Some photos from a local contractor that I did work for about 25 years ago . The first is of a bucket wheel trencher working to fill an AB Mack dump truck. The next one is a Novo gas engine powered pavement breaker . And the last one is of their brand new (I think 1936) Cleveland Trencher on the transport wagon , I actually owned this machine for a period of time before trading it for a gas engine .
Yair . . . The Engine Shed . Excellent historical photos. I for one am fascinated by old machinery actually working . . . it puts a different perspective on how we do it now. I must add that there is little we do now that we couldn't do back then only now we do it faster and (as far as I can see) usually make less profit. (wry grin) Cheers.
The interesting thing that I learned when I did repairs for that contractor is that those bucket wheel trenchers could out dig a regular tractor backhoe in good soil conditions at a rate of two to three times more in a day , I'm sure they made a lot of money with them in the day because when they stopped using them they had three machines running .
Like Scrub Puller I love to see the old machines working. The machine did a lot of work and put the masses to work. I count 6 people working, and one in the classic boss pose, with his hands on his hips in the top picture. Sure kept the unemployment and welfare down. Thanks for posting.
I like the pavement breaker, funny, even back then they were rippin' up the roads!
Excellent pics!
Very Nice.. Thanks ..
Excellent machine,the same principle is used today,multi bucket pick up, ! draw back though these similar machines only work in the softer soil compositions_Coal,already brocken up and stockpiled, and non rock -granite-iron-soft soil ground
yer agree ,the operator now is ripped
Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing. What kind of engine did you trade for that machine? Those trenches remind me of when I worked at the former Quonset Naval Air Station in RI which is now an Industrial Park. I worked for the Maintenance Department. The entire facility was heated by a large steam plant and the steam was piped in concrete trenches all over the base. Whenever we had a leak due to the pipe rusting through due to old age, we would have to dig up the trench and remove the 4ft square concrete trench covers to repair the steam pipe. When excavated you could see where they formed the concrete with boards,,,,you could see the marks left in the cement,,they didn't have plywood back then. We also used to find tons of Coca Cola bottles in the dirt where the original workers must have taken a break, and tossed the empties into the trench. Most of them were in mint condition. The wall sills of my barn are full of those old bottles. I couldn't resist taking them home and saving them. My Dad who has passed on now worked construction all his life. He did everything from hauling shovels and cranes on a low bed, to delivering concrete and when he retired, he was running a loader in a gravel pit, all for the same company. When I was 6 yrs old and out of school for the summer, my Mom used to sit me on the curb in front of my house and my Dad would come by with an old chain drive Mack dump truck and pick me up and take me with him to deliver material. The chains on that truck had a distinct sound that you could hear well before the truck came into view. He also used to take me with him delivering concrete too. Those times are some of my fondest memories of time spent with my Dad as a young boy.