Railway Track & Structures 12/07

Handy fix grinding in tight areas. ERICO also offers a heavy-duty grinder for bonding installations. It comes with an engine mounting base plate, flexible shaft, straight spindle, grinding wheel and guard. Other accessories include grinding wheels, angle spindles, drill attachments and stand-up grinder attachments. veloping and evolving our product line of tools for the industry. As the railroads’ tool needs change due to safety or procedural concerns, so does their need for equipment,” said Alex Hellkamp, sales manager at Matweld. A coordinated effort between Matweld and its customers resulted in the development of the Precision Frog Grinder. “We believe the introduction of this tool to the industry will help change the procedures on how frogs are rebuilt in the field, which will result in overall savings in maintenance repair time and cost,” said Hellkamp. “This tool brings machine shop precision capabilities to the field. With precision angle and height adjustability, this tool permits every operator to produce a consistent and precision grind to the rebuilding of any frog. The ability to precisely grind while standing up keeps the operator’s face away from grinding dust and also brings ergonomic advantages. Operators will not have to be continually bending over grinding on the frogs, which will prevent fatigue and possible injuries associated from previous methods and procedures used.” Hellkamp points out that safety is a primary concern at Matweld and handheld tools are not an exception. “With the present work force maturing toward retirement more new hires are coming into the industry. Bringing the new workforces into the industry with safety as a primary focus is everyone’s Hougen/Trak-Star® Hougen Manufacturing, Inc., TrakStar® Railroad Equipment developed a new, lightweight power feed hydraulic rail drill. The RailMaster hydraulic rail drill weighs 48 pounds and uses the company’s Twister™ Bits, which are annular cutters to drill through standard rail in less than 28 seconds. “The drill offers a consistent feed rate, which extends the cutting tool life and produces a better hole finish, all with less effort for the operator. Just clamp it to the rail, flip the lever and let it drill the hole,” said Greg Londrigan, marketing coordinator at Hougen. Londrigan points out that, at Hougen, safety is always a priority when designing a product, from the way someone operates a product to the way they carry and handle it. “The new RM42 RailMaster has only one exposed moving part, which is close to impossible to touch while using the drill. Plus, the drill is lightweight with a center-balanced handle for ease of use and travel,” said Londrigan. PortaCo’s impact wrench. A trend the company has noticed is the use of more gas- and hydraulicpowered hand tools, especially smaller lightweight units. “The use of these tools is becoming more and more prevalent than in previous years. From impactors to rail drills to grinders and any kind of tool to help reduce the labor-intensive jobs and take the human error factor out of it,” said Londrigan. Matweld “Matweld, Inc., is continually de- 30 Railway Track & Structures December 2007 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures 12/07

Railway Track & Structures - December 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Hand-Held Tools Provide the Power to Get Big Jobs Done AREMA C&S Update Striving to Solve the Riddle of Wheel Climb RTA Stages Warm Gathering in Sunny Florida in October Products and Literature People Calendar Website Directory Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

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