News and Updates
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Greetings. This pandemic has certainly thrown a monkey wrench into our way of doing business. I hope now that we have started to gradually re-open here in the USA, conditions will remain favorable for a good crop and good ginning season in the early fall. CNC Performance Engineering has just received some beautiful forgings for Continental Gin Stands and machining is getting ready to start. It is not too late to get orders in. Call and ask for Tammy Rogero. (704) 495-0296) She will get you fixed up, not only for Continental Ribs but for all models of ribs and wearplates. Many of you still purchase ribs from China. Consider the source. Consider the quality. Consider performance. These foreign made ribs simply can not compete with Vandergriff Ribs. Our ribs have set the standard for 25 years. It is what we do. Stay safe. Wishing you the best of luck. Loyd Vandergriff May 5, 2020 
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Chris Nachtmann and Tammy Rogero of CNC Performance Engineering will be representing the Vandergriff Gin Rib at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show. They will be in booth 9105. The booth is beautiful, and they will have some nice swag too. All models of Ribs are on display. Also of extreme interest is a video Chris has that shows a Chinese Foundry making 161 Ribs for a Continental Gin Stand. Mercy. No wonder they have strength and accuracy issues. Make sure to check it out.
Loyd made a little video set to his song, "Ginning Cotton," for you to check out. It's about the CNC Performance Engineering and Vandergriff Inc. They have been working together for well over 20 years in this gin rib business. It's no wonder the Vandergriff Rib is the Gold Standard in the Industry. Click the link below. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvddK_zgie0 Wishing you a great gin show 2020! Most have finished their seasons ginning cotton here in the USA. I hope it was a good year for all of you. We are off to a very good start with Vandy Ribs this season. Chris Nachtmann had inventories built up well to deal with the initial orders that came in, and we were able to ship sets of ribs right out. Currently, we are finishing up a big Consolidated Run. All of these ribs are sold. There could very well be a second run later if demand dictates this. We have Continental Game Changer Ribs and Vandy Ribs for Lummus Gin Stands as well. These ribs are CNC machined from 1018 steel forgings. Precision and accuracy are paramount. Certain critical areas of the rib require precision. Each rib is identical, no shimming. It is difficult for little seed to sneak through. We have been doing this for along time and have it down what we need to do to get these ribs to you the customer, in awesome shape, ready to gin at maximum efficiency. There is still plenty of time for you to call and get the ribs you need for your ginning operation. Make this initial investment, then move on to address other areas of your operation. You won't have to hassle with gin ribs anymore.  If you missed it, here is Loyd's song about Ginning Cotton. Just click the link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFYqujEEZjc&t=30s Loyd will not be at the Mid-South Farm and Gin show this year, but Chris Nachtmann of CNC Performance Engineering will. He can answer your questions and fill any needs you might have regarding ribs and wearplates. I am sorry I can't make it. I miss visiting and chatting with many of you that have become good friends over the years. I was on the phone with a customer from Texas yesterday. He started complaining about how the seed varieties keep getting smaller and smaller. Of course, these "researchers," are not interested in how the gins might have to deal with these, they are only interested in money and turn-out, the gins be damned.
