25 Years of Railcar Openers...

...and the newest model is going to be amazing (as the youngest in my family, I clearly think the latest is the greatest) !

At Martin Engineering, we try our best to create innovative and reliable products to help customers work cleaner, safer, and more productively. Back in 2000, we introduced the first generation of the Martin^® Railcar Opener.  

While we weren’t sure about the types of things customers expected, we wanted to get into the gate-opening and closing market, so we jumped in.  After a couple of years of being in the market and listening to customers and prospective customers, we introduced the second generation, which featured an adjustable height drive shaft to better accommodate varying capstan heights. 

About seven years later, our third-generation railcar opener was launched with pivoting wheels for lateral movement to accommodate traveling capstans.

And now, we are proud to introduce the Martin^® Gen 4 Railcar Opener.

New & Improved

While the Martin^® Gen 4 Railcar Opener is completely redesigned, it does have some similarities to its predecessors:

• Two wheels (Gen 1 feature)
• Adjustable height (Gen 2 feature)
• Pivoting wheels that allow for lateral movement  (Gen 3 feature)

What the Gen 4 offers is a brand new, more robust gearbox/drivetrain that produces up to 3,750 ft/lbs of non-impact torque (40% more power than the previous generations).

It also has a new replaceable stepped drive tip that allows for better engagement with capstans:

• More bite equals less wear and tear on capstans and drive tips
• Reduces rollback when under load, which was common with the straight tapered drive shafts of the previous generations