Trevor Royce worked as a foundation concrete contractor for 14 years and he always thought there had to be a better way to control the flow of concrete from the mixer truck chute into the forms.
“From the first time I saw concrete poured, I wondered why there wasn’t anything on the end of the chute to direct the material into the forms,” Royce recalls. “After conducting some market research to see if I can find anything that existed to help contractors direct the flow of concrete from the chute to the forms, I decided to develop a product that would do just that.”
At the 2009 World of Concrete, Royce had a prototype of The Tailgater, which while created some interest, the recessionary state of the industry at the time put a damper on new product ideas.
“People attending the show just wanted to get back to work,” Royce says. “We did have some interest and feedback on the prototype, and we then spent the next year continuing to further develop the product before we started to market it.”
Tailgater provides more control
Royce now sells the product online worldwide, with most interest coming from potential customers in the United States. The Tailgater provides a faster, easier and safer way to pour concrete into foundation forms, with less spillage of material outside the forms. The Tailgater funnels the material with a 360 degrees rotating chute that easily allows a contractor to continue pouring around a corner and moving in another direction.
Without the device, contractors and their crews would have to use a shovel or a piece of plywood to direct the material into the forms.
“There’s really no need to be at the end of the chute other than making sure the chute is directly over the center of the forms,” Royce notes. “Even on front discharge trucks, the truck driver can easily maneuver the chute over the forms and then just back up to continue to pour mix into the forms. The bottom line is that everyone wants to pour faster, and this attachment allows them to do that.”
The steel version of The Tailgater costs less than $1,000. While mixer truck manufacturers have not embraced the concept at that price, contractors see the benefit and results of what it can do. As Royce notes, some contractors have cut off a safety cone and tried to strap that to the end of a chute to create a funneling device.
Tailgater saves contractor time, money
Gary Gonthier, owner of Gonthier Concrete in Westfield, Mass., has been using The Tailgater for two years and he’s convinced the attachments saves time and money in helping complete 70 foundations annually.
“I’ve been in the business for 35 years and this product definitely improves the way we can pour a foundation wall,” Gonthier says. “It doesn’t eliminate a guy on a project but keeps the forms a lot cleaner because you’re able to direct the flow of material to the center of the forms.
“We use this on every pour and really need to buy another one to speed up the transition from one truck to another,” Gonthier adds. “When you’re on a large pour, it would be quicker to strap a second device to the next truck, so that we can continue the pour without the delay of removing the device from one truck and attaching it to the next truck.”
Gonthier did offer one piece of advice he makes sure his entire crew follows, “You need to do a really good job of washing The Tailgater after you’re done to make sure the swivel function of the chute functions the way it is designed to functions. If you don’t, it’s not going to turn as smoothly as you would like.”
