Le Sueur County Pioneer Power "Dirt Crew"
Pioneer Power has a very active group of antique construction equipment enthusiasts. The “Dirt Show” is another show within our Pioneer Power Show. Many pieces of old road construction machines, rock crushers, pipe layers, shovels, packers, graders, scrapers, trucks, and more are put into use during the show. A large 70 x 160 ft. building has been erected to house the construction equipment
Ferdie Wilkserson has been in the construction business most of his life and is one of the promoters of the “Dirt Crew” at Pioneer Power.
Lots of activity going on in the dirt.
Old cable tracked backhoe working.
These Cats are equipped with a pipe layer attachment. The Cats were driven along side oil well pipes and the tower was used to lift and place the pipes in the proper position. These can also be used to move rail road rails.
A couple of old shovels are working at Pioneer Power. These crude looking machines were replaced by the modern day back-hoe and excavator.
A couple of “Cats” in action, pulling a dump wagon and the one fartherest away is pulling the mucker.
This is the “Minnesota Mucker”. It is powered by an IH power unit. These machines were used for many years to build roads. This particular brand is Adams.The Adams elevating grader, as it is officially called, at work loading dirt into a dump wagon.
It takes a lot of horse power to pull the machine. A large stationary disk blade is lowered into the dirt which in turn delivers the dirt to the belt and into the dirt wagon.
1936 Caterpillar motor grader and Cat. 8T motor grader.
Much of southern Minnesota has field tile placed in the ground for drainage. This is an early tiling machine pulled by a tractor. The usual depth to place tile is 4 foot minimum.
A Caterpillar “30” pulling a high wheeled scraper.
A dirt auger mounted on a small Cat.