LeTourneau Technologies

LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. was an American manufacturer of heavy construction equipment founded by R. G. LeTourneau. In 2011, the company was acquired by Joy Global.

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R. G. LeTourneau founded R.G. LeTourneau, Inc. in California in 1929, as a contractor of earthmoving equipment, which manufactured products in Longview, Texas.^{[1][better source needed]}

During World War II, the company provided nearly 75% of the Allies' earthmoving equipment.^[2] In 1954, it built the first jack-up drilling rig.^{[citation needed]} In 1955, it made the first log-stacker machine.^{[citation needed]} In 1965, the company made the first straddle carrier.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

LeTourneau had spent the early 1950s perfecting a diesel-electric drivetrain for multi-wheeled heavy-machinery.^{[citation needed]} The system—somewhat similar in concept to the sort used on many locomotives –used a diesel combustion engine to spin an electric generator, which would send its power to hub motors mounted to each wheel of the vehicle.^[2] This allowed for multi-wheel-drive without differentials, driveshafts, or the drivetrain losses associated with them.^{[citation needed]}

For the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW line) project, Western Electric and Alaska Freightlines, with the help of TRADCOM (U.S. Army Transportation Research and Development Command), contracted to have a pair of off-road over-land trains, the TC-264 Sno-Buggy, designed specifically for Arctic conditions, to be built by LeTourneau Technologies. The TC-264 Sno-Buggy was the longest off-road vehicle ever built at the time, with its six cars (including the locomotive) measuring a total of 274 feet. Each car was driven by four 7.3 foot-tall wheels and tires. The 24-wheel-drive was powered by two 400 horsepower Cummins diesel engines connected to a hub motor. It had a payload capacity of 150 tons, and could traverse nearly any terrain. It had a very successful first season hauling freight to the DEW Line.^[3]

LeTourneau sold most of his company to Westinghouse Air Brake Company in 1953, for US$ 31M.^[2] In 1970, just after the death of the founder, the company^{[clarification needed]} was sold to Marathon Manufacturing Company and was renamed Marathon LeTourneau Company.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, Rowan (now Valaris Limited), which had used the company to manufacture its drilling rigs, acquired the company from General Cable for $50 million.^[4][5]

In 2011, Rowan (now Valaris Limited) sold LeTourneau Technologies to Joy Global.^[6] Joy Global subsequently sold LeTourneau's Drilling, Marine, and Power divisions to Cameron International.^[7]

In 2016, Keppel Corporation acquired LeTourneau Offshore Products (jackups, cranes, and elevating units) from Cameron, while Cameron retained the LeTourneau Drilling Products division.^[8]

• Orlemann, Eric C. (2001). LeTourneau Earthmovers. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, MBI. ISBN 9780760308400.
• Niemela, John H.; Hardy, Dale. A History of R.G. LeTourneau's Earliest Scrapers: Culminating in the 1922 Mountain Mover (PDF). S2CID 162762371. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-01.
• LeTourneau, R.G. Mover of Men and Mountains, Autobiography (Prentice-Hall 1960, 1967; Reprint Moody Press 1967, 1972), ISBN 0-8024-3818-0
• "The LeTourneau Legend", Equipment history, ISBN 0-646-27692-1 (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 1995, 1998, 3rd revised edition 2007)
• "The LeTourneau Archive", Equipment history, ISBN 0-9585608-0-3 (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 2005)
• "WABCO Australia", LeTourneau Australia history, ISBN 0-9585608-1-1 (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 2007)
• "The WABCO Archive Wheel-Tractor Scrapers", Letourneau-Westinghouse scraper history, ISBN 978-0-9871503-0-1 (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 2011)

• "History". Keppel LeTourneau. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
• "Milestones in Rig design". Keppel LeTourneau. Retrieved June 1, 2022.