Rare Eimco Dozer Uncovered

This week’s series of blogs take on a very classic plant feel, and I make no apologies for that, as due to a recent poll I conducted on my LinkedIn account, classic plant features were the second most enjoyed topic on the Digger Man Blog according to a selection of our regular readers.

Photo Above: Courtesy of Classic Dozer

So, while browsing one of the many groups on old historical equipment that I follow on Facebook, I came across this old gem from a long-gone manufacturer called Eimco (Eastern Iron and Machinery Co).

Eimco’s tractor manufacturing division was part of the Eimco Corporation, which was established as far back as 1884 in Salt Lake City, Utah, a place probably most well known as the home of the late 1970’s pop group the Osmonds!

Eimco were most famous for producing underground mining kit like rock loaders and other mining associated products, but in 1952, they moved into producing crawler tractors/dozers. However, these machines were not your run of the mill tractors, they were at the time, quite radical in design and technically advanced.

Photo: Courtesy of Brett Swanson

These days we talk about the latest Komatsu dozers, DX61 and DX71’s etc and Dressta’s new TD16-N and the superb forward visibility they are offering, but take a look at this Eimco model that we think is a 103 or 106 model which is currently owned by Brett Swanson in the US, and the design is way ahead of its time.

Photo: Courtesy of Brett Swanson

Note how the operator is situated right at the front of the machine offering a great view of the blade, with the engine mounted to the rear of the machine, instead of having to peer either side of a forward bonnet. These machines also featured torque converters, and independent power-shift transmissions to each track, what we would call hydrostatic drive style these days.

Power for these rare beasts came from either a 158hp Cummins or a GM Detroit Diesel 4.53 diesel engine producing around 140hp.

Photo: Courtesy of Brett Swanson

The production run for Eimco tractor/dozers was pretty short in the wider scheme of things, with that side of the business coming to an end in 1965, although some examples did see action with the US Army in Vietnam.

We thank Brett Swanson for sharing these photos of his machine which I understand will be up for sale in the not-too-distant future. We also thank Richard Campbell of NZ Contractor Magazine for the following video on Eimco.