Railcar unloading can be a difficult task depending contributing factors such as the type of material, size, moisture content, if the material is frozen, or if it was compacted during shipment, just to name a few. Add to the fact the weather could change from transportation to delivery point, this creates an interesting sizing situation. At Cleveland Vibrator, we use our 1350 VMRR Vibrator as the “one size fits all” unit for rail car unloading. We realize that at times, our valued customers may require a vibrator or vibrators with a little more or less force and may even require a unit that operates at a lower noise level. Cleveland Vibrator understands our customer needs may have  changed from what was used ten, twenty or thirty years ago.  Tried and true methods of that era may need to be changed to accommodate new rail car designs.

In the past, most rail cars were steel and fitted with dove tailed female brackets either at the factory or in the field to accept the male wedge type railcar vibrators. This is still one of the preferred way to vibrate material out of rail cars even today. But, changes  in the railcar design has in some cases eliminated the female dovetail brackets that worked so effectively in the past. Cars are being manufactured from other metals such as aluminum. This has brought about different mounting styles and Cleveland Vibrator has several to choose from in both impact and our quiet air cushioned style vibrators. I would compare our rail car vibrators to the boxing weight classes fighting to discharge material out of railcars.

In the Impact categories we have:

1. The WELTERWEIGHT-1200 VMRR
2. The MIDDLEWEIGHT-1300 VMRR
3. The LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – 1350 VMRR
4. The HEAVYWEIGHT-1400 VMRR also known as “THE BEAST”

We also offer the same sizes in our “quiet” version and normally go up one or two sizes to compensate for the difference of force in our Air Cushioned Vibrator sizes:

1. The 1200 VMRR-AC  has less force than the 1200 VMRR and would compare to a LIGHTWEIGHT
2. The 1300 VMRR-AC is our MIDDLEWEIGHT
3. The 1350 VMRR-AC is the WELTERWEIGHT
4. The 1400 VMRR-AC is our LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

The VMRR and VMRR-AC all fit the standard railcar female bracket except the 1200 size, this model has it’s own smaller dovetail bracket specially-designed by Cleveland Vibrator. It’s important to note that the 1200 VMRR and 1200 VMRR-AC vibrators will fit in the larger dovetail bracket and be somewhat effective but the fit is loose at best. If your railcar comes with no brackets, we offer a couple options. 

One. You could use our Vacuum Mount Vibrators and place them on a clean smooth surface. They currently come in four sizes going from 1125 VMSAC, which is normally used on smaller hoppers and chutes. For larger hopper, we have 1200, 1300 and 1350 VMSAC Vacuum Mount Kits that pretty much match the VMRR-AC sizes. This is a suction cup assembly that uses air pressure to keep the vibrator attached to the wall of the railcar.

Two. If you have a railcar that doesn’t have any brackets currently installed and you think vacuum vibrators is not the answer, we offer several clamp on-bolt on vibrators in both impact and air cushioned. The sizes are 1200, 1300, and 1350 in both impact and air cushioned matching the VMRR-VMRR-AC sizes.

Three. We also have Turbine Ball Vibrators in the bolt-bite styles that are close to the 1200 VMRR-AC force output.

All of the above mentioned vibrators are manufactured by the Cleveland Vibrator Company in good old Cleveland, Ohio. “MADE IN CLEVELAND”  is our motto! If you’re looking to rock some Cleveland gear, it’s available to purchase. Hopefully as you are ”fighting” to discharge material from a rail car, bin, hopper or down a chute, you will keep us in mind to help you find a solution to “KNOCKOUT” your problem.