D&D Technologies Acquires SHUT IT Gate Hardware

D&D Technologies has announced the acquisition of SHUT IT Gate Hardware, the manufacturer of BadAss hinges.  The acquisition provides D&D additional product lines of wheels and steel hinges to complement the current magnetic safety latches, hydraulic closers, aluminum and polymer product portfolio.
 
The owners of the D&D Aluminum Fencing Company had been frustrated at the lack of durable gate latches and hinges to complement their custom-made aluminum and glass pool fencing designs. In 1988, one of the owners, David Doyle, saw a science program featuring “rare earth” magnets that never lose magnetic force. Devising a latching mechanism around this idea, using engineering polymers and stainless steel to eliminate rust as well as jamming, the MagnaLatch safety gate latch was born.
 
Soon other local fencing contractors and fabricators wanted to use it as well, and D&D Technologies was established to manufacture the latches. Following the success of MagnaLatch, D&D went on to design and manufacture a complete range of polymer-based latches and hinges at the Sydney, Australia premises, including the award-winning TruClose self-closing hinges, the general-purpose LokkLatch, and the LokkLatch Magnetic Gate Lock.
 
“We are delighted with this acquisition, and we welcome SHUT IT as part of the D&D family,” says David Calabria, CEO, D&D Technologies. “This is a union of two companies that were born out of the fencing industry, and have provided innovation to the industry by inventing new products. This acquisition will allow us to expand by providing more designs and new products to our existing product line up.”  
 
Founded in 1998, Counsel began marketing gate solutions designed to ease installation requirements and eliminate premature wear on expensive automated gate operator systems.
 
In the mid-1990s, as vehicular access control began to explode as an industry, two veterans of the fence and access control industries, discovered that many of their maintenance and repair issues for automated gate systems were being caused by the faulty or inferior hardware used on many gates. With the help of a team of engineers and an award winning CNC (Computer Numeric Controlled) machinist they set out to develop a line of products that would eliminate the damage caused to expensive operator systems by the poor hardware available in the market.
 
“It all started with the original BadAss hinge.” says Skip Bengtson, chief Bad Ass, Shut It. “Using bearing technology, the original BadAss gate hinge, is CNC machined to the tightest tolerances in the industry. Due to our unique bushing design The ORIGINAL, like all other SHUT IT gate hinges, produces almost frictionless movement with maintenance free usage.”
 
After years of development and field testing the Arizona based Counsel Industries was born. Since then, Counsel grew from being a local supplier in the Tucson market to a company with a nationwide distribution network and customers around the globe.
 
In 2010 the company rebranded itself as SHUT IT Gate Hardware in order to reflect what the company had become. BadAss and HardCore brands were born.