Model W Letourneau CarryAll

[converttonew!]

I just bought a Model W Letourneau scraper, looks like it is in decent shape. I am converting it over to hydraulics to use behind my four wheel drive tractor. These old beast are interesting, and am looking for some more info on them. I measured it to about 20 yards or so, but not sure on the manufacturer rating. Does anyone know when these were built? It is a serial # WE, so i found out that it is one of the last ones built, maybe around 1950? I will post some pics too so you can take a closer look. I think this one was used for stripping overburden from a coal mine.

[Old Magnet]

What little info I have shows the model W to be 18.7 cu. yds. struck and 23.0 heaped....weighs 34,600 lbs and has a 10 ft. wide cut.
I don't know the year of build but it is probably from the 50's.

It's just a little bit bigger than the Cat series 5W #80.

[WabcoMan]

The LeTourneau W was manufactured up until 1951.
Thats the first one I've seen with single tires.
All the photos & spec sheets in my collection show them on dual wheels, usually 24.00x32's
Nice find.

[OzDozer]

converttonew - That's a nice find. The LeTourneau Carryalls are excellent earthmovers, very robust, very efficient at loading and spreading, and very simply built, and reliable.

Be very aware, of two things, however ..

1. They aren't nick-named LeTurnovers for nothing. When fully loaded, their C of G rises substantially, and on steeper sideslopes, they will roll over in an instant. Usually not a lot of damage results, but nerves get jangled, and it's some work to right them again.

2. This is a BIG scraper. It's designed to be pulled by a Cat D8. It's 18.7 yds struck, 23 yds heaped. It weighs around 35,000 lbs. Add in 23 yds of loose clay/gravel at, say 2700 lbs/cu yd, and you have another 62,000+lbs of weight.

With the 36,000 lbs tare, you have 97,000 lbs behind you .. and on a downhill slope, you could get into trouble, real fast, with that kind of weight pushing a wheeltractor .. no matter how big the tractor. Brakes weren't an option on these rigs ..

If things go wrong, it will go where IT wants to go, not where YOU want it to go ..

Take extreme care when using this rig behind a wheeltractor, this rig will push a D8 tractor around, on a downhill slope.

Here are all the specs. I cannot find an end date for construction of the W series, but it was introduced in 1938.
It appears that Wabcoman's info may be correct, that LeTourneau ceased production of the W series Carryall, a couple of years before the Westinghouse buyout of LeTourneau in May 1953.

This was likely to have been because there was a large and increasing emphasis on the speedier motor scrapers, right throughout the industry .. and Carryalls were only good for short haul distances .. being beaten rapidly, on distances over 1000' haul, by motor scrapers.

W series Carryall ..

Introduced - 1938 ..

Capacity - 18.7 yds Struck .. 23 yds heaped ..

Wheel/Tire options, and weights -

(4) x 24.00 x 32 * ........... 35,925 lbs ..

(4) x 18.00 x 24 (F) .........
(2) x 24.00 x 32 (R) ......... 34,725 lbs ..

(8) x 18.00 x 24 ............... 33,125 lbs ..
(6) x 18.00 x 24 ............... 29,425 lbs ..
(4) x 24.00 x 32 (24 ply) .. 34,600 lbs ..

*This appears to have been a counterweighted version ..

The W series used a 10' cutting edge .. and the selling price during the early to mid-1940's, ranged from $8,574 for the (6) x 18.00 x 24 tire arrangement .. to $12,000 for the (4) x 24.00 x 32 (24 ply) setup ..

Dimensions are ..

39' - 0" overall length .. 11' - 6" overall width .. 11' - 10" overall height ..

Maximum depth of cut is 12" .. Depth of controlled spread is 0"-15" .. ground clearance in carry position is 12" .. and apron opening is 56" ..

I also have a single sheet (double sided) specifications sheet for the Model W, dated 5/41, which lists every feature and specification of the Carryall .. including yardage per hour under numerous operating conditions and haul distances ..