All Electric Skidder

[lumberjack48]

Maybe you have seen this, i had to post it, what a piece of iron.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/11/20/like-a-one-man-cage-match-the-letourneau-skidder/

[Magicman]

Yup, the LeTourneau factory is just South of Vicksburg, Ms. and they still make oilwell drilling platforms.

When that electric skidder was made, they were also manufacturing an array of earth moving equipment.  All with the same Diesel over electric technology.  Each wheel had it's own electric motor that could be slowed, speeded up, stopped, or reversed.  Even their bolts were double threaded so that replacements had to come from them.  They had a huge military contract for various equipment.

[Taylortractornut]

RG Letourneau is my al time invento hero.   He made the first  practical  dozer blade with power lift,     firt power lifted drag scraper,  first enclosed bowl scraper to lift the load all the way off the ground,  First apron scraper,   The first all welded scraper as well as the first self propelled rig.  Made the first  PCU/CCU   pto cable control for dozers and scrapers.     Also the first over hung Selfpropelled scraper.  The neat thing was at first he was a mechanic and an inventor that made his own earthmoving machinery.  His company supplied mot of the  CCU's and blades rollers and scrapers for WW2.      Even a concrete house building tractor called a Tournalayer.      He made te largest tire molds for is machinery for Firestone.

http://www.riverfrontmurals.com/letourneau.htm

He built a large factory  at Toccoa  He had plants at Longview, Texas   Vicksburg, MS. Toccoa, GA,  Rydalmere, Australia.       

He even built 2 settlements  one in Liberia Africa called Tournata and one in Peru called Tournavista.     He developed technology that  is being used today.     The larger scrapers he built that were electric drive were way ahead being that instead of havine a  rear engin and controls on the back or other axles he just used a power cable.       Caterpillar is now thinking of making a Diesel Electir scraper since they have had such success with the  new D7E.   

He also went broke  several times but  always came back.     Right now  Letournea  still holds the world record on loaders.    Hi company makes the  LT 2350 that runs a 53 yard rock bucket.     And they still make the large rack and pinion log stackers to.