More on Gin Ribs

In the last blog, I talked about the importance of accuracy and strength when it comes to gin ribs.  I wanted to elaborate a little more on this.

For years, (since the 1980's) the standard saw spacing in gin stands was the one used in Continental 161, Lummus 170 and Consolidated 164.  Other companies used this same spacing.  Their older model gin stands had an even wider saw spacing.  Then in 1997, A.L Vandergriff converted a Continental 161 gin stand to a 181 at Elbow Gin in California.  This gin stand with this new spacing, ran relatively unnoticed until approximately 2005 or so.  Then, it caught on like wild fire.  All companies begin to convert and build their new gin stands with this "Elbow Gin" spacing.  Of course once the saw spacings are narrowed, the gin ribs must be as well.  This means a narrower rib must "hold up" under the pressures caused by increased horsepower, and increased volume of cotton in the roll box.  With this new dynamic, your gin ribs better be strong and accurate. Ribs that have been manufactured using the casting process fall short.  1). They are not strong enough. 2). They are not nearly accurate enough.  So, you get rib fires, tags and the loss of seed.  But lets keep moving forward until the present time.  Saw spacings have become even narrower.  Now you are dealing with a very thin rib that must hold up to the pressures of extreme horsepower and again, more volume of cotton in the roll box. (Some companies address the issue of seed discharge with mixed results, but the volume of cotton in these long roll boxes is still, very heavy)  With this current situation, it is imperative to have strong and accurate gin ribs.  Some companies have made some strides in improving their ribs to get them to hold up under these conditions, but the manufacturing process they use causes their efforts to still fall short.  If you are going to gin with these new saw spacings, the Vandergriff Rib will meet all the criteria to allow your gin stand to perform without rib issues.  The forging process we use allows our forgings to simply be machined down to the proper specifications.  Chris Nachtmann of CNC Performance engineering, and his family have been involved with this for over 25 years. They know what they are doing.  From the design of the tooling for the forgings, to all the programs for the CNC Machines, they have developed it. Chris is the absolute leader in the industry when it comes to CNC machining as it relates to gin ribs. I can not stress enough the need for strength and accuracy of your ribs with these narrower saw spacings.  With less room between ribs, saws can easily get into the ribs.  These new spacings most certainly push the envelope as to how narrow you can actually go. Their success ultimately hinges on a rib that will respond to the challenge.  That rib is of course, The Vandergriff Gin Rib.  The leader in the industry for over 25 years.

Loyd Vandergriff
March 2021