Masonry Magazine June 1997 Page. 31
The major obstacle was mason contractors whose largest previous purchases for powered equipment might have been $500 for a mortar mixer or $2,000 to $3,000 for a building hoist found it difficult to spend $7,000 to $10,000 for a material handling unit.
Sales then were made one at a time, usually to the most progressive mason contractors in each market and almost always by demonstration of a day, a week or longer. And the manufacturer's representative always had to stay with the machine. If he didn't, it was not long before the machine was parked and the job was back to the old way of moving materials manually.
For the manufacturers, it was a long, tedious and sometimes discouraging process to get the arc/loader forklifts accepted in the construction field. In fact, it was not until about 1965 that this type of forklift became generally accepted. The vertical-lift forklifts fared better in acceptance-attributable for the most part to a considerably lower price structure and simpler operation.
In the early 60s, Lull and Econmobile joined Koehring and Pettibone in offering four-wheel drive, torque-converter features on their rough terrain models. (The great majority of all types of rough terrain forklifts then were still being powered by gasoline engines.) And the shooting boom feature started to gain in popularity, progressing to the point where today all the forklift manufacturers (other than those of vertical-lift units) offer at least one model equipped with this type of boom or elevating device.
Rough Terrain Forklifts have allowed the mason contractor to operate with far fewer tenders than were used prior to the introduction of the forklift. Prior to the introduction of the forklift in masonry one laborer was used for every mason on the wall. The rough terrain forklift eliminated the need for a large workforce. Today, the laborer will mix the mortar, cut the masonry units and then hop into the forklift and deliver the materials to the mason on the working service.
Introducing A Trowel With A Definite Difference...
First Pettibone Cary-Lift was built on a surplus vehicle, around 1951, for use mainly in forestry operations
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Feel the difference of Marshalltown's exclusive DuraSoft handle where you shop for tools.
Marshalltown
MARSHALLTOWN TROWEL COMPANY
Р.О. Вох 738 Marshalltown, lowa 50158
Phone: 515/753-0127 Fax: 515/753-6341
MASONRY-MAY/JUNE, 1997 31