Who made the first backhoe?

Whichester1 · Jul 31, 2013

Any idea who made the first backhoe? A company called Insley had a cable operated unit. It was more/less mounted on a crane chassis with tracks.

Ford 3 point are about the oldest I see but somehow I don't think they were first.

This is not a big deal, just for my FYI file.

Thanks,

Bill.

36F30 · Jul 31, 2013

Although Case produced the first “integrated” Tractor Loader Backhoe in 1957 (whereby all the components were manufactured and warrantied by the same manufacturer), the invention of the first backhoe swing frame was developed in July 1947 by Vaino J. Holopainen (pronounced “Waino”) and Roy E. Handy, Jr., (thus the company name “Wain-Roy”) and assigned to Wain-Roy Corporation of Hubbardston, Massachusetts, United States. In July 1948, patent # 2,698,697 was filed by Vaino J. Holopainen. The swing frame breakthrough allowed the hydraulic digging arm to swing to the side to dump the bucket. This patent also included the invention of the out-rigger bar, and high flow control. In April 1948 Wain-Roy Corporation sold the very first all hydraulic backhoe, mounted to a Ford Model 8N tractor, to the Connecticut Light and Power Company. Wain-Roy made 24 units in 1948. Wain-Roy also made them for Sherman Products of Royal Oak, Michigan and Ford. Approximately 7000 Wain-Roy Backhoes were manufactured and sold between the fall of 1948 and early 1954, mainly through Ford dealers.

VicS · Jul 31, 2013

Good history lesson, thanks. I was going to guess
Sherman on a Ford, because a customer of mine had
a 8N Ford sitting behind his shed with a Sherman
pipe loader and backhoe (I would guess a 12ft) it
was made out of pipe also. He told me he got it in
1948. Said so many people came to the job sight
couldn't hardly work it. Told me a lot of stories
about how many basements he dug (the city
post=office) and all the septic tanks he put in.
There were two of them that ran it at least 12 hrs
a day. One other thing the tires were turned out
wide, and the tractor had a step up and down trans
box. Vic

Whichester1 · Jul 31, 2013

Thanks for the response, you sure have a wealth of knowledge. I see a lot of older Ford 8N's with backhoes but was unsure of who was first.

Thanks again,

Bill.

fixerupper · Jul 31, 2013

The Schield brothers made their first Bantam cable operated prototype, mounted on a truck in 1946. I imagine the name 'backhoe' was derived because the bucket is pulled back toward the power unit instead of being swung away from the power unit like the earlier steam shovels. Jim

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2013

I've read different books claiming Massey Ferguson
had the first integrated tractor backhoe, JCB had
the first and Case had the first. There were backhoe
attachments before that though. These of course are
hyd. backhoes mounted on tractors. There were cable
excavators before them.

C W Hinton · Aug 1, 2013

I believe that the Germans either built or had access to a backhoe during WWII. The reason I state this is because I read an account of German soldiers during the Battle of Berlin who used a backhoe (Make unknown) to dig foxholes.

TimV · Aug 1, 2013

Another early experimenter with cable backhoes was Leo Heikkinen, founder of the Prentice corporation and usually credited with inventing the knuckleboom log loader. The attached article and picture shows one of his early experiments, though I don't have an exact date for the photo. As with many of these types of inventions, it's difficult to say exactly what constituted the "first" one, and as the basic idea had been around for many years, even back into the steam era, improvements were made incrementally, often by more than one person in more than one place at once.
early cable backhoe

Anonymous-0 · Sep 25, 2013

CASE Construction

Pops1532 · Sep 25, 2013

(quoted from post at 02:09:57 08/01/13) Although Case produced the first “integrated” Tractor Loader Backhoe in 1957 (whereby all the components were manufactured and warrantied by the same manufacturer), the invention of the first backhoe swing frame was developed in July 1947 by Vaino J. Holopainen (pronounced “Waino”) and Roy E. Handy, Jr., (thus the company name “Wain-Roy”) and assigned to Wain-Roy Corporation of Hubbardston, Massachusetts, United States. In July 1948, patent # 2,698,697 was filed by Vaino J. Holopainen. The swing frame breakthrough allowed the hydraulic digging arm to swing to the side to dump the bucket. This patent also included the invention of the out-rigger bar, and high flow control. In April 1948 Wain-Roy Corporation sold the very first all hydraulic backhoe, mounted to a Ford Model 8N tractor, to the Connecticut Light and Power Company. Wain-Roy made 24 units in 1948. Wain-Roy also made them for Sherman Products of Royal Oak, Michigan and Ford. Approximately 7000 Wain-Roy Backhoes were manufactured and sold between the fall of 1948 and early 1954, mainly through Ford dealers.

My Dad went into the building and excavating business when he got out of the service after WW2. I remember him talking about the Wain-Roy hoes on Ford tractors being the first backhoes available. He had one until he bought something bigger in the mid 50's.

Who made the first backhoe?

Whichester1

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36F30

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VicS

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Whichester1

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fixerupper

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Anonymous-0

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C W Hinton

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TimV

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Anonymous-0

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Pops1532

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