Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023
In 1947 Vaino J. Holopainen (Waino) and Roy E. Handy Jr. of the small town of Hubbardston, Massachusetts developed the world's first backhoe. This revolutionary invention that could dig and load by swinging side to side, was also the world's first all hydraulically actuated and controlled machine for digging. Vaino and Roy then formed Wain-Roy Corporation. Their grassroots contribution to the earth moving industry lead to the development of twenty-six major backhoe related break-through designs, including the tractor loader backhoe, which formed the worldwide multi-billion-dollar industry that we know today.The amazing story of Wain-Roy and the invention of the backhoe is one of inspiration, struggle, genius, success, theft and failure. Credit for the backhoe is often given to other larger outfits who no-doubt fueled the rise of its widespread use. Few people alive still remember the greatest triumphs and failures of the true inventors and innovators of first backhoe and the first all-hydraulic digger. Authors Lee Horton and Dave Willens, two engineers from Central Massachusetts, wanted to capture this fascinating history before it was lost to time.
Author Lee A. Horton, P.E. was born in Michigan, is a licensed professional engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and a Master of Business Administration from Illinois Institute of Technology. He is the holder of 23 U.S. patents and was the Director of Engineering for Wain-Roy Inc. from 1994 to 2001. Lee is President of Leading Edge Attachments, Inc. in Hubbardston, Massachusetts. Lee and his wife Leslie live in Holden, Massachusetts and have two children Cameron and Eryn.
Author David C. Willens was born in Massachusetts and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He works for Kinefac Corporation in Worcester, Massachusetts as the Director as Research and Process Development and has co-authored a chapter in the McGraw-Hill Manufacturing Engineering Handbook, Second Edition, on the Cylindrical Die Rolling Process. Dave lives in Paxton, Massachusetts and is the owner of several Wain-Roy backhoes and tractors.
Writer Kurt T. Strom holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. John's College, in Annapolis, Maryland. He is a teacher in Arizona, and a contributor to numerous publications. He is currently writing a history of Catholic Relics while he obtains a Master of Art Degree from Harrison Middleton University.
Editor Dr. Leslie Bolinger Horton holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics at Purdue University, a Master of Science in Mathematics at Northeastern Illinois University, and a Doctor of Education in Math and Science Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and is the Dean for the School of Math and Science for Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Code No. 017675, 194 pages, ISBN 9780692108260, $99.00