The Historical Construction Equipment Association and the Butler Bin Carscoop Wheel Loader
The construction industry has a rich history in American culture. The building of roads, homes and infrastructure has shaped the communities and kinship that we share today. It’s a memoir that the Historical Construction Equipment Association has set out to preserve. The organization works to honor the history of the construction equipment that helped shape our world, sharing the importance of the machines, manufacturers and construction crews that continue to improve our neighborhoods around the United States.
The Historical Construction Equipment Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the construction, dredging and surface mining equipment industries. Part of its work is to operate the National Construction Equipment Museum near Bowling Green, Ohio, for the purpose of collecting and restoring construction equipment that shows how different types of machinery have evolved over the years.
One such machine that fits in the rich history of Compact Equipment is the compact wheel loader. Although skid steer loaders are now the standard small wheel loader, they are predated by other machines that resembled more or less conventional wheel loaders in their design and operation. These little loaders came into use in the early 1950s, and were popular for industrial applications such as warehouses and car and ship unloading.
Frank G. Hough Co. was the leading manufacturer of these loaders, and competitors included Clark Equipment Co. and the Carscoop Division of Butler Bin Co. The National Construction Equipment Museum’s collection includes a rare Butler Bin 102 Carscoop, built circa 1951. It and the museum’s other machines, now over 70 in number, can be viewed by making an appointment at the HCEA at 419-352-5616 or tberry@hcea.net.
Membership in the HCEA costs $30.00 in the USA and Canada and $40 elsewhere, and members receive four issues of its quarterly magazine, Equipment Echoes.
