Image: A really nice study of a late production Wabco 111A, taken at Seaview in Lower Hutt, 1978. It has the wider windshield and 23.5×25 tyres, ROPS [roll over protective structure] mountings but no ROPS. This machine came from Australian production (as did most of the 111As).
The Wabco 111A was one of the most successful elevating scrapers Wabco ever manufactured, writes Richard Campbell.
In continuous production from late 1962 until the company exited the scraper market in 1977, the 111A sold in the thousands and was marketed worldwide.
Introduction of the 111A (previously known as the D/10E2) served two purposes. The first was an entry into the land development sector and the second was to counter the threat the John Deere 5010 posed to the small elevating scraper market, reflected by the inroads sales of this type of machine had had on LeTourneau-Westinghouse’s balance sheet.
As well as John Deere, other manufacturers were also looking seriously at this new type of scraper and planning models of their own, notably Euclid.
In 1960, Wabco (then LeTourneau-Westinghouse) began discussions with Hancock of Lubbock, Texas, for a suitable elevating scraper bowl for its Model D Tournapull. The unit Hancock proposed was the type 10E2 which held 10 cubic yards capacity and was well within the hauling capabilities of the model D Tournapull.
Due to the utilitarian design of the model D Tournapull, it was relatively easy to adapt the hitch to attach another kind of scraper to the machine as existing rear-end attachments were only held on by four bolts (plus the appropriate electric cabling and brake lines).
The D Tournapull had already successfully demonstrated it could comfortably accommodate and use attachments such as an open bowl scraper, rock hauler (Tournarocker), crane (Tournacrane), flatbed trailer (Tournahauler) and logging arch, so an elevating scraper was really just a logical progression.
Where the Hancock 10E2 caused LeTourneau-Westinghouse problems was in the area of hydraulics, as all prior attachments were designed to be operated entirely by electrically controlled winches.
Electric motors could be used to power the elevator gearboxes, but bowl lift/lower and dumping were designed by Hancock to be hydraulic.
A ready solution was found by attaching a Vickers vane-type hydraulic pump directly to the front of the engine’s crankshaft projecting under the radiator and routing the associated hydraulic lines along the right side of the machine to a small hydraulic tank, which was located in the operator’s compartment.
It was very fortunate that this area of the model D Tournapull was quite roomy.
The front frame was extended forward slightly and a new form of front bumper added to protect the hydraulic pump.
The necessary operating valves and levers were placed directly on top of the hydraulic tank.
This setup changed very little for the entire production span of the machine.
Powered by a 148 horsepower General Motors model 4-71, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder inline diesel, the model D Tournapull could be supplied with either a four-speed Fuller 5G720 manual step gear transmission or a four-speed Allison CLT3341 powershift transmission.
Most users preferred the Allison powershift and it is quite rare to find a model D elevating scraper with the manual transmission installed.
By the time the final model of the 111A was introduced, engine output had been boosted to 160 flywheel horsepower and the transmission was the six-speed variable input Allison VCLT3361.
A word about names
LeTourneau-Westinghouse/Wabco went through a couple of designation changes, which can be a little confusing.
The original name of the machine was the model D/10E2 elevating scraper, but this was modified when LeTourneau-Westinghouse changed its own registered name to Wabco around 1966-67. For a time afterwards, the machine was sold as the D/111A and then finally just 111A.
The 111A – a slightly bigger bite
When the 10E2 became the 111A, the bowl capacity was increased from 10 to 11 cubic yards. This was done by extending the bowl side sheets.
Like the original 10E2, the bowl featured a sliding floor with doze-out ejection and a fixed cutting edge, which was very useful for trimming up fills.
Twin electric motors powered the 16-flight elevator, which gave it a tremendous amount of torque for loading.
The elevator motors were also reversible to assist in unloading sticky material.
Bowl lift cylinders were also beefed up somewhat from previous versions of the machine.
However, the most alterations were made to the D tractor unit, including better access steps, a wider windscreen, the previously mentioned horsepower increase and the standardization on the Allison VCLT transmission.
One of the nicest (and most overlooked) features of the 10E2/111A was the no-spin differential. In bad underfoot conditions this allowed the wheel with the best traction to have the most power while limiting wheel slippage to the wheel with least traction.
Unlike the selective differential lock fitted to other elevating scrapers, (which effectively locks up the drive axle, preventing wheel spin), the no-spin element on the 10E2/111A allowed the machine to be ‘duck-walked’ through bad ground, a process which could damage the differential on a machine fitted with a conventional differential lock.
A point of contention – the electrics
A lot of folks have bemoaned the electric steering system fitted to the machine, calling it a “widow maker” and various other unpleasant names which simply weren’t true.
The steering was controlled by a vertical electric motor and pinion mounted on the hitch, which acted on a ring gear on the tractor unit. Flick the dash-mounted switch and you turned.
It was, however, essential to always maintain rated engine rpm for the best operation of the electrics.
This was true not only from a safety aspect but also from a maintenance point of view, as the electrical contacts would carbon up or pit at low voltages, resulting in the loss of that particular circuit – potentially scary if that circuit controlled the steering motor!
Provided one looked after the electrical requirements of the machine, it was a great scraper to operate.
The machine usually rode on 23.5×25 tyres, but earlier versions were often equipped with 18.00×25 tyres.
At eight feet wide, the 10E2/111A was legally roadable in most places, adding to its versatility.
The LeTourneau-Westinghouse/Wabco D10E2/111A with elevating scraper was a big seller for Wabco, with over 50 sold in New Zealand alone, most of these being from Wabco Australia production. Wabco discontinued the 111A in 1977.
For the model collector
It is truly regrettable that a machine as popular as the 111A has no models of it available in any scale (this complaint also applies to models of their larger scrapers as well).
It is very regrettable that no manufacturer has addressed the Wabco scraper line for potential models, as I am only aware of one other Wabco scraper model, a very expensive 339F open bowl scraper, being available.
While Wabco as an entity has been gone from the earthmoving manufacturing scene for over 50 years, other manufacturers seem to be able to get replicas of their machines produced in miniature. What is the problem here?
A close-run race