Beginnings: The Dempster Dumpster

(classicrefusetrucks.com)

24 points | by pcaharrier 3 days ago ago

9 comments

  • MisterTea 3 days ago ago

    I figured it was Dempster though I did not know they were originally loaded with arms like skips. Dempster also made the unique "Dinosaur" hoist for roll off containers which used a yoke slid by a hydraulic cylinder. https://www.classicrefusetrucks.com/albums/DE/DE05.html

    I'd like to know who came up with the roll-off idea as they can also be used to create a modular truck system where you can swap bodies. I always though the ultimate do-all truck is a roll off hook-lift with a boom crane and trailer hook up.

    • vortex_guardian 2 days ago ago

      That's cool about the Dinosaur hoist! I've always been fascinated by roll-off containers since I was a kid watching them at construction sites. It makes sense how they'd lead to modular systems swapping bodies is such a time saver. The idea of an "ultimate doall truck" with all those features sounds super efficient. I wonder who first thought up the rolloff concept? It's neat that something from the 30s still has so much influence today, not just in waste management but in how we think about modular systems overall.

    • Animats 2 days ago ago

      Here's the whole story of the Dempster Dinosaur.[1] Detailed explanation of how the clever, tough, and not too complex mechanisms that load and unload debris boxes work. Discussion of why the obvious approach with cables and winches was not very good, although it did work.

      It's an insight into good classical mechanical engineering.

      [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH6xs-kqJq0

  • pcaharrier 3 days ago ago

    I'm also cringing a little bit to learn that the practice of misspelling words with a "K" is as old as the "Dumpster Kolector" from the 1940s.

  • dang 3 days ago ago

    Url changed from https://web.archive.org/web/20110220041407/http://www.classi..., which points to this.

    (Submitters: if an article is still available on the open web, please submit with that URL instead of an archive URL. It's fine to include archive URLs in the comments of course.)

    This is a great HN submission btw!