ustom Fabrication has been an irreplaceable asset to us this year. allowing us to customize any order for our customers as needed. This division has impacted almost all other divisions and is one of the main reasons on what makes BARR, BARR.
Today we wanted to go over some highlights over the year and give a little more insight on to what went on behind the scenes for each project.
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An extremely popular unit earlier this year, our Heated & Insulated Holdings tanks (HIHT) are mainly used up north to ensure water, wastewater and other liquids stay at the right temperature.
These units are completely custom made, and commonly come in 1,000 and 2,000 USG options. The tank itself is wrapped by a light duty steel skid that can either slide short distances or picked up by a forklift / crane for long distance movement.
This year, our biggest customer used these as wastewater holding tanks and chose us over competing products due to the efficiency and resiliency of our products. These units needed to be re-located often and with cold temperatures and rock-solid grounds, other competing products couldn't keep up.
These units were also slightly different as they were constructed of a dual wall plastic construction instead of the insulated metal cladding that we normally use. This gives us the option to add a variety of different accessories such as a high-level alarm, control panels, pump systems, sight tubes, vents and much more. Additionally, the dual wall design also acts as a secondary catchment in the case of internal tank failure, keeping clean-up to an absolute minimum.
One of a kind project that came out in July of this year, we put together a very large 5,000 USG tank and 145 PSI pump combo.
Our team added in a foam container to said pump that injects foam as water is being drawn out, creating a mixture that is much more efficient for emergency firefighting than water alone. A pressure relieve hose was also attached to prevent the high-pressure pump from damaging any of the components when being shut off.
Custom Hose reel Assembly was also added on this project.
Simple yet effective, one of our customers required signage to be mounted to the back of a pump truck which held our salt brine applicator skid unit. Instead of having the unit sent out, received, and then altered to make a sign mount, we did it all in house.
Our Custom Fabrication Team designed the frame to the specifications of our customer all while considering the size of the truck, our skid and most importantly, the application of brine solution.
Additional sources: Deep Root Watering Guide
We had a handful of unique projects that built of our firefighting trailer framework for use outside of emergency firefighting. This project was for deep tree root watering, A very niche use but our team was happy to take on the project.
The system consisted of two separate storage tanks, presumably one for water and the other for a chemical or separate product. All the plumbing was arranged for both dispensing and refilling. The entire system was powered by our 2 HP pump, and the dispensing lines lead to a garden hose adapter.
From there the garden hose or equivalent can be attached and then connected to the custom fabricated spike. This spike had 2 sets of handles for the best leverage when inserting into the ground. At the bottom of the spike, we drilled out 1/2 inch holes for the water and other product to be dispensed.
Another one-of-a-kind project, our customer needed a way to mix product inside a cone bottom tank. Additionally, the tanks needed to be removed for cleaning and other maintenance.
The project began with the respective tank stands that are commonly sold with our cone bottom tanks. These stands where then extended by welding on a mounting plate that connected to the rest of the custom-built stand. This way the custom stand could be removed by unbolting it from the rest of the frame and the tank could be serviced.
The custom stand was made to our customer's specification, being made specifically to match his mixers.
A common question we get with all our tanks is: How long does a tank last? And while the answer varies greatly depending on your application and surrounding environment the tank is placed in; your tank's life can be extended with plastic welding.
Now, not all tanks can be fixed but in this specific case a leaky tank was able to be modified into a tank with a manhole on the side of the tank. The entire tank was re-sealed and ready to get back in the field.
One of the coolest projects (in my opinion) we had come out this year was in September. A customer had seen a similar unit in town and knew exactly what he wanted. In total, this unit took 7 days to be delivered to the customer. From initial inquiry to pick up, this was probably the fastest turn around to our custom units.
This was made possible to our team working hard to keeping everything in stock and our customer knowing exactly what he wanted. The finished product was a 10-foot trailer, with a 525 USG tank, 2 HP high-pressure pump, with plumbing. Additionally, a custom fabricated hose reel for 100 Ft. of firefighting hose and hangers for a floating suction intake hose were added.
Lastly, earlier in the year gas / oil and many other liquid products saw a huge increase in price. In direct response we decided to create a stand that will help any of our customers get the most out of each tote full of product. This slow allows for an extra 2 litres of product to be extracted through gravity. Slightly wider than a standard 275 USG tote, it's low profile design takes minimal space in any location.
It is fully constructed from Barr Structural Plastic Panels (BSP Panels) and is incredibly corrosion resistant and can handle up to 1,300 KG in weight.
That's it for our recap!
There were hundreds of projects that took place over the year that we simply don't have the time to share, but hopefully this blog gave you a good idea of what is possible with our Custom Fabrication Division (hint: there's not a lot we can't do.)
Whether its a fully custom, from scratch project or a small modification to a tank, you can always rely on BARR to provide the best solution to your project paired with incredible service. Cant wait to see what this division comes up with in the next year.