handle that type of unit, and to nobody else.
- They call you with a price for the strip, and a firm price once they know what is inside.
Gearbox Repair Quotes is a free introduction service operated by Ellul Solutions Ltd; we pass your details to relevant gearbox specialists who quote you directly. We may receive a fee from providers; you pay nothing and are under no obligation. We are not a repair workshop, we are not affiliated with the Health and Safety Executive or any body named on this site, and nothing here is engineering, safety or legal advice. We publish no gearbox price totals because a gearbox cannot be priced accurately before strip-down.
What drives the price of a gearbox repair
Last updated
Gearbox work is priced from what the strip finds, so a table of totals would be a table of guesses. These are the factors that actually move the invoice, on both industrial units and vehicle boxes, and what to ask for before you commit.
A cost-driver table rather than a price list. Gearbox repair cost is set by the condition found on strip-down, parts availability for that specific maker and ratio, and how much machining the case, shafts and bearing housings need, none of which can be known in advance from symptoms alone; publishing typical totals would misprice most jobs. The regulatory point is taken from HSE's published guidance on PUWER and maintenance of work equipment. Get quotes for your own unit through the form above.
| Factor | Why it moves the price | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Repair, recondition or exchange unit | A repair replaces what failed. A recondition strips to component level and renews wear parts whether or not they have failed yet. An exchange unit swaps in a rebuilt box off the shelf. Three different scopes, three different prices, three very different downtimes. | All three priced where they are available for your unit, with the downtime for each, so you can trade money against lost production. |
| Strip-down and diagnosis | Nobody can price the job properly without opening the box, so the strip is normally a chargeable operation in its own right. The good ones credit it against the repair if you go ahead. | The strip fee in writing, whether it is credited against the repair, and what you get if you do not proceed: a written report with photographs, and the unit back either boxed or reassembled. |
| Condition of the casing, shafts and housings | Bearings and seals are consumables. A cracked case, a picked-up shaft or bearing housings worn oversize turn a routine rebuild into machining work, and that is where a moderate quote becomes a large one. | Whether housings need line boring or sleeving, whether shafts need building up and regrinding, and whether the casing has been pressure tested. |
| Gear condition and machining | Pitted, chipped or spalled gear teeth mean new gears. Cut gears made to order for an obsolete unit are a lead-time and cost item on their own, and matched pairs usually have to be replaced together. | Which gears are being replaced against reused, whether they are genuine, pattern or cut to order, and what the lead time is on each. |
| Parts availability and obsolescence | A current-production unit with shelf-stock bearings and seals prices very differently from a forty-year-old drive whose parts are made to order. On vehicles, a common box with a healthy reconditioned market is cheaper than a low-volume or performance box. | Whether every part needed is available now, which items are on lead time, and what the plan is if something is obsolete. |
| Removal, refit and site work | A unit delivered to the workshop on a pallet is the cheap version. Removing a drive from a running plant, craning it out, or sending fitters to site adds labour, access and lifting cost before any repair work starts. | Whether removal, refit, transport and any lifting are in the quote or your responsibility, and whether alignment on refit is included. |
| Downtime and priority | Overtime, weekend working and expedited parts all cost more. Whether that is worth paying depends on what an hour of stopped production costs you, which is a number only you have. | A standard lead time and a priority lead time, both priced, so the premium for speed is visible rather than assumed. |
| Testing, warranty and paperwork | Run testing under load, noise and temperature checks, and a written warranty are real work and real cost. For industrial units, maintenance records also matter: HSE guidance on PUWER says work equipment must be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient order and in good repair, and that where machinery has a maintenance log, the log is kept up to date. | What the warranty covers, how long it runs, whether it covers labour and removal as well as parts, and what test certification and records you get back with the unit. |
- A gearbox cannot be priced accurately before strip-down: any figure given from symptoms alone is an estimate, and the strip is normally a chargeable operation that good specialists credit against the repair.
- The three routes, repair, recondition and exchange unit, differ in scope, price and downtime, and the right choice usually turns on what an hour of stopped production costs rather than on the repair price alone.
- Machining work on the case, shafts and bearing housings is what most often turns a moderate gearbox quote into a large one, because it is only discovered once the unit is stripped.
- HSE guidance states that PUWER requires all work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient order and in good repair, and that where machinery has a maintenance log it is kept up to date.
Cite this page
“What drives the price of a gearbox repair”, Gearbox Repair Quotes, https://gearboxrepairquotes.co.uk/ (updated 2026-08-14). A cost-driver table rather than a price list. Gearbox repair cost is set by the condition found on strip-down, parts availability for that specific maker and ratio, and how much machining the case, shafts and bearing housings need, none of which can be known in advance from symptoms alone; publishing typical totals would misprice most jobs. The regulatory point is taken from HSE's published guidance on PUWER and maintenance of work equipment. Get quotes for your own unit through the form above.
Questions, answered directly
How much does a gearbox repair cost?
There is no honest single figure, because the price is set by what the strip finds. The variables are the route you take (repair, recondition or exchange unit), whether the casing, shafts and bearing housings are sound, whether gears need replacing or cutting to order, parts availability for that maker and ratio, and removal and refit labour. Get the strip fee quoted separately and a firm price after the report.
Why can nobody quote a gearbox over the phone?
Because the same symptom covers a wide range of failures. A whine can be one bearing or a full set of gears plus machining. Any firm number given before the unit is opened is either padded to cover the worst case or will be revised once it is stripped. A staged quote is the honest structure: a price for the strip, then a firm price from the report.
Do you cover industrial gearboxes and vehicle gearboxes?
Both, and they are handled as separate trades. Industrial and plant drives, worm, helical and bevel reduction units go to specialists who rebuild them; cars, vans and commercial vehicles go to gearbox specialists in that trade. Tell us which you have in the form and we route the enquiry accordingly.
Is a reconditioned gearbox as good as new?
A properly reconditioned unit is stripped to component level, has all wear parts renewed, is machined where required, rebuilt to specification and run tested. That is a very different product from a repair that reuses part-worn components. Ask what the recondition specification actually covers and what the warranty runs on.
How long will I be without the gearbox?
Parts availability decides it. Stock bearings and seals turn round fast; gears cut to order for an obsolete industrial drive run into weeks. Where an exchange unit exists for your model it is by far the quickest route. Ask for a standard and a priority lead time, both priced, so the cost of speed is visible.
Is this quote service really free?
Yes, free to you, with no obligation to accept any quote. We pass your details only to relevant gearbox specialists, who quote you directly; we may receive a fee from those providers, which is how the service is funded.