Three years ago, I wrote an article about the problem small seed varieties are causing the gins. Today, based on my conversation with the Texas ginner, it appears the problem is just as bad as ever. In the pursuit of the "all mighty" yield, the seed keeps getting smaller and smaller. Big players like Monsanto and Bayer and others are right in the middle of giving the growers these nuggets and then the gin has to deal with them. The trade off for yield is potentially lower grades due to loss of seed into lint cleaners and motes, and certainly not enough seed in the seed pile outside. At what point are these new varieties "too small" for the gins to handle effectively? I think we are there. Read the blog I wrote 3 years ago, I have attached it here. Also know Vandergriff Inc has made some modifications to help in this area and it tested out well in Australia. So we will continue down this path trying to do our part to help with this issue. Updated August, 2018. For at least the last 50 years, many things have come down the pike that have in one way or another affected cotton ginners and the operation of the gin. I use the word "external" in the title because ginners and gin plant owners usually are involved very little in the discussions regarding these changes, but of course they are heavily involved modifying their gins to accommodate them. By now, I think many of you are getting the drift of this, so I won't go into specific details regarding these types of situations that have come the gins way over the years. I have often wondered just how much "gin people" have been brought into this loop when these types of things start to get discussed. Maybe there are some committees or some "superficial" attempts to get ginner input, but one has to wonder just how well is the ginning side of the equation really represented? I have seen some bad scenarios come the gins way that led to very costly modifications. I doubt that the cost was shared in any way, and it fell squarely on the owner or owners of the gin. Today, there is much R&D and competition among big cotton seed breeders to get seed to the grower and farmer that will significantly increase yield of cotton per acre. We all know who the big players in this game are. While R&D on this side of the equation has done, and continues to do much good, it would not be beneficial to have this research backfire on the other side of the equation and cause the gins difficulty. In order to obtain these types of increased per acre yields, in many cases the seed have become smaller and smaller. When these small seed cannot be extracted from the fiber at the gin stand, or they simply "slip through: the ribs, they pass on through to the lint cleaners. Here, they are ground up and mixed into the lint. This will affect the grade of this fiber in a very negative way. This of course will not be well received by the farmer who wants and expects the best grades possible from the gin. It is important to know that some ginning operations are starting to show concern over these little seed, and their ability to gin it. Gins that use products of Vandergriff Research, more specifically The Vandergriff Gin rib, have a great deal of success in removing the seed from the fiber during the ginning process. The seed is extracted, cleaned thoroughly and then heads on down the line where it is supposed to go. Over a 21 year period, Vandergriff Ribs have established a sterling reputation in terms of overall performance in the gin stand, and preventing the loss of seed of all seed varieties. The key to our success is unparalleled precision in all critical areas of the rib. Cast ribs can not handle this situation. Foreign made ribs where precision should be paramount, simply falls way short in these critical areas. We want the ginning industry to know that we are closely monitoring this situation related to these new varieties of seed, and will respond to it in regions most affected, should this continue to be a problem. It is important to note and understand, that is possible for the seed to get too small to effectively remove it by any means from the cotton. Hopefully the ginning industry will have a dialogue with seed breeders about this important issue and monitor it closely, just as we are. The ginning industry is to be commended for the way it has responded to all the challenges that have come its way over the years and will continue to try and meet all new challenges that come its way in the future. We are proud to be a part of that. If you are having trouble with little seed, let Chris Nachtmann or Loyd know when you call to talk about ordering ribs. We can discuss making some modifications for you that will give you some help in dealing with this serious issue. Updated February 4th, 2020 A year or so ago, Loyd wrote a blog on the use of cylinder cleaning in the ginning operation. Today, most are referred to as Horizontal Cleaner arrangements. This has been a trend that has come and gone. and now returned again. Can you have too many cylinders in your ginning operation? Of course you can. Can they ultimately damage the cotton? Of course they can. I am giving you the link to the blog related to all of this. Click on it and go check it out. vandergriffinc.blogspot.com/2018/07/cylinder-cleaning.html Consolidated forgings are arriving and the are all sold before we even start machining them. They will be ready in a month to six weeks and then will ship out. If you still are interested in Consolidated Ribs for your gin stands give us a call and get on a second run list.  Loyd Vandergriff
President Vandergriff Inc. 25 years We are moving into the New Year quite rapidly. After I wrote the blog on Consolidated ribs, orders starting coming in. Good for us, even better for you. The Vandergriff Rib for Consolidated Gin Stands will eliminate your ribs issues and you can concentrate on other issues in your ginning operation you might have. Consolidated Stands are a Product of Vandergriff Research, but the gin rib from the factory is not a Vandergriff Rib.
