A LeTourneau

[tournadude]

I'm a grandson of RG LeTourneau and joined the site because I have been sharing videos of my grandfathers machines on a youtube site/channel. I noticed that some forum members had put links to my videos on the forum and thought it would be a good place to get feedback and support for what I'm doing.

About a year ago, I discovered that there was an archive of my grandfathers that had thousands of feet of old 16mm and 8mm film as well as thousands of old photos of his machines. I got my dad to help me start with getting the equipment to digitize the 16mm film and am hoping to more.

I'm quite interested in what folks here think of the film and what I'm doing, so let me know. You can find my youtube videos by searching for torunadude on youtube and maybe this link if it works

http://www.youtube.com/user/tournadude?feature=mhsn

 

[td25c]

Welcome to the forum tournadude.I realy enjoy viewing the old LeTourneau videos you converted from 16mm to digital,excellent work:thumbsup Interesting seeing the early designs being tested in the field.Thank's for sharing them with us. I still use a Wabco C-pull elevating scraper,One of my favorite machines to operate.Dang thing just wont quit.

 

[OmniEquipped]

Hello Tournadude. With the experience you have and the machines you have operated, I bet you have a lot of good stories to tell. Your videos are great. There's nothing I like more than watching footage of the old machines that built this country. The archive you have is very valuable to those of us who study this type of history, so keep up the good work and I hope to see more from your collection in the future. I'm new here and was about to post my "hello" to everyone when I was reading through some others and saw yours. I'm fairly young (28), but I've enjoyed studying about the life of R.G. LeTourneau. Your grandfather was a great American, and men with minds like that are very far and few between, especially in today's society. Not only were his inventions outstanding, but so too were his ethics and values. I love industrial history, and over the last 6 to 8 years I've begun collecting/restoring/using antique trucks and equipment as a hobby, which is how I came to study about your grandfather. In fact, "Mover of Men and Mountains" is on my current reading list. It was recommended to me by an elder friend of mine who owns a cycle shop here in southern Arkansas. He did some work or perhaps got some parts for a motorcycle or ATV for a LeTourneau grandson a few years back, and being a student of history himself, he thought it pretty interesting to have spoken with one of R.G.'s grandsons. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing your contributions to this site.

P.S. I'm somewhat familiar with LeTourneau University. In recent months I've toyed with the idea of going back to college for a mechanical engineering degree. I spent five years in college and hammered out three degrees all while launching a small business which I currently run. I'm quite glad to be finished with school, but if by some unlikely chance I decide or get an opportunity to do an engineering program, LeTourneau University over in Longview is one of my top picks.

 

[1931 kenworth]

Hi tourndude are u collecting for a display i have come across some manuals and brochures i will see if i can copy them and get them on here somehow will let you know Larry

 

[IronPirate]

Just watched a couple vids and wow! the color and "feel" of the old film really looks great.

The early forklift is really ingenious...did it ever make it to production?

Is there anywhere I could learn more about the history of these machines?

Thanks for posting!

 

[LakeRat1]

Hi There tournadude, I am a new member to this site, an when i saw the Le Tourneau Name it made me set up and think back to may days in the US Army, I spent almost 3 years in France & part of the Time I was Operating on of What we Called a TD, it is the Rubber Tired Dozer, we had some with Blades & some with Just Push Blocks, there was some difference in the Gearing of the 2 different machines, the ones with Blades were Geared a littler lower than the ones with bush blocks, we were using both to pull scrapers, The Elect Winches that operated the pan were so strong that if you blocked it out, it would snap the cable like a shoe string, the Seats were the best i have ever seen, no moving parts, but the way it was made it took up the shock very well, i would like to hear from others that ran these Beast, The Big 671 screaming righ behind your ear was some more sound, i Guess that is the reason i am wearing hearing aids today, we were working in the Verdun France Area, Building a Railroad to a Amo Dump about 15 Miles off the Main Rail Line, The Job started at a small Town, Etain

 

[Ross]

Erm .. Yeah .. Erm ...

L1850: Why would you hide the CAB breakers behind the computer screen ????

 

[Jerre Heyer]

Welcome aboard. Love watching the old Iron and ideas at work.

 

[blitz138]

Welcome to the forums. LeTourneau really amazes me, last week I was on a new 2350. That machine is freaking incredible. Do you still have anything to do with your grandfathers company?