Rapat Corporation • 800-325-6377 • http://www.rapat.com
Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL September/October 2019 Issue
Established: 1940s • Hawley, MN • 800-325-6377 • www.rapat.com
Rapat Corporation dates back to the 1940s when the company was founded in Hitterdal, MN, initially as a blacksmith shop under the name Hitterdal Manufacturing to supply parts and perform repairs for the ag industry.
In the 1960s, the company was purchased by two business partners who moved the business to Hawley, MN and changed the company name to Rapat.
According to General Manager Todd Sparrow, “‘Rapat’ is a combination of the initials of founders Ray Peschel and Arnold Tingstall.
In 1975, the company was purchased by its current ownership. Around that time, a large grain company asked Rapat to manufacture a conveyor to move 25- and 50-pound bags of seed and fertilizer to load onto trucks, which Sparrow says initiated the company’s foray into material handling.
Material Handling Focus
From there, it abandoned production of wrought iron railings and shortline ag equipment to focus on bulk conveying and material handling.
Today, Rapat offers a full line of material handling equipment, including: structural steel trussed, structural steel channel, and enclosed frame belt conveyors; bucket elevators; corrugated sidewall belt conveyors; chain conveyors; and distributors.
“These individual pieces of equipment can be customized and integrated into a material handling system with all of the necessary structural steel support bents, towers, service platforms, stairs, ladders, and interconnecting chute work required for specific applications,” he says.
“We also provide engineering services, so we don’t just take a standard, off-the-shelf product and force it on people,” explains Sparrow. “We design equipment specifically for the application.”
