Final Take

Equipment buffs prepare for historical equipment expo
An expected 7,000 people who share a love for old equipment will converge on Colchester, Connecticut, this summer for the Historical Construction Equipment Association’s National Convention and Old Equipment Exposition, to be held July 20 through 22.

The event, in its 22nd year, features a variety of equipment dating from the early 1900s through the 1950s. Last year’s event, held at the National Construction Equipment Museum near Bowling Green, Ohio, featured the HCEA’s debut of a 1927 Austin Manufacturing motor grader, a 1930 Caterpillar Thirty crawler tractor and a 1926 Marion Model 21 3/4-yard electric shovel, all restored to original condition by museum volunteers. This year’s event will showcase more than 250 antique machines, as well as historic exhibits. For more information contact the HCEA at (410) 352-5616 or visit this site.


Top ten reasons you know you’re an engineer
To celebrate the world of engineering, Bosch Rexroth asked associates to come up with funny endings to the sentence, “You know you’re an engineer if … ” and posted the responses on the Creative Diversions page of the company’s website. The top 10 responses were:

10. In college, you thought Spring Break was a type of metal fatigue.
9. At home, you rearrange the dishwasher to maximize dirty dish density.
8. You stare at an orange juice container because it says “concentrate.”
7. You know the direction the water swirls when you flush and have used this information to extrapolate your GPS coordinates.
6. You own a software program to design the furniture layout in your house.
5. You’ve tried to repair a $5 radio, and used $20 worth of solder to do it.
4. You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
3. During Thanksgiving dinner you find yourself calculating the load-bearing capacity of Aunt Martha’s chair.
2. You spent more on your calculator than you did on your wedding ring.
1. You’ve already calculated how much money you make per second.


Biography profiles construction pioneer
A new book tells the story of John L. Grove, a pioneer in the aerial work platform and crane industries, who founded Grove Manufacturing in 1947 and JLG Industries in 1969. The Life and Legacy of John L. Grove, by Gerry Lute, not only details the history of the companies Grove founded, but also focuses on entrepreneurship, leadership and growth.

Partner Insights
Information to advance your business from industry suppliers
How High Fuel Prices hurt Your Business
Presented by EquipmentWatch
8 Crucial Elements of a Tire Safety Program
Presented by Michelin North America
Selecting the Correct Construction Tire Solution
Presented by Michelin North America

Lute, a nephew of Grove and his wife, Cora, lived with the Grove family and worked for Grove Manufacturing – now a division of the Manitowoc Crane Group – and JLG as a mechanical engineer in new product development.

The book is available in both a standard and limited leather-bound edition, and can be purchased by visiting this site and clicking on the merchandise link.


Word for word
“We are sorry to see it go, too. But it would have taken a lot of bake sales.”
– Consol Energy public relations director Joe Cerenzia to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about fundraising efforts to save the Silver Spade, a giant mining shovel the company is scrapping. (See February Equipment World, page 112)

“It’s sad they’re taking what somebody makes a living with.”
– Michael Nuffer of Michael Nuffer Construction, to the Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World in response to the theft of $3,000 worth of tools and equipment from a jobsite.

“At first we thought it might be a game animal. It was wrapped in so much duct tape that it looked like a mummy.”
– construction company owner Steve Hanlin to the Associated Press about his crew finding a corpse in a freezer at a Medford, Oregon, residence where they were working.