My New Rooter - Is it a Le Tourneau?

Sorry, picture size too large.

David - It looks very much like a Model 'S' LeTourneau rooter .. but the shanks or tines appear to have been modified, as all the pics and brochures I have of the Model 'S' show tines that are leaning back at a steep angle .. rather than the near-vertical tines of your rooter.
It's possible your unit was an early model with slight design differences to later models .. or a previous owner modified the tine angle.
The Model 'S' appears to have been produced from about 1938-39, and was dropped from the LeTourneau line by the end of WW2. It was designed to be pulled by tractors up to D7 (3T) size.

Oz,

Many thanks for the feedback.

I thought it looked like a Le Tourneau, as it's very well engineered piece of equipment, with all the additional diagonal bracing around the joints of the main structural members.

I think your right about the ripper tines, as all the other rooter pictures I have seen show the tines at an acute angle.

Oz,

Would it be possible to post a scan of the brochure for future reference?

Thanks, David

Hi David,
That looks like Martyns yard (Fenland Tractors).
any way do you and Oz think that it maybe an Allied scarifer/ripper ?


Regards Gordon.

I haven't heard of the name Allied before, do you have any more details on the company \ products produced?

Gordon & David - I must admit I've never heard of Allied as a manufacturer of earthmoving equipment or attachments .. but having said that .. there would have been literally hundreds of small manufacturers who got into building items such as this, to turn a dollar (or a quid .. 😄 ).

The towed ripper is basically a simple device that many small companies built, because it can't be patented .. unless the builder invented some peculiar feature that was totally innovative, and which warranted a patent. I don't recall seeing any rippers that had any patent plates on them. Both the Cat and LeTourneau rippers (or rooters) were very similar in design.

In Australia, we had the Britstand Co (British Standard Machinery) building rippers and small attachments galore. Britstand also built scrapers, CCU's, blades, and other larger items such as graders, under licence from companies such as Oliver, Cletrac, Heil and Austin-Western. It's entirely possible this ripper may be a "Brand X", designed by any of the aforementioned companies and built by a small local manufacturer under licence.

However .. the overall design similarity to the LeTourneau leads me to believe it IS a LeTourneau, that has had the ripper tine angle modified. The wheel shape and diameter .. the cable mechanisms .. the angled braces, made from square bar, on corners .. are all good indicators of LeTourneau origin.
Here are scans of the back and front of the Model S Rooter spec sheet, dated 11/40 ..

Page 1 .. http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8913/letrooters1.jpg

Page 2 .. http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/5508/letrooters2.jpg

There was a company called southwest ripper that made rippers very similar to Letourneau, but with the shanks were mounted much more vertically as pictured.

I havent seen a Le Torneau just like that one David, I think its just been altered ..post factory ! But i have been wrong before !!. Regards. Pete