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letourneau

C

counter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Messages
138
Location
usa
Occupation
manager
ive spent some time reading about this very talented man!i hope you also dirt heads do the same!he just about invented earth moving, yet i see very litltle mention of him here! im sure you all love dirt moving, check this guy out! his company is still going strong! even if it isnt cat or komotsu!!!!!
 
mudmaker

mudmaker

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
136
Location
Colorado
LeTourneau University is a great testament to his life. Their motto is Faith brings us together, Ingenuity sets us apart. God was a huge part of his life and was not afraid to let it be known. He believed in giving 10% of his income to ministry, but he did it the other way around. Lived on 10% and gave 90%!

BTW, not trying to discuss religion, just stating facts about the man!
 
D

dozer dave

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
10
Location
Philippines
When I was a kid I pulled Le Tourneau cans with a slide bar 8 and thought I had the world by the tail. You sure didn't want to stand straight up under the headache bar or you would see stars for a while. I never would run his Super C or Tourneau Dozer but I ate a lot of their dust when they would go screaming by. The last Cat and can I ran was a new torque converter D9 pulling a Cat 90 scraper. Much better.
 
EddieWalker

EddieWalker

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
110
Location
Tyler, Texas
I picked up his biography at a garage sale a few years ago, and couldn't put the book down. It turns out that I grew up in the area where he did allot of his early dirt work and created his machines. The Holt Cat in San Leandro was less then a mile from my house. Anyway, reading that book and knowing the places really made it all seem more real for me. I also liked the way he approached things. If something needed doing, he did it. If he didn't like the way a piece of equipment worked, he changed it. When he failed, he figured out why and then succeeded. He's one of my heroes because of what he accomplished.

Eddie
 
C

counter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Messages
138
Location
usa
Occupation
manager
thanks for the replys this man was very special!!!!!!!!
 
DPete

DPete

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
1,677
Location
Central Ca.
I had a LeTourneau K-30 pull ripper for a time probably built in the early 40's it's still working around my shop as I sold it to a local farmer. Now that ripper was built, nothing light duty about it I think they weighed 9 ton. They came with steel wheels, I cut the wheels down and slid on 14.00 x 24 motorgrader wheels and tires and welded to the original centers. Made it easier to move. The center shank was ahead of the other 2 so it kind of broke the way for the outside shanks, I always thought Cat should have done that with their mounted multi shank rippers.
 
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WabcoMan

WabcoMan

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2008
Messages
258
Location
New Zealand
Occupation
Heavy equipment parts manager
LeTourneau was responsible for inventing many of the earthmoving tools that are today taken for granted.
He was certainly an innovator and up until 1944 helped Caterpillar sell a huge quantity of product.
He sold his original company to Westinghouse in 1953 (Wabco) and then basically started again from scratch.
Counter - there are several good books available about LeTourneau which are well worth seeking out:
"Mover of Men & Mountain" - his biography
"The LeTourneau Legend" - by Phil Gowenlock
"LeTourneau Archive" - by the same author
"LeTourneau Equipment 1923 - 1953 - the mechanical years" by Eric Orleman are all excellent sources of reference and should be in EVERY earthmoving enthusiasts library
:my2c
 
V

V16CatMetKanick

Active Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
37
Location
New Hampshire
Occupation
Heavy Equipment repair specialist, welder
I work on a customer's LeTourneau L800 LeTro-Loader quite a bit. Its not a bad machine, but its just getting old. It has a 16V-92T detroit in it with over 10,000 hrs on it. This winter its getting a new motor and pumps. The generator and wheel motors were done a few years ago. It digs like no other wheel loader i've ever been in before. its like putting a 5yd bucket on a Cat 994 loader.
 
C

counter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Messages
138
Location
usa
Occupation
manager
WabcoMan said:
LeTourneau was responsible for inventing many of the earthmoving tools that are today taken for granted.
He was certainly an innovator and up until 1944 helped Caterpillar sell a huge quantity of product.
He sold his original company to Westinghouse in 1953 (Wabco) and then basically started again from scratch.
Counter - there are several good books available about LeTourneau which are well worth seeking out:
"Mover of Men & Mountain" - his biography
"The LeTourneau Legend" - by Phil Gowenlock
"LeTourneau Archive" - by the same author
"LeTourneau Equipment 1923 - 1953 - the mechanical years" by Eric Orleman are all excellent sources of reference and should be in EVERY earthmoving enthusiasts library
:my2c
Click to expand...

thank you wabco man!!!!!!!!!!!!, i havnt yet reaad the mans history, but he, and his team of engineers are the best in the world!!!!!!!!!!
 
A

agricat

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
8
Location
littlestown, pa
I'm new here and run equipment mainly pushing orchards and maintaining them.
Machinist and designer by trade, LeTourneau was an great designer. When he needed a lathe or such to build his beasts, he cut plate, welded, bored races and built a lathe.

Search "letourneau" at Practicalmachinist.com for some great threads about him and heavy equipment.
 
B

Biggen

New Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
1
Location
Florida
We have a LeTourneau scraper that needs new rear tires. It has 18x24s on there now but apparently those are no longer being made. We've been told 18x25 tubeless tires (with tubes) will work.

Does anybody know where to find any? I never thought they would be difficult to locate...until I started looking for them!
 
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