Letourneau, ETA 1957?

[HighOnTacos]

Can anyone identify what this machine is? It was recently posted on reddit, and the general design of it is puzzling several users. The closest I can find is the Letourneau earth scraper, but I havent found any images or schematics with the wheels outside of the body like it is in this picture.

I'm not really a military buff - I found a thread from 2011 talking about letourneau equipment used by the military, so I figured this would be a good start.

The picture was dated as 1957, supposedly a Navy picture so I'm assuming an aircraft carrier. Was this equipment being prepared for an air drop?

 

[tommys2patrick]

I believe it is an aircraft handler. On ww2 and later they used them to shuffle planes around mostly where deck space was limited. Planes were stored above in loft space or hanging from the ceiling inside the hangar deck. Especially if the plane was battle damaged or not working. I believe they called them Tillies. They also could park them in such a way as to protect other planes from landing mishaps.

 

[tommys2patrick]

Also you might want to go thru the new member process on this site if you want to join some of the discussions. Even if your not a military buff you might have something to add to the discussions. We always enjoy odd "military" vehicles such as this.

 

[HighOnTacos]

Also you might want to go thru the new member process on this site if you want to join some of the discussions. Even if your not a military buff you might have something to add to the discussions. We always enjoy odd "military" vehicles such as this.

This is really the first of any unique vehicles I've found, and to be honest my interest lies in the random topics like this that leaves me stumped. I'll be sure to look through the forums and see if there's anything else that sparks my interest. I've been raised on the random stories that my dad would tell me about his time in the service... Mostly random, but I can always get some new military history fact out of him every time we talk. Some from his time in the army, I'm sure... But I feel that a lot of them come from his time in front of the TV

In most cases, I would've called him, but he was well asleep by the time.

I was thinking aircraft handler, but the design looked fairly odd to me. With no reference to go on about the rear hitch, I was fairly stumped.

Thanks for the help!

 

[tommys2patrick]

If you search google or similar for Navy Tilly you get some interesting pictures. Le Tourneau made several varieties and sizes. Have fun!

 

[HighOnTacos]

Somebody in the reddit thread just mentioned a crash crane. Looking at pictures online, it does look very similar - I hadn't noticed the vertical pillar above the wheel, and I now notice the hydraulic lines running along it too.

 

[mcmullag]

Read a biography on him, amazing stuff.


Check out Google images on Le Tourneau
I think he grew up in the Upper Midwest. I think he invented the earthmover, a tractor with just two big drive wheels attached to a scraper.

 

[porkysplace]

There is amember here in michigan with a scraper .
LeTourneau D4A

 

[MWMULES]

Yep it is the older version of a Tilly, the large over hang was so the could drop junked aircraft over the side. There have been several sizes over the years.

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[robertsears1]

One of those was used in the Korean War movie "The Bridges at Toko Ri" starring William Holden when he was landing a damaged F9F aboard the carrier.

Robert