R. G. LeTourneau Heavy Equipment: The Electric Drive Era 1953-1970

by Eric C. Orlemann

In the history of heavy equipment development, no single man's name is more respected or revered as that of R. G. LeTourneau. Robert Gilmour LeTourneau is considered by many to be the dean of high-speed mobile earthmoving equipment. His designs of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s laid the fundamental groundwork for many of the earthmoving machines we see today. Self-propelled, rubber tired scrapers, bulldozing blades, and rippers were all conceived under his engineering genius in the quest for moving material at the lowest-cost-per-yard. The time period of 1953 to 1971 saw many more innovative machine and engineering achievements in the fields of earth-moving, off-shore oil exploration, logging, and defense. This second volume of fantastic machine creations covers the later years up until the sale of the company to Marathon in 1971. Standard production, specials, and experimental machines are shown in rare archival images, some being shown in print for the very first time, help showcase what made R. G. LeTourneau so important in the heavy equipment industry.