A quick word on Continental Gin Ribs. They are currently marketing a new rib, and telling potential customers it is as good as "The Vandergriff Rib." Don't fall for it. One of our customers admitted to trying a set, and said they had to send 255 ribs before he could get enough straight ones to get him a set of 161's. Then, they had to heavily shim the rest. They clearly have issues with straightness and precision. Once installed, more issues arose when ginning, like tags and rib fires. These ribs are manufactured in India. The Vandergriff Rib represents USA research, development and manufacturing at its best. It's Made in America. The quality shows. No foreign made rib can compete with it. We are also taking orders for Lummus gin stands as well. The sooner you get your orders in, the quicker your rib delivery will be. We appreciate your business and trust in the Vandergriff Gin Rib. That industry standard for over 20 years. We are developing tooling and will have all models of Consolidated Gin Ribs available in approximately 3 months. If you need these ribs, you need to call and get on the waiting list. This will reserve your sets for you. Phone: 704-495-0296 (CNC Performance Engineering) 559-324-8848 (Loyd Vandergriff) email: [email protected]  We make em for 112 and 164  We make em for 198, 184, 222 These are Vandergriff Ribs. You will have no performance issues like cheap ribs made in China, India or even Pakistan.  We are the leaders in gin rib technology and performance.
Loyd Wrote a song called, Ginning Cotton. He is providing you with the link below to the YouTube Video of it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFYqujEEZjc&t=1s As the season winds down, starting considering placing your orders for Vandergriff Ribs. You will them before the rush. Also, if you need Consolidated Ribs, get your order in. The Vandy Rib with make those gin stands hum baby. Most of you are ginning some cotton now. Hope the season has got off to a great start for you and the weather has been cooperative. We continued to sell Vandergriff Ribs right into the season. Some simply waited to see how the crop was going to look, and some started ginning and found out that their existing ribs were just not going to hack it. You know, those Indian or Chinese ribs. They don't put too much priority on accuracy and strength. I am somewhat surprised they sell em to you knowing full well there will be trouble coming.
For this season in the USA, we started machining ribs in mid-February and to date almost 8,000 forgings have gone through the CNC Machines and delivered to customers. A great deal of these were Continental Game Changer ribs, but we also sold our share of Vandergriff Ribs for Lummus gin stands as well. Some of these orders came rather late, but we got them to the customer. We also had some calls for Consolidated ribs, but these simply came too late to respond to. But we will get Consolidated ribs back into the product line for next season. Don't ever give up on those Consolidated Gin Stands. They are beasts. They just need a good rib. From the 164 to the 198 to the 222, our rib will make these stands hum. Also the workhorse 184 that has those Vandergriff 181 spacings incorporated into it, we can fix you up as well. If you want these for next season, give us a call ASAP and get on the list to ensure that you get them. Some gin manufacturers have gone even narrower with their saw spacings. When you are dealing with these very narrow saw spacings, it is even more imperative that have a strong and accurate rib. There is no room for error. We can make these for you. It's what we do. Give us a call regarding these as well. (704) 495-0296. You can always call Loyd Vandergriff as well. 559-324-8848. He is around and going nowhere. He is just taking life more easy and making damn good music. Have a great season! A lot of cotton defoliated now, so I hope all the gin installations are complete. Again, a great year for gin rib sales for the Vandergriff Rib. Thanks to all the customers that put their trust in our product. Wishing you a great season. If you need anything call the gin rib hotline. It's right here on the website under contact on the menu tab.
I am cruising, enjoying life. I talk to customers when they call with questions for sure. I am always glad to help, but I have turned the rib operation over to Chris Nachtmann and CNC Performance Engineering and he is letting his assistant Tammy Rogero pretty much run it. She is quite capable and most certainly will get you what you need. I taught High School History and Government for 19 years and ran Vandergriff Inc. for 24. I saw a good opportunity to pull back and I took it. Sho did. Here is a little video of my latest trip over to the Central Coast of California. Just click the link. Appreciate all of you. Best of luck ginnin that cotton! www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIgboF6D3BE&feature=youtu.be |
Loyd VandergriffLoyd personally writes the blogs and provides updates on what is going on with Vandy Inc and the industry in general. Archives
April 2021
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