Compact Equipment is Born

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Bobcat Company is about to embark on a year-long celebration. In 2008, the company will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first three-wheeled, front-end loader. The humble “Melroe Self-Propelled Loader” evolved into the Bobcat® skid-steer loader and spawned the worldwide compact equipment industry. We thought WorkSaver readers might enjoy knowing the inside scoop on this remarkable invention. Before exploring the skid-steer loader’s beginnings, it is most appropriate to remember the early North Dakota and Minnesota farm families who were pioneers in mechanizing agriculture-related chores. Those individuals include members of the Edward Gideon “E.G.” Melroe family and brothers Louis and Cyril Keller.

The E.G. Melroe Family

You don’t have to look much further than the small town of Gwinner, N.D., with its then population of just 197 full-time residents, to find the roots of compact equipment. It was near Gwinner, about 90 miles southwest of Fargo, where E.G. Melroe was raised in a farm family. Melroe is considered by many as a leading pioneer in agricultural technology. He studied in Fargo at the North Dakota Agricultural College. At college Melroe learned about new technologies and pursued converting his farm’s manual labor to mechanized standards. The first major invention for Melroe was a windrow pickup attachment that gathered and lifted grain windrows into a combine. He brought his four sons — Lester, Clifford, Roger and Irving — into the business and they worked together to refine the pickup. The innovative family built three Melroe windrow pickups in 1937 and 12 in 1938. Devastating health problems forced Melroe to sell the patent rights, yet that didn’t stop him from making further refinements and introducing an improved version.

Realizing that his family needed room to expand its operations beyond the farmstead, Melroe and his sons moved to a small factory in Gwinner. They developed more products, including the Melroe harroweeder. This was perhaps the second most important invention by Melroe, which he perfected in the early 1950s. This new implement used a unique spring-coil design to stir the soil and remove weeds, and it gave the Melroe family the cash it needed to develop other new products. Simply put, the Melroe family saw opportunities to help other families modernize their day-to-day farm operations. Who knows what would have happened to Melroe Manufacturing Company had it not been for a meeting with Louis and Cyril Keller of Rothsay, Minn., in 1958?

The Keller Brothers: Louis and Cyril

Much like the Melroe family, the Kellers were in the business of helping farmers improve their way of life. They ran a blacksmith shop where they repaired and rebuilt plowshares, built hay wagons and fixed other farm implements. The two worked long hours during the winter to strengthen plowshares with tempered steel. Louis was much more than simply a blacksmith. He was also known as an inventor and engineer, developing products — such as a ribbon-auger snowblower — that were later sold to other companies.

In the summer of 1956, the Keller brothers were visited by a long-time customer, turkey farmer Eddie Velo. It was a meeting that would change the way the world works. Velo complained to Louis that he needed a more efficient way to clean his turkey barns that was faster than men could do it with pitchforks and wheelbarrows. Velo wanted to mechanize the chore, but he faced a number of obstacles. The biggest challenge was poles — spaced 8 feet apart — supporting the second floor and the roof. These proved to be too narrow for a tractor and cart to maneuver.Weight was also an issue because the second floor couldn’t support a heavy tractor.

Once Velo met with the Kellers, they took on the challenge of finding a solution to Velo’s problem. After months of pondering, they realized what he needed was a lightweight machine that was compact enough to maneuver between the poles and around the feeders. That winter, they developed a machine — powered by a set of pulleys and belts — with a rear caster wheel, two drive wheels, control levers and a 5-horsepower engine. Tough steel bars from the old Rothsay jailhouse were mounted on a hydraulic loader arm to scoop out the turkey manure. The belt and pulley system proved to be too weak, so the brothers developed a clutch-drive transmission. That was in early 1957. This machine solved Velo’s barn-cleaning problems. Over the next year, the Kellers built six more loaders for area farmers. The Keller brothers knew they had quite a machine, but lacked the resources to mass-produce it. While they explored their options, Anton Christianson (an uncle of the Kellers), observed their work. He owned a farm implement dealership in Elbow Lake, Minn., that sold Melroe equipment.

During a visit by their sales rep, Les Melroe, Christianson shared his excitement about the machine, which led to a meeting between Melroe and the Keller brothers. Like Christianson, Melroe was thrilled by the Keller loader and — after consulting with his brothers — offered demonstration space in the Melroe booth at the 1958 Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. The Kellers brought their machine to the fair and it was an instant hit. Fairgoers gathered to watch the machine scoop up dirt and load it into a pickup. By the third day of the fair, Les Melroe slapped a pair of Melroe decals on the machine, marking the beginning of a partnership with the Kellers. Shortly after the fair, Louis and Cyril Keller moved to Gwinner and went to work for the Melroes. Because the factory was busy building Melroe farm implements, the Kellers were asked to further develop their self-propelled loader design and put it into production.

Whether it was merely a coincidence or divinely inspired, the birth of compact equipment can be traced to two farm families in America’s heartland. Clearly, the story doesn’t end here. There is so much more to tell that all of the facts cannot be captured in one article. Over the next four issues of WorkSaver, you’ll read about the development of the self-propelled loader, the start of the “Bobcat” brand and how these products empowered individuals to do more than they ever thought possible.

All of the glorious details are told in a 264-page hardcover book titled, “Bobcat: Fifty Years of Opportunity, 1958 – 2008.” Find it now at participating Bobcat dealers or online at www.bobcatstore.com.

Source: “Bobcat: Fifty Years of Opportunity, 1958 – 2008.”