L ea rning f r o m t h e T re e Cru s h e r douglas robb
While researching the history of the W A C Bennett Hydroelectric Dam at the Royal British Columbia Archives, I came across a passing reference to a machine called the Mackenzie Tree Crusher. This ominously-named device— the largest of its kind — was designed for a singular purpose: to crush trees. Conceived and manufactured by the LeTourneau Technologies Corporation in Longview, Texas, it consisted of a central chassis connected to two spiked drum rollers that functioned as wheels. Above the front roller extended a rigid
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beam designed to topple ‘all sizes of vegetation, both large and small’.1 The spiked rollers would then ‘fell, break up, and partially masticate all vegetation’ that stood in the Tree Crusher’s path, leaving behind it a wake of splintered debris and sawdust. 2
1 Orlemann, Eric. LeTourneau Earthmovers. St. Paul: MBI Publishing, 2001 2 LeTourneau, Robert Gilmour. Land clearing machine. U.S. 2959201A. United States Patent and Trademark Office, 8 November 1960
