Masonry Magazine January 1978 Page.14
Champ Corp. Model #200, circa 1960, had a 20 ft. lift height.
ROUGH TERRAIN FORKLIFT
continued from page 13
The impetus for expanded use of mechanized material handling equipment came from a handful of progressive men who were impressed with the power buggy's cost-saving capabilities. On the West Coast, brothers Mike and Tom Simovich started the Champ Corporation in 1953 to supply towable vertical forklifts for rough terrain use. They soon found a ready market for their equipment among West Coast mason contractors as well as brick, block and building material suppliers.
In 1955, a progressive Cleveland mason contractor, Stan West, founded the West Brick Buggy Corporation and with it the West System of material handling. The West Brick Buggy differed from the conventional power buggy in that it carried its load between its front wheels rather than in front of the machine, a feature that appealed to a great many mason contractors and made the benefits of forklifts even more attractive.
The same year, West also introduced the first rough terrain arc or loader type forklift.
In 1955 and 1956, major tractor manufacturers, such as Case, Deere, International Harvester and Allis-Chalmers, entered the market with turn-around farm and industrial tractors. These units featured drive wheels in front of the machine and a vertical lift mast mounted at the rear.
Around this same time, two additional entries joined the forklift market-Lull Engineering Company and
(Top) American Road's Model 40, available in 1954, was equipped with forks and could lift 18 ft. high. (Below) The American Util-A-Lift, built on a Minneapolis Model U industrial tractor, handled loads up to 25 ft.
First West Brick Buggy rough terrain, forward reach forklift introduced in 1954. It differed from conventional units in that it carried the load between its front wheels rather than in front of the machine.
American Road Machinery Company (Econmobile). These early machines were two-wheel drive vehicles with manual transmissions, disc clutch and gasoline engines. Maximum lifting heights were 21 to 22 feet with load capacities of from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds at 24" load centers.
The Lull forklifts added a different twist to the arc type loader boom, a feature called "transverse movement"; this permitted the load to be advanced about 3% feet without having to move the entire machine. Pettibone's Cary-Lift had a similar innovation, but at this time the company was active in markets other than construction, such as forestry.
Just as in the case of the small power buggy forklifts, lift heights of the arc type loader units, such as the West, Lull and Econmobile, were increased from 21 to 24 to 30 feet. Load carrying capacities also increased, and by 1961 the 4,000-pound load became fairly standard.
At about this time Pettibone became more active in the construction field with a modified version of its Cary-Lift.
14 MASONRY/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, 1978