Im an equipment operator and love all sorts of earth moving machinery Im looking for a 290 M right now. THere was one at a sale about 12 years ago and I missed it for 1500. I was just a dumb kid but had money in my hand. aAn old Car dealer had it and was building ponds on his farm. He found out he got Cancer and just gave up and sold it all.
Ive been trying to find one again. For alot of 290 M info look at
Clark 290M Machinery, Clark 290M Parts
THey are in Boaz Al. Im looking at one right now for a backup unit and the landfill. Id loves to have one as a friend and I worked in Birmingham and they had 2 on the job and were handy when one got loaded they could push each other. We had one muley one with a blade only that pushed alot of dirt and push loaded. I never got to run one much but what I did do I enjoyed it.
My late nieghbor and friends whole company was based on surplus Military machinery. He had a deal with the local civil defense man. IF they needed a machine for a county job they got it for scrap price. Used it on the county job and then kept it. Afew year s ago before he passed the city made him clean up his lot and he scrapped several D7 with letourneau Blades and CCU and headache tubes.
He has several rollers. Even had some blades off some either 290 M or 830 M scrapers. We bought them for blades for our landfill compactors we built.
That Letoureau Westing house scraper conversion in the last pic was the classic TournaCrane Ill have to look up their tiltes I have 2 current RG Letourneau books on his mechanical and electric drive machines shows tons of is military equipment. He was a great patriot. IVe been to the old Plant In Vicksburg MS where alot of thins for WW2 were made.
The ELectric drive version of his book has alot of good pics of the Jungle crushers used in Vietnam and the tenders used to service them. I worked with a Vet once time early in my operating career that served one of the tenders to the jungle crushers and enjoyed lunch break. I probably worried him to death all the questions about it.
MD you are completely right on LeTourneau was bigger than Cat. Letourneau was way ahead of the game. He modenized the lift of the dozer blade, Modernized the lift and control of a scraper and made the first enclosed and liftable bowl. And the biggy he was famous for was the invention of the overhung scraper or 2 wheeled scraper. Lots of critics on that one but after that Cat wouldnt sell him motors.
Danger Ranger they D4 Letourneau is a real find if at all possible dont let it get scrapped. After the war many towns and counties got the D4 units. A town a bit south of me had one that loaded trucks. THey had a path dug in a hill. Your trcks drove in the path and they had a bridge over the top of it made from beams. WHen you parked under it the scraper drove over the bridges and dumped into a single axle truck.
