ProTrap kits are available for single, double, triple, quad and B-train hoppers
Safety and convenience are two of the biggest factors prompting grain growers to install remote control gates on trucks and hopper trailers.
Wireless remotes let the operator stand back out of the dust, said Shaun Gelsinger, a farmer and owner of Lakeshore Manufacturing in Holdfast, Sask., who sells the Shurco ProTrap opener for tandem trailers, a totally wireless 12-volt opener for hopper doors.
“What I like about it is that we can control a lot of different functions from a single remote unit,” said Gelsinger.
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“You control hopper doors of course, because that’s what it was originally built for.”
The remote regulates the volume of grain flowing through the hopper chutes. The same remote can also control equipment such as electric roll tarps and lighting kits.
It has a Smart2 remote, which allows the operator to look at the LCD monitor and know the position of the gate in real time.
Gelsinger said ProTrap is a double side kit, so it works on both sides of a trailer. There are no exposed switches on the remote, so an operator can safely put it in his pocket without worrying he might inadvertently trigger an accident.
The system is as simple as pressing the open button to open the gate and pressing the button again to close the gate when the dump is complete.
The important factor is that the operator can easily regulate the flow so there’s no log jam downstream.
Shurco says the housing and gears are 100 percent metal to cope with the hard shocks when gates open and close. There are no plastic components.
The planetary gear reduction reduces the load on the 12 volt electric drive motor, while a circuit breaker protects the 12 volt battery and motor. The motor delivers 250 foot pounds of torque.
“We had already designed a 12 volt gate opener similar to the ProTrap, but it had to sell for $3,500 for us to have any profit margin,” said Gelsinger.
“Then we looked at the Shurco ProTrap. We realized we could do better importing them from the States. We sell a typical ProTrap unit for a tandem trailer for $2,900.”
Shurco has ProTrap kits for single, double, triple, quad and B-train hoppers.
Gelsinger also manufactures and sells his own line of remote control truck chute openers called Chute-Max, which are designed specifically for rear truck chutes.
Gelsinger’s Truck Chute Opener includes a 12 volt actuator, remote FM transmitters, a remote FM receiver and a rear switch for manual operation.
The standard kit runs a chute with 660 pounds of force, while the heavy duty option puts out 1,200 pounds of force.
For more information, contact Gelsinger at 306-539-3418.
