Google defines the word Classic as “judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind” and also “a work of recognized and established value.”
That IS what Tommy Gate is all about. Certainly, the use of hydraulics to raise and lower loads wasn’t invented by them, and they weren’t the first company to attach a ram to a platform to allow easier loading of trucks and vans, but they surely have set the standard for how to build a powerful and yet easy-to-install system on a variety of applications for over 50 years.
What is it that makes a Tommy Gate product so … useful? For one, the fact that they have never quit developing the brand. You see, if you looked at the first Tommy Gate ever sold, back in 1965, you would be able to see the similarity to what they are offering today – a heavy steel frame built by craftsman, long, clean welds, and a simple but robust ram system that doesn’t need a whole lot of plumbing to do the job perfectly. On the other hand, you would see that newer materials that have stood the test of time are being deployed in today’s liftgates – better electronics, cooler-running hydraulics, and the intelligent use of aluminum to save on weight in non-structural areas.
One of the most important things that we saw, as truck upfitting experts, was that Tommy Gate’s entire product spectrum offered a solution to every type of vehicle that we work on – be it a pickup, a high-roof cargo van, compact van, flatbed or even a service bed. That gave us a huge advantage as a premium supplier of a true “one-stop” shop, and the flawless reputation that Tommy Gate has earned as an industry leader means that Expertec can provide a custom solution to every customer that needs a liftgate.
So what are the advantages of a liftgate on a service vehicle? Obviously, the biggest is to enable heavy or bulky products to be loaded easier, but we’ve outfitted plenty of work vans with them that never see pallets of material loaded on them. On the other hand, think about how much easier it is to load tool carts, buckets of sheetrock mud, spools of wire, and all the “stuff” needed for the job instead of climbing up and down into the bed or the box at the end of a long day?
At the same time, even something as small as a pressure washer or small stationary generator is usually a two-man job to get into and out of a vehicle, and if you don’t have that second person, here comes the pain!
Where the Tommy Gate really shines is in making loading or unloading any vehicle easier – especially if you aren’t just bumping docks and are having to deliver to jobsites or remote locations with an uncertain amount of help to get the load off the truck. Sure, it’s nice to have apprentices and laborers, but you can’t always be sure they’ll be there. At the same time, having run many complicated hydraulic systems over the years, we really like the simple toggle control that the Tommy Gate uses along with the built-in safeties of how the gate is controlled and where those controls are located.
Simply put, it is an inherently safe design not only for the materials you are unloading but also for the operator and any bystanders.
No matter how big the load is that you need to move, Expertec offers a Tommy Gate that can handle it, and no matter what vehicle you’ll be installing it on, we have the perfect solution for you. We truly believe that the Tommy Gate, whether the Original, the G20, or one of the Tuckunder or Cargo series, is an amazingly useful tool when installed on a vehicle that works with you. In short, it is simply the finest lift available on the market today and we are proud to be able to offer them to our customers.