CRC Evapo-Rust® Removes Hours of Manual Corrosion Work from Winch Refurbishment at an Oregon Manufacturer

CRC Industries Customer Success Story

Resulting in Estimated Annual Savings of ~$172,800 per year

Customer Challenge

Company Overview: An Oregon-based manufacturer refurbishes and repairs vehicle-recovery winches for trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs. Used, in-service winches arrive in varying stages of disrepair for warranty repair or full refurbishment, and corrosion on structural components is a routine part of what comes through the door. Restoring each unit depends on getting those components clean before the winch can be reassembled and returned to service.

The Challenge: Once the motor, brake, and electrical connections were removed, technicians cleaned light-to-severe corrosion off the structural components by hand — grinding and scaling with power tools and accessories, then finishing with Scotch-Brite buffing pads. It was only one step in a multi-stage refurbishment process, but it carried a disproportionately high share of the internal labor cost.

With internal labor at $24–$28 per hour, every work order tied up skilled technicians in corrosion removal — an estimated ~2 labor-hours per work order — instead of the gear, drum, and motor work that rebuilds the winch. Across an estimated ~1,440 work orders per year, that recurring manual step was quietly one of the most expensive parts of the process.

CRC Brand Solution

CRC Evapo-Rust® Heavy Duty Rust Remover (ER015, 275-gal tote)

The Solution: CRC recommended replacing the manual grinding-and-buffing step with a soak in CRC Evapo-Rust®. After an isolated 24-hour trial on smaller parts, it was clear that even severely corroded structural components came clean far more easily by soaking than by grinding — with no power tools, abrasives, or heat required.

The facility set up designated soak containers on the shop floor: corroded structural components go in, soak for roughly 24 hours, and come out clean, ready to be matched back to the refurbishment work order already in progress. The process is safer for employees and requires no capital investment — no new equipment, ventilation, or tooling to purchase.

Customer-Reported Results

After changing the work-order process flow to route structural components through a 24-hour Evapo-Rust® soak — supported by two CRC ER015 275-gallon totes of Evapo-Rust® — the customer reports:

• Skilled Labor Redirected: corrosion removal no longer ties up technicians; they now spend that time repairing gears, drums, electrical connections, and motor rewiring — the work that actually moves a refurbishment forward.
• Lower Cost Per Work Order: an estimated $120 saved on every work order — net of the Evapo-Rust® used — once burrs, grinding wheels, nylon fiber abrasive wheels, and labor are all accounted for.
• Simpler, Cleaner Process: a passive soak replaced hours of hands-on grinding and buffing — quieter, less physically demanding, and no abrasive dust or spent consumables to manage.
• Estimated Annual Savings: approximately ~$172,800 per year (CRC estimate), based on roughly ~1,440 refurbishment work orders per year (about 30 a week) at ~$120 saved each — driven by the volume of orders that now skip the manual corrosion-removal step.

“Instead of grinding rust off by hand, we drop the parts in to soak and they come out clean. Our techs spend their time rebuilding winches now — not fighting corrosion.”

— Refurbishment Operations, Oregon-Based Winch Manufacturer