Fall Pictures Near My Haus (uber gallery warning)

"MooseKnuckles" (andyschenk)
10/18/2013 at 10:42 • Filed to: fall picture gallery, mooseknuckles

Because it seems like the thing to do, I went and pointed my phone at things.
All taken with my Galaxy S3... so lower expectation now

I live just outside of Waterloo, Ontario.

Kinja is really pulling it's weight on this one.

DISCUSSION (9)

Casper > MooseKnuckles
10/18/2013 at 10:47

Northwest Engineering Co... Chicago. Not very west then is it ;)

MooseKnuckles > MooseKnuckles
10/18/2013 at 10:47

As you can see in a couple of the pictures by the plaque on the back of the excavators, they were manufactured by Northwest Engineering Company in Green Bay (which became Terex Corporation after Northwest bought Terex USA, distributor of heavy-duty earthmoving equipment, from General Motors in 1986. In 1987 Northwest/Terex bought Terex Equipment Limited, the manufacturing sister of Terex USA, and Koehring Cranes & Excavators, through which the company entered the crane market. The following year, 1988, Northwest Engineering changes it's name to Terex Corporation) and are running Caterpillar engines. No hydraulics on these bad boys, and the overall design had me thinking 1950's while I was snapping the pics. But from what I can tell, they may date back as early as the 30's.

The following is from : http://www.urbanremainschicago.com/original-and-s…

Northwest Engineering Company was an excavator manufacturer that had a long history of building very reliable and productive cable shovels for construction and quarry duties. Frequently utilized during the construction of numerous major US highways and railways, a brand name and tradition was built that will live on forever as part of American history. In 1918, Northwest Engineering works was organized and received a contract to build wooden harbour and steel ocean going tug boats for the war effort. In all, 31 tugs were built by Northwest but they were completed too late to have any impact on the war. By 1920 the wartime contracts had dried up and executives at Northwest decided to construct locomotive cranes similar to those used in their shipyard. Northwest Engineering works became best known for its ring-bearing mounted crane units although the company also produced shovel and backhoe (then called pull-shovel units) machines using the same basic design. In the early days, steam boilers provided all the locomotive and operating power, transmitted through a system of cables and pulleys. Northwest offered gasoline engines as an option.

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In the 1920s, diesel engines were to small, heavy and hard to start for vehicular use.

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Since the 1940s, however, the advent of the high compression diesel engine has made diesel the predominant source of industrial power. The early crane models come with either a 30 or 40 foot long jib boom. Equipped with a simple hook block, they were used on construction sites to lift and shift an assortment of heavy objects. The hoist machinery was mounted to counterpoise part of the load on the boom for stability. Crane units could also be equipped with dragline or clamshell buckets for earth excavation, with pavement breakers or with pile-driving attachments. The new Northwest machines came at the perfect time to meet the increasing demand for construction of public roads in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Funded by gasoline taxes, road construction became a big boss for construction industries the boom period ended in 1965, when the combination of inflationary wage increases, high loan interest rates and the winding down of the interstate highway program greatly depressed construction activity and equipment sales.