Pictured here in 1934 is a portable crusher on the move in Ontario’s Huron County. The county had commissioned a local Goderich, Ontario machinist turned inventor, Thomas Sandy, to build a crusher portable enough for use in local gravel pits in county road building.
Sandy’s machine shop had started out servicing Great Lake freighters that docked at Goderich harbour requiring repairs. Undaunted, he took on the crusher project using what spare parts were available on site.
From this prototype, Sandy went on to manufacture 30 crushers. There is only one remaining that’s operational. HCEA Canada member and well-known aggregate industry veteran, Dalton Lowe of Stayner, Ontario has restored his 1940s era updated Sandy crusher and demonstrates it at our events. Powered by an International UD 14 four-cylinder diesel engine it was rated at 60 kW (80 hp).
Sandy’s initial crusher version was based on a well-used 1920s truck chassis complete with hard tires. The driveline was modified to provide power to the belt drives on the crusher, rotating screen and the folding belt-conveyor. Seen here relocating to another pit, the crusher had to be assisted by a county dump truck which was transporting the aggregate bin.
Thomas Sandy, among many others of the era, was a Canadian machinery innovator. He had several U.S. & Canadian patents and had built a one-off truck-mounted cable shovel for use on local jobs. HCEA Canada is looking forward to our 2024 events if the pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Visit hceacanada.org for updates.
