LeTourneau. TOURNAPICS. The news page about LETOURNEAU EQUIPMENT.

We don't have any problem identifying this one - it's the testing of the great A model TOURNATWO. Seen here pushloading a DW21 - it looks like it could climb right over the top of the scraper. And there is Mr R. G striding out ahead of the other two men making sure all is well with the two de-rated 450hp Allison-Tournapower V1710 engines powering this thing, (see LeTourneau Legend Page 153), a deafening sound coming out of those four straight-thru exhaust pipes! Note the silver fuel tanks - they carry the liquid butane fuel. Transmission is a pair of four speed Tournamatics of course, there was no other transmission on the market that could put 450hp to a pair of rubber tires at the time. Tires are Firestone 36.00x40 which makes them 10 feet in diameter, diamond tread pattern and made in molds built by LeTourneau. Looking at the size of the tires, the draft barrel must be about three feet in diameter, typical LeTourneau. There are some mighty big welds on that draft hitch!
Read more about this machine in The LeTourneau Legend.

We have had inquiries and requests for a photo of the C Tournapull and Model 216 Hancock described in The Wabco Archive Wheel Tractor-Scrapers from Jay Adams of Irvine, California. Here it is, thanks for the request. This picture (above) shows the first use of the Tournapull with a Hancock Elevating Scraper in 1960. It was the 225hp GM6-71 powered Model C Tournapull, the forerunner of the Model C V-Power which later became the prime mover for the Hancock Model 222. The trials with the Model 216 led to the introduction of the Hancock Model 222 and 10E2 for use with the D Pull.

As a result of successful trials with the Hancock Model 216, the Model B Tournapull (below) was offered with the Hancock Model 222 for a short time until the release of the L-W C V-Power fitted with the 276hp GM8V-71 engine. The C V-Power then became the prime mover for the 222, and remained so until cessation of scraper manufacture in 1983.

The history of the Hancock/Tournapull combinations can be found in The Wabco Archive and also in Wabco Australia.

The LeTourneau G175 Crusher "Walkaround" by Author Phil Gowenlock on his Canadian trip in 2009.

The G175 is located at MacKenzie, BC. We begin our walkaround tour of the machine. Recently,we have had some inquiries about this machine recently relating to the steering arrangement employed to steer this 175 ton (operating) weight machine. The author of The LeTourneau Legend inspected this machine up in Mackenzie BC in 2009 where it was used to clear the pondage area of Williston Lake and has about 100 detail photos of the machine which we will begin setting up here as a "walkaround" of the machine. Here is a photo of the steering arrangement requested by Will Oberhardt of Vancouver. As can be seen, it is operated by an arcuate rack and pinion arrangement. The electric motor, reduction gear box and drive pinion for the steering are located within the yoke structure, an access port cover-plate to same can be seen underneath. The entire front roller assembly is mounted to the yoke structure by turned-steel trunnion and ball-cap connections.

This photo shows the front roller steering arrangement. Take a look at those continuous welds, some of them are 3 inches in width, layed in with a Tournmelter. These rollers are 8 feet in dia and 30 feet in width. For full details, history and specs of this machine, refer to your LeTourneau Legend and LeTourneau Archive. Notice the strap-weld bracing, crude and primitive, typically LeTourneau. R. G. wrote an entire paper on the merits of strap-weld bracing. A number of engines were tried in this machine, eventually a pair of Cummins VT12-BI's rated at 600-700hp each were used.

The LeTourneau LCC1 Sno-Train "Walkaround" by Author Phil Gowenlock on his Alaskan trip in 2010.

The Author inspected the LCC-1 Sno-Train up in Alaska in 2010 where he met the owner (now deceased) and was given permission to crawl the machine and take some 200 or so detailed photographs. We begin a detailed walkaround inspection of the machine here. In the interim, read up about these machines in your LeTourneau Legend and LeTourneau Archive.

Coming soon: The Author's "Walkaround" of the VC-22 Sno-Freighter and Cargo cars in Alaska.

Peter Dauer of the Federal Republic of Germany sends in this photo he took of an L-1400 fitted with tire chains working in a quarry in Belgium.
Operating weight is 449,000 lbs. Engine output is 1800hp and machine is fitted with a 28 cu.yd bucket. Thank you Peter, nice pic!.

With the world becoming increasingly smaller due to globalisation, we are seeing larger heavy equipment being developed in China and Russia. It is with some interest that we will begin to investigate the larger equipment here at tournanet. In Russia, the larger machines are predominantly marketed by JSC Promtractor with the Chetra range of track-type tractors, wheel-loaders and large tractor-mounted side-booms (pipelayers). The largest track-type tractor we know of at present is the T50.01 with a Cummins KT38-C830 engine rated at 750hp, an operating weight of 93 tons and a semi U blade width of 5.48 m (17'.8") or a full U blade at 5.9m (19'.1" wide) putting it roughly in the Caterpillar D11R and Komatsu D475 class.

