That’s the case for the ULTRA Spud Tail Fin, the Trinity belt trailer’s unique feature that is simplifying life for haulers of potatoes and other agricultural commodities.
Unloading spuds has traditionally been an ordeal both for potatoes and the drivers delivering them. “Getting the trailer positioned just right during the unload could add quite a bit of time to each haul,” said Dean Hearst, Trinity’s engineering manager. “And even then, we were hearing that potatoes were falling to the ground because the trailer gate was too high off the conveyor.” Potatoes tumbling through open unload gates sometimes take hard falls to the piler or conveyer belt, bruising the product. Worse, potatoes can bounce off of the conveyer belt altogether, falling hard to the ground and spoiling them.
“We sat down with a few of our customers and worked on different ideas,” said Hearst. “After a bit of time at the welding table, we had the ULTRA Spud Tail Fin ready to put on our potato trailers.”
Trinity’s 24-inch Shaft Mount / Tail Fin extension and its tapered edges solve the unload problem by gently funneling the cascading potatoes — or beets, or other crops — onto the piler or conveyer belt, resulting in less waste and less time clearing spoiled spuds from the receiving area.
Problem solved.
But Trinity’s ULTRA Spud Tail Fin also makes life easier for truckers. Without the extension, drivers faced the unenviable task of backing trailers as close as possible to pilers or conveyer belts. Inevitably, trailers sometimes bumped into the machinery, resulting in dinged bumpers or cracked tail lights. The ULTRA Spud Tail Fin gives drivers a margin of error, removing stress, damage and time from the equation. Trinity’s engineering team’s strategic shaft mount provides an additional six inches in the linkage between gate and piler or conveyer belt.
Some customers order extensions including spud deflectors, adding small metal backstops that effectively increase the fin’s funneling effect, enabling faster and smoother unloading.
Another problem solved.
To learn more about Trinity’s ULTRA Spud Tail Fin and other innovative hauling solutions, contact us today.
