CHAFFEE COUNCIL HEARS REPORT ON MAN'S INVENTION

CHAFFEE -- The invention of a Rockview man could bring Chaffee 35 to 50 new jobs. All that remains now is to find a manufacturing plant for the product.

Chaffee City Council members heard about the product a self-contained remote-controlled hydraulic car carrier at their regular meeting Monday evening. The remote-controlled carrier can be used to move disabled vehicles.

The inventor, Jerry Totty, said he already has a one-year contract from Minnesota for 60 of the carriers, but he needs a place to build them.

Totty told the council he wanted to see if the city had a building available where the carriers could be manufactured or, if not, to see if one could be built.

"I don't have the facilities," Totty said. "The smaller unit is 31 feet. My shop's 24 (feet). Half of it's out in the street. I need more building space."

City Administrator Reece Brown said all the city could do is work through state economic development representatives to see what they have available. Usually, he said, they are willing to cooperate.

Brown told Totty he needed to prepare a plan to show what he would need. He told Totty to come to City Hall Thursday to see what information the city had been able to come up with for him.

The remote-controlled carrier is used by lowering its back end to the ground. A cable is then hooked to the vehicle and the vehicle is pulled onto the carrier. Totty said the carrier eliminates the use of loading ramps and any possible damage to Fiberglass undercarriages on vehicles.

Totty said the carrier is comprised of a hydraulic hoist on the gooseneck of a flatbed trailer. He said he got a patent for the hoist in June 1989.

Outside the council chamber, Totty said it had taken him a year to design and perfect the carrier, which was just recently unveiled to the public. He said the carrier was displayed at a wrecker show this past weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the Minnesota people obtained orders for 20 percent of the carriers.

A carrier with a 24-foot bed and 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight costs $12,900, said Totty. The carriers come in beds of 24, 36 and 40 feet, he said.

Scott Crawford of Scott City attended the meeting with Totty. Crawford said he operates a towing service in Scott City and owns a wrecker made by Totty. The wrecker, a Totty 428 Wheel Lift, was the first Totty made, he said.

Crawford said Totty's carrier could be used for race cars or even to construct a horse trailer on. The carrier would keep horses from having to step up into the trailer, he said, which is what causes some horses to slip and fall and break their legs.

There is no doubt in his mind, he said, that Totty's carrier will spur a major industry.

"It's a whole new concept in moving vehicles. If I had $100,000 it would be invested," he said.

Totty and Crawford estimated a plant that manufactured the carriers would have to hire 35 to 50 employees in its first year.

Monday's city council meeting covered only about 15 minutes before a power outage in the city forced city officials to call it off. The council will meet to make up the meeting next Monday, said Ward 1 Councilman Jerry Wolsey.

Ward 4 Councilman Tom Cunningham served as mayor pro-tem in the absence of Mayor Ron Moyers.