JD Adams built the first "leaning wheel" grader in 1885. It was made primarily of wood and was pulled by horses or oxen for road building or maintenance duties. Not wanting to brag too much, it was named the" Little Wonder".
The 1896 all steel/ 4 wheel version ( still pulled by hay-burners )stepped it up a bit and was heroically called "the Road King"
The first self-propelled Adams road grader didn't appear until 1928. ( carefully waiting to see if this whole "internal combustion thing" was going to stick around. )
The JD Adams company was purchased by Le Tourneau-Westinghouse in 1955. They manufactured under the Adams name until 1960/61.
The first Adams grader in today's selection wasn't even a struggle to find...it was right beside a major road...and just to make it easier, it was fenced in. ( insert "shooting fish in a barrel" remark here )
The second one was more fun. Part of the glory hole find on a dead end road, it was only one of many treasures on the property. Bless that hard working guy for also being a collector with a fine eye for historic heavy metal.
Off the "grader" topic, but down at the bottom of the page, you will see a Fairbanks-Morse diesel engine...here is a video of one running
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| Fenced in Adams grader |
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| Different Adams road grader...surrounded by other rusty iron treasures |
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| The giant cylinders beside the grader were stamped with the name Fairbanks-Morris....I don't know if it was an industrial pump or engine. The collector wasn't home, and the misses didn't know |
Mike, those cylinders are a Fairbanks Morris Diesel engine. They were used for powering generators, were two stroke and slow turning.
ReplyDeleteIt would be fun to see one of those things running...or hearing it start up!
ReplyDeleteand then it occurred to me...YouTube! I have inserted a video into the post after Walt66's comment
ReplyDelete