Wind Power Article "Translation"

Der Speigel has an on-line article about problems with wind turbines. I thought the funny bit was this. I'm sure the original German article doesn't use quite this, um, colloquialism.

Indeed, with thousands of mishaps, breakdowns and accidents having been reported in recent years, the difficulties seem to be mounting. Gearboxes hiding inside the casings perched on top of the towering masts have short shelf lives, often crapping out before even five years is up.

I don't think I've ever seen that used in a news report before. Certainly not outside of a quote.