Hi, Nick.
Yep, Widwmaker was what they got called, quite quickly too. LeTourneaus early scraper prime movers were clutch-and-brake steering, very similar to crawlers of the day. And, like the crawlers, if you were going downhill with the load pushing the engine, you had to cross-steer - pull the steering clutch on the die that you wanted to turn AWAY from - and allow the load to push that side forward faster, releasing the steering clutch when you had turned far enough. Needless to say, some operators, even experienced ones, sometimes got it wrong, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Hence - widowmaker.
There was a simple work-around for this - drag the bowl going downhill and you could then steer normally.
another photo from NZ.
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Re: Widowmaker - and some more photos. No Drooling.
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