The Chetra Heavy 40C is the next size down with a Cummins QSK19-C630 engine rated at 590hp, an operating weight of 68 tons fitted with a 4.7m wide (15' 2") semi U blade and single shank ripper, placing it approximately in the Caterpillar D10R/T and Komatsu D375 class.Their web site shows this machine to have just short of 120,000kg drawbar pull at 4kmh!. I don't know how this figure was derived at since the machine weighs 68 tons fitted with blade and ripper. If one was to assume a coefficient of traction at even say 95% which would be hard to achieve unless the grousers were practically bolted to the ground, we'd be looking at a drawbar pull of 60 tons and even that's only theroetical. More information and specs can be found at their website here

It is going to be interesting to see if these machines, particularly the larger models, make any inroads into current Western markets. At present, that seems unlikely since Russia is embarking upon numerous development projects across the vast resource-rich areas of Siberia, predominantly the development of open cut mines and on a vast scale that will equal anything on earth in terms of current open-cut mine size. Their capital equipment manufacturing output appears headed that way rather than attempting a tilt at Caterpillar or Komatsu in Western markets. There is a complete range however, we are only concerned with the larger equipment in here. . . . To be continued.

1st round of Chinese manufactured XEMC Haul Trucks due in Australia January 2012

The first such deal for a Chinese manufacturer to export haul trucks, XEMC will deliver four trucks to Rio Tinto's Pilbara project in Western Australia.
The XEMC trucks are scheduled to be operational at the Tom Price mine in Pilbara in early 2012. More at tournablog - click on ther link above.

EXMC SF35100.jpg (95310 bytes)

350 ton capacity XEMC SF 35100 Rear Dump

Here at Tournanet we are as interested in the future as we are in the past. We have covered in great detail the history of LeTourneau and Wabco equipment in the LeTourneau Series of books. Who knows what the future of heavy equipment design will be. Some say lighter and faster equipment will bring in greater efficiencies in terms of cost, shipping cost and fuel economy. Some say larger sized equipment brings in a lower cost per yard. Tournanet.com is not a place where superlative terms such as large, giant, huge and enormous will be used - the definition of large looms only in one's own mind. Generally speaking however, when referring to the movement of earth, we are dealing with both an art and science. Of course, this is nothing new and R. G. LeTourneau's famous words . . . " It's the cost per yard that counts ." remain true to this day. The whole equation of mass earthmoving can be deduced simply down to what is costs to move a ton of material from A to B. Interestingly, we haven't seen any advancement in equipment size in the last 12 years. Take for example the Komatsu D575-3SD and Caterpillar D11T and the LeTourneau L-2350. These machines were introduced over a decade ago, and apart from technological improvements, nothing has changed in terms of size or capacity. Many rumours have abounded about alleged sightings of larger track-type tractors from both manufacturers though at the time of writing, they remain rumours unless of course we get the opportunity to sight the photos. Transmissions, engines, fuel consumption, steel and weld strength along with the rapid wear of steel-on-steel undercarriage components continue to be problematic in track-type tractors. Operating in the severe applications for which they were designed, they begin systematic self-destruction, from day one. There is a cautious dabble in the development of diesel electric-drive systems for use in track-type tractors by Caterpillar. LeTourneau pioneered this drive arrangement in 1949. In simple form, diesel-electric drive comprises a power source, generator (alternator) and electric drive-motors positioned as close as is practical to the final drive without the use of a conventional transmission, the objective being to replace the transmission with the variable speeds available from an electric motor.

The concept of larger machines has not escaped the imaginative mind of heavy equipment designer Jon Pope, Principle Designer at Jon Pope Designs of Ridge, NY. Jon Pope has been a heavy equipment designer for some 15 years, the last 12 specialising in heavy equipment. He he has worked for OEM's in various capacities including consultant and designer and has been involved in the design of wheel chairs to 400 ton capacity rear dumps. With Jon Popes permission, we begin an investigation of the next step up in equipment size to approximately double current (commercially available) size machines and have added some photos of his conceptual designs here at Tournapics. Pope Designs can also be found here on the web Here Thanks Jon Pope for permission to display your designs here at Tournanet.com.

We begin with some images of a conceptual 210-tons operating weight diesel-electric drive track-type tractor fitted with bulldozer blade and rear mounted ripper.

This is the Kodiak D-210, a diesel-electric drive 210 tons operating weight track-type tractor with a semi-U blade and rear mounted ripper.
Design by Jon Pope.

These pictures show another two designs from Jon Pope. The machine on the left is 4-track twin-engine design, again, diesel-electric drive. The machine on the right is essentially a pair of
Kodiak D-210's in tandem configuration, similar (though with a different inter-connecting draft arm arrangement) to that of the DD9G of the 1970's. Design by Jon Pope. More soon.