Abstract The operating conditions of the drum shearer are very complex, and its ranging arm gear system often suffers from gear scuffing and wear. Gear scuffing is caused by the adhesive wear, which is due to the instantaneous friction and flash temperature of the tooth surface, and the gear meshing power loss is also caused by tooth surface friction. In order to resist tooth scuffing and improve meshing efficiency of the transmission system, an improved semi-analytical tooth surface flash temperature calculation method was used. The tooth flash temperature status under various working conditions were analyzed in detail. Based on the mechanical model of the shearer drum picks, the load condition of the drum was analyzed. Under these load and boundary conditions, the misalignments of each gear pair in the ranging arm were calculated. The tooth surface load distribution was calculated under the gear misalignments, and then the theoretical tooth surface flash temperature and meshing power loss were determined. Next, the tooth micro-geometry was modified to reduce flash temperature and meshing power loss. The flash temperature distribution pattern of the optimized tooth surface was studied under various working conditions, and the meshing power loss was also obtained. Finally, experiments were conducted to verify the effects of the optimized tooth surface on the friction temperature rise and the effectiveness of the modification method. Tooth surface optimization aimed at reducing tooth surface flash temperature can also effectively reduce meshing power loss, which has a significant effect on gear anti-scuffing and energy saving. Keywords: gear system; tooth flash temperature; meshing power loss; tooth modification; drum shearer; gear scuffing