August 29, 2011—The Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA), Bowling
Green, Ohio, announces
that Taylor
Machine Works and Volvo Construction Equipment have
joined the HCEA as Corporate Members.
A
third-generation family business, Taylor Machine Works, Louisville, Miss.,
produces "Big Red" forklifts for material handling applications. It was founded
by W. A. Taylor, Sr., in 1927 and the company has experience in historical
preservation. In 1989 W.A. Taylor Jr., founded the American Heritage “Big
Red†Fire Museum, also in Louisville, which houses more than 100 vehicles
and exhibits as old as the late 1700s.
Volvo Construction Equipment traces its roots to a machine shop in
Eskilstuna,
Sweden in 1832.
Today, its products are offered in 125 countries. Volvo has also acquired a
number of other historic firms, including the Michigan product line from Clark, Champion
motor graders, Akkerman excavators, Blaw-Knox paving machines, and Samsung
excavators.
The National
Construction Equipment Museum, operated by HCEA, has two Michigan wheel loaders
including the first one produced, and an MRS 150AGT wheel tractor in its
collection. Its Archives house substantial collections of records from both
companies. Volvo Construction Equipment donated one of the loaders and a
sizeable volume of archival records directly to the HCEA.
