Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85677
back page | by Tom Jackson ANTIQUE Keep it in the family W hen your family is in the quarry business, you tend to run through a lot of heavy equipment. But there's a sentimental reason Larry Kot- kowski, president of Lakeside Sand and Gravel, Mantua, Ohio, has hung onto this 1942 Bucyrus-Erie 15B shovel. It's the machine his dad started the business with after WWII. Kotkowski and his brother Larry, vice president of the company, have completely rebuilt the shovel along with coworkers and friends. "We totally disassembled it right down to every track pad," he says. "Everything was taken off the deck except the counterweight. Every bearing and seal was replaced. The 98 May 2012 | EquipmentWorld.com engine was rebuilt, every clutch was relined. We went through every inch of that machine and made it run like new. Anything we can't fi nd, we have to make." The 15B is not the only machine Kotkowski has worked on. He and his friends currently have three pieces they're restoring and the company is home to more than 180 pieces of antique equipment and trucks. "I've got a whole group of guys that come down to the shop for this, a lot of retired crane opera- tors," he says. "They all like to work on the old machines and we meet every Wednesday." The latest refurb took about a year and now Kotkowski brings it out for demos and events at his own quarry and also uses it to make the dirt fl y at the Historical Construction Equipment Associa- tion's annual conventions. Kot- kowski is the current president of the HCEA and says the group is an important link to America's history. "There are a bunch of us work- ing to preserve this stuff," he says. "A lot of people restore cars and trucks, but there are not a lot of people working to preserve the his- tory of building in this country." If you would like to see more an- tique iron like this, or get involved in preserving its history the HCEA will hold its annual convention September 14-17 in Bowling Green, Ohio. To fi nd out more go to hcea.net. EW