Unit Rig

Lectra Haul (M200) giant mining truck in Asbestos, Quebec

Unit Rig was a manufacturer of haul trucks, sold under the brand name Lectra Haul.

History

Unit Rig was founded in 1935 by Hugh S. Chancey and two partners, Jerry R. Underwood and William C. Guier, who formed a partnership to build a rotary drill rig for oil field work that was more mobile than existing designs. The group based the company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. By 1947, the partnership between the men was beginning to break down when Underwood died, leaving Chancey and Guier as the remaining partners. Guier eventually took control of Unit Rig and in 1951 sold it to Kenneth W. Davis, who already had several oil-field related businesses under the parent company name of Kendavis Industries International.

During the 1950s, Unit Rig began to diversify its products away from the limited oil-field products and looked towards mining products to utilize their manufacturing facilities. R. G. LeTourneau had already adapted compact electric drive wheels to construction machinery with great success, prompting Unit Rig to investigate the possibility of building a truck and finding a suitable client to take the finished machine.

By 1960, the M-64 prototype truck was completed using General Electric drive systems and featuring special Goodyear low-pressure tires for the suspension. This truck was not a success; however, Unit Rig went on to be a very successful maker of off-highway dump trucks sold under the brand name of Lectra Haul (due to their electric drive system).

Lectra Haul was eventually sold to Terex then to Bucyrus Erie, who were taken over by Caterpillar Inc. around June 2011. Some Lectra Haul trucks are still sold alongside Caterpillar's own trucks but are branded as Unit Rig.

Products

Early models

Second generation

Third generation (square appearance)

Fourth generation (rounded appearance)

Sold as Lectra Haul, Terex, Bucyrus and now badged Unit Rig under Caterpillar ownership

Coal haulers

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/2/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.