I’m sure looking back at the Power Hoe’s past many “What if” questions could be raised, and rightly so. What if John Sr. hadn’t been caught up in a possible patent infringement case, where would his idea have led him? Would he have eventually followed his dream if he had not passed away at such an early age? We do know that there were other “Mobile Back Hoe” designs out there, but where would the Power Hoe have fit in? It’s funny how ideas come “Full Circle” sometimes when we least expect it.
Recently, while the Power Hoe was at the welding shop a gentleman came into the shop with an interest in the Power Hoe. It turns out that he spent most of his working career as an Outrigger engineer for various types of equipment manufacturers. It sounds like he might be the guy that will design the final outrigger build for the Power Hoe! As he looked over the truck he couldn’t help from commenting that this was a very similar design to a new mobile Back Hoe introduced by a company named Gradall. The model was the GradallXL 3100 IV. (Click on title for details) The gentleman ended up forwarding a link to the new backhoe. The Gradalls marketing brochure sounds like a throwback to John Lafian's Patent write up, and this is 56 years later…..Amazing….the cab even looks like what he had in mind. More investigating of this company will surely be in order.
|
Here’s the ‘Jeep’ Factory approved lineup circa early 1960’s. As you can see Willys tried to enter many fields of construction with varying degrees of success. A direct competitor to the Lafian Power appears in the upper left corner of this picture.