engineering

Haulpak

Haulpak is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Haulpak rather than just read about it. In short: Haulpak was a very successful line of off-highway mining trucks. The name was used from 1953 until around 1999; the line continues under the Komatsu name.

Key takeaways

Haulpak belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Haulpak to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Haulpak from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Haulpak was a very successful line of off-highway mining trucks. The name was used from 1953 until around 1999; the line continues under the Komatsu name. The name was adopted as Wabco Haulpak when R. G. LeTourneau's business was bought by Wabco, and the Haulpak name continued through Wabco's purchase by American Standard, the operation's purchase by Dresser Industries, the merger into Komatsu-Dresser, and for a time after Komatsu took complete ownership from Dresser.

History

The origins of the Haulpak line began with the purchase of R. G. LeTourneau's construction machinery business in 1953 by Westinghouse Air Brake Company. Wabco had traditionally been a manufacturer of railway air brake systems, but ventured into construction machinery with the purchase of LeRoi air tools and industrial drills in 1952. The subsequent purchase of R. G. LeTourneau's construction machinery line gave Wabco a comprehensive range of machinery including scrapers, rubber-tyred dozers and other attachments. Wabco subsequently added motor graders to their product line by purchasing J. D. Adams in 1955 and thereafter front end loaders, with the purchase of Scoopmobile. Wabco recognised the importance of the off-highway Truck market and hired Ralph H. Kress to design a line of haul trucks in-house. Kress incorporated many new design features which were trend setting and eventually Caterpillar was to offer him a position designing their range of haulers. The Haulpak line of mining and quarry trucks was the best-performing sector for Wabco for the entire time they owned it and eventually the scrapers, wheel dozers, graders and front end loaders would be discontinued from the Wabco catalogue. In 1968 Wabco had become part of American Standard Company (known for bathroom fittings) and then it would become part of Dresser Industries in 1984. After a Komatsu Limited-Dresser joint venture (KDC) in 1988 was formed, the Haulpak truck line was again (partly) under new ownership, although by 1994 Komatsu had purchased all remaining shares of KDC, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. The Haulpak name was quietly discontinued around 1998–1999 and the new trucks were then known as Komatsu machines. While the smaller Komatsu haul trucks are distinctly Japanese in design, the current line of larger trucks can trace their heritage back to American Haulpak design roots.

Truck models 25, 25C 30, 30C 35, 35C 45, 50, 50B 60, 60B 65, 65B 65E 75A, 75B, 75C 85C, 85D (became 325M) 100 (became 385M) 120A, 120B, 120C, 120D (became 445E) 140CM, 140DM (became 510E), 530M, 1500-5, 1500-7 150B, 150C 170C, 170D 190 (became 630E, but not a direct replacement) 3200, 3200B 685E (became 730E, but not a direct replacement) 780 (concept; became 830E, the best selling "electric" 240 tonne class truck ever) 860E 930E (the best selling truck in the 320 tonne size) 960E 980E

See also Haul truck R. G. LeTourneau Westinghouse Air Brake Company American Standard Brands

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Haulpak

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Haulpak claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Haulpak before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Haulpak ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Haulpak

In research: Haulpak appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Haulpak in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Haulpak is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Peoria, Illinois, Defunct brands, Engineering vehicles, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Haulpak outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Haulpak in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Haulpak means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Haulpak out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Haulpak in simple terms?

Haulpak was a very successful line of off-highway mining trucks. The name was used from 1953 until around 1999; the line continues under the Komatsu name.

Why does Haulpak matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Haulpak?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Haulpak.