Terex THS15 Motorscraper

Last updated

The Terex THS15 Motorscraper was a concept machine scraper displayed for the first time at Minexpo 2000. This machine features some unusual design concepts, including an adjustable cutting edge on the bowl to reduce friction when loading. Other notable features were the rear-mounted drivetrain (there was no engine on the front module) and a hydrostatic transmission, which featured hydraulic wheel motors. At least two prototypes were made, and these featured noticeable differences in front end styling. A digital copy of the brochure for this machine is available through ozebooks. Both the THS15 scrapers were spotted for sale in used machinery dealers by 2011 and their fate is unknown. Terex never went ahead with production and subsequently abandoned motor scraper manufacture altogether.

Transmission

Hydrostatic transmissions have many benefits; however, they are not usually suited to machines that travel at higher speeds over longer distances. The hydrostatic drive may have been a contributing factor in abandoning the project. Changes in the way earthmoving is done, including the use of excavators and dumptrucks, has also eroded the market for scrapers. Therefore, this machine exhibited many revolutionary design concepts but was probably too costly to put into production in a declining market sector.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulldozer</span> Mobile machine which uses a frontal blade to push large volumes of material

A bulldozer or dozer is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, though specialized models riding on large off-road tires are also produced. Its most popular accessory is a ripper, a large hook-like device mounted singly or in multiples in the rear to loosen dense materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loader (equipment)</span> Heavy equipment machine

A loader is a heavy equipment machine used in construction to move or load materials such as soil, rock, sand, demolition debris, etc. into or onto another type of machinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heavy equipment</span> Vehicles designed for executing construction tasks

Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. Heavy equipment usually comprises five equipment systems: the implement, traction, structure, power train, and control/information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadillac Seville</span> American mid-size luxury sedan

The Cadillac Seville is a mid-size luxury car manufactured by Cadillac from the 1976 to 2004 model years as a smaller-sized, premium model. It was replaced by the STS in 2004 for the 2005 model year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continuously variable transmission</span> Automotive transmission technology

A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an automated transmission that can change through a continuous range of gear ratios. This contrasts with other transmissions that provide a limited number of gear ratios in fixed steps. The flexibility of a CVT with suitable control may allow the engine to operate at a constant angular velocity while the vehicle moves at varying speeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grader</span> Construction machine

A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, motor grader, or simply blade, is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during grading. Although the earliest models were towed behind horses, and later tractors, most modern graders are self-propelled and thus technically "motor graders".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Front-wheel drive</span> Automotive transmission where the engine drives the front wheels only

Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Harvester</span> American manufacturing company

The International Harvester Company was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It was formed from the 1902 merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company and three smaller manufacturers: Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner. Its brands included McCormick, Deering, and later McCormick-Deering, as well as International. Along with the Farmall and Cub Cadet tractors, International was also known for the Scout and Travelall vehicle nameplates. In the 1980s all divisions were sold off except for International Trucks, which changed its parent company name to Navistar International.

Robert Gilmour LeTourneau, born in Richford, Vermont, was a prolific inventor of earthmoving machinery, and founder of LeTourneau Technologies, Inc and LeTourneau University. His factories supplied machinery which represented nearly 70 percent of the earthmoving equipment and engineering vehicles used by the Allied forces during World War II, and more than half of the 1,500-mile (2,414 km) Alaska Highway in Canada was built with LeTourneau equipment. Over the course of his life he secured nearly 300 patents relating to earthmoving equipment, manufacturing processes and machine tools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class (R170)</span> Motor vehicle

The R170 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class is the first generation of the Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class range of compact luxury roadsters manufactured by Mercedes-Benz between 1995 and 2004, using a shortened variant of the W202 Mercedes C-Class platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheel tractor-scraper</span> Type of heavy equipment used for earthmoving

In civil engineering, a wheel tractor-scraper is a type of heavy equipment used for earthmoving. It has a pan/hopper for loading and carrying material. The pan has a tapered horizontal front cutting edge that cuts into the soil like a carpenter's plane or cheese slicer and fills the hopper which has a movable ejection system. The horsepower of the machine, depth of the cut, type of material, and slope of the cut area affect how quickly the pan is filled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autobianchi Primula</span> Motor vehicle

The Autobianchi Primula is a supermini economy car manufactured between 1964 and 1970 by the Italian automaker Autobianchi, partly owned by and later a subsidiary of the Fiat Group. The Primula was a prototype for Fiat's rack and pinion steering and is widely known for its innovative Dante Giacosa-designed front-wheel drive, transverse engine layout — that would be later popularized by the Fiat 128 to ultimately become an industry-standard front drive layout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Fairlane (Americas)</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Fairlane is an automobile model that was sold between the 1955 and 1970 model years by Ford in North America. Taking its name from the Dearborn, Michigan estate of Henry Ford, the Fairlane nameplate was used for seven different generations of vehicles. Through its production, the model line would be marketed in a wide variety of body styles, including two-door and four-door sedans, two-door and four-door hardtops, station wagons, and both traditional and retractable-hardtop convertibles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeep Forward Control</span> Series of pickup trucks made by Jeep

The Jeep Forward Control is a truck that was produced by Willys Motors, later named Kaiser Jeep, from 1956 to 1965. It was also assembled in other international markets. The layout featured a cab over design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mini Clubman (2007)</span> Motor vehicle

The Mini Clubman is a subcompact executive car engineered and manufactured by German automaker BMW and sold under the Mini marque. The first-generation Clubman was introduced in 2007, as a variant of the Mini Hatch. A commercial version called Clubvan was added to the range in 2012. The current second-generation model has been in production since 2015 and available with front- and all-wheel drive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euclid Trucks</span> Former American heavy equipment manufacturer

The Euclid Company of Ohio was a manufacturer which specialized in heavy equipment for earthmoving, particularly dump trucks, loaders and wheel tractor-scrapers. It operated in the US from the 1920s to the 1950s, when it was purchased by General Motors. The firm was later bought by Hitachi Construction Machinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Star Trucks</span> American truck manufacturer

Western Star Trucks Sales, Inc. is an American truck manufacturer headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America, which is an independent subsidiary of the multinational Daimler Truck. Western Star trucks are commonly sold at Freightliner dealerships.

Haulpak was a very successful line of off-highway mining trucks. The name was used from 1953 until around 1999; the line continues under the Komatsu name. The name was adopted as Wabco Haulpak when R. G. LeTourneau's business was bought by Wabco, and the Haulpak name continued through Wabco's purchase by American Standard, the operation's purchase by Dresser Industries, the merger into Komatsu-Dresser, and for a time after Komatsu took complete ownership from Dresser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Škoda Rapid (2012)</span> Motor vehicle

The Škoda Rapid (NH) is range of small family car models produced by the Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto. It consists of three body styles: a 5-door liftback, a 5-door hatchback marketed as "Spaceback" and a 4-door sedan sold in China. The model is based on a B-segment-focused PQ25 platform. Another vehicle with the Rapid nameplate was also introduced in India in 2011, which is a rebadged and restyled Volkswagen Vento/Polo sedan.

References