Filling a hole in the (then) lineup of Caterpillar elevating scrapers, the Caterpillar model 615 was a great little machine with some features unique to the Cat scraper product range. By RICHARD CAMPBELL
First introduced in 1981, the Caterpillar 615 elevating scraper came as a bit of a surprise to the earthmoving industry.
Rated at...
A large brute of a motor scraper, the International-Harvester model 495 was the only three-axle, open bowl scraper ever offered by the Company and it played a big part in New Zealand’s early hydro-electric dam projects. By Richard Campbell
We took a short look at the model 495 back in the December 2004 issue of The Contractor, but at...
Many of the readership will identify the name Carco as being associated with logging winches and forestry equipment. However, Carco’s roots go much further back in history to the dawn of the track-type tractor. By Richard Campbell
Originally founded in 1905 in Seattle, Washington, Carco (originally known as the Seattle Car Company)...
Allis-Chalmers led the charge for a bigger, higher horsepower track type tractor following World War Two. The resulting model HD-19 was a breakthrough in many ways and was the foundation on which the later, highly successful model HD-21 was based. By RICHARD CAMPBELL
We first took a look at the Allis-Chalmers HD-19 back in...
Grand-daddy of all the scrapers (apart from the horse-drawn, wheel-less Fresno type), the single axle scraper has a niche in the history of earthmoving and this type of scraper has seen a resurgence within the last decade. By RICHARD CAMPBELL
Developed from the early drag scrapers and designed as a utility land leveling tool, the single...
The Bucyrus-Erie Company was world famous for it’s range of face shovels, draglines, cranes and other mining and quarry equipment. However, it also made a wide range of tractor equipment that was popular through the 1930s to the middle 1950s which is now largely forgotten. By RICHARD CAMPBELL.
The Bucyrus Foundry Company of Bucyrus,...
The late 1940s and early 1950s saw unprecedented growth in earthmoving projects worldwide with demand for new machinery at an all-time high. Some manufacturers were well prepared while others had to improvise as best they could. By RICHARD CAMPBELL.
International-Harvester was a large manufacturer of track type tractors with a good...
As in comedy, they say that timing is everything. Caterpillar introduced the model 639D just when the bottom was beginning to fall out of the large earthmoving project market place. By Richard Campbell.
The Caterpillar 639D was designed specifically to take on Wabco in the large (30 cubic yard plus) twin-engined elevating scraper...
By the end of the 1950s, International’s “jack of all trades” TD-18 was getting beyond further economical development. The TD-20 was the result. By Richard Campbell
The International TD-18 had been first introduced in 1939 after a couple of years of development and was itself a logical progression of International’s previous...
In a successful attempt to keep up with the competition, Wabco finally incorporated full hydraulic controls into the Model C Tournapull. By Richard Campbell.
Starting way back in 1939 with the original Model C Tournapull, LeTourneau (later LeTourneau-Westinghouse and finally Wabco) had traditionally used cable control systems on